Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Deliverable 2
Unit Cost Estimates for Transmission Lines
and Facilities in Northern Ontario and
the Far North
Presented to
Ontario Power Authority
October 18, 2011
NOTICE
This document contains the expression of the professional opinion of SNC-Lavalin Inc.
(SLI) as to the matters set out herein, using its professional judgment and reasonable
care. It is to be read in the context of the agreement dated June 24,2011(the
Agreement) between SLI and * (the OPA), the methodology, procedures and
techniques used, SLIs assumptions, and the circumstances and constrains under which
its mandate was performed. This document is written solely for the purpose stated in
the Agreement, and for the sole and exclusive benefit of the OPA, whose remedies are
limited to those set out in the Agreement. This document is meant to be read as a
whole, and sections or parts thereof should thus not be read or relied upon out of
context.
SLI, in preparing the cost estimates, has exercised due care consistent with the
intended level of accuracy, using its professional judgment and reasonable care, and is
thus of the opinion that there is a high probability that actual costs will fall within the
specified error margin. However, no warranty should be implied as to the accuracy of
estimates. Unless expressly stated otherwise, assumptions, data and information
supplied by or gathered from other sources (including the OPA, other consultants,
testing laboratories and equipment suppliers, etc.) upon which SLIs opinion as set out
herein is based on has not been verified by SLI; therefore SLI makes no representation
as to its accuracy and disclaims all liability with respect thereto.
SLI disclaims any liability to the OPA and to third parties in respect of the publication,
reference, quoting, or distribution of this report or any of its contents to and reliance
thereon by any third party.
SNC-Lavalin as the selected proponent having entered into this agreement through the
Response For Proposal (RFP) process and in accordance with terms set out within said
proposal, shall not be precluded from participating in bidding on any other requests in relation to
this, or any other work associated with this proposal.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
Overview ............................................................................................................................. 4
2.
3.
4.
APPENDICES ...........................................................................................................................20
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Land will be required to accommodate the ROW for the transmission lines and
associated facilities for the projects. From the review of the preliminary corridors for the
transmission lines, and due to the fact that the study area is located in a remote region
of northern Ontario, we have assumed the lands required for the projects will primarily
be Public Land. Public (Crown) lands owned by the province and are under the
jurisdiction of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) with respect to their control and
management. Under this scenario, the MNR policy for Utility Corridors on Public Lands
(Policy 4.10.03, October 2006) is applicable to the projects. This policy provides a
standardized approach to granting of tenure and establishment and collection of rent for
the occupation of public land by utility companies. The annual rental formula is based
on land value per hectare (ha), multiplied by the area occupied, multiplied by impact on
fee simple (75% for transmission lines and facilities) and multiplied by the annual rate of
return (8-10 %). For costing purposes we have assumed the following ROW widths for
the project in the study.
LINE DESCRIPTION
40
30
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30
30
30
20
NOTE: ROW width is a function of span length, line voltage, height of the structures.
For example using the 1-circuit 230 kV transmission line option from Ignace to Pickle
Lake with a length of 295 Km and assumed ROW width of 30 m, the following cost
estimate (annual rental) is derived.
Land $1,062,000 (1,180 ha x market value of $1,200/ha for northwest Ontario) x 75 %
(impact on the fee simple) x 10% (established/assumed rate of return by MNR) =
$79,650 annually or $270 per Km.
The above formula has also been applied to determine annual rental cost for site
facilities (e.g., transformer stations).
Annual rental cost for crown land required for the transmission line project and
associated facilities is presented in Tables 1 thru 4. These costs are not included in the
total cost or the unit costs per kilometer.
3. General Engineering Considerations
All construction activities were estimated per unit cost/activity as per our defined
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
The cost of tower steelwork is assumed to be $3.00 per kg. This was developed
from a current 5 year term agreement with an existing supplier and is based upon
todays market prices (as with all commodities, current pricing is no guarantee of
future trends) with the addition of transportation costs.
Camp accommodation rate is $200 per day per man (food, showers, laundry
washing etc)
Three marshaling yards each 2.5 acre located along the 230kV and 115kV line
routes
Installation of 5 meter wide temporary access road for 50% of the line routes
Helicopters will not support the construction activities of the 44kV and 25kV
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There is no adequate road infrastructure existing the length of the line routes and
no adequate road infrastructure intersecting the line routes
Three marshaling yards each 2.5 acre located along the 230kV and 115kV line
routes
5 meter wide temporary access road for 100% length of line is assumed
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For transmission line estimates, the base cost has been presented with the cost
of overhead steel earth wire only and the cost of Power Line Carrier (PLC)
facilities. Cost for the fibre optic infrastructure required for substation telecom
requirements is shown separately in the column labeled Cost of Fibre Optic
Comms. This cost includes one 48 fibre OPGW, accessories and repeater
stations, which is sufficient for substation requirements only. Some spare fibres
may be available for commercial use, but accessories and repeater stations
would have to be modified or added to allow for commercial fibre optic
applications.
Exclusions:
For the purposes of this study, the following factors were not included in the estimates:
Environmental mitigation
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The study findings for lines and facilities in the Far North are summarized in the cost
tables shown below.
Assumptions used in the development of the estimates were outlined in section2. For
technical details used in the estimates refer to Appendix 2.
It was expected that cost estimates in the Far North are generally higher than in
Northern Ontario. The Far North generally has limited infrastructure causing significantly
higher transportation costs for labour, equipment and material. More construction
access will be required in the Far North adding to the higher cost, or, where not possible
due to muskeg for example, winter construction will be required. Winter construction
however, affects productivity to a much higher extent than in Northern Ontario; reduced
daylight reduces work hours as well.
Foundation installation in the Far North is also expected to be costlier due to permafrost
and muskeg conditions.
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All of the above projects utilized a single circuit 115kV transmission line H-frame
design, although each project, as with almost any transmission project contained
unique characteristics, such as timing, specifications, access, construction
methodologies and location.
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Soil conditions
Weather
Southern Ontario
Direct access to Right of Way
Cost
Impact
1
Average
Transportation of
resources
Transportation of
equipment and
material
Average
Project locations within reach
of central developed areas
and logistic resources.
Local logistics
Average
Local accommodations readily
available.
Average cost
multiplier
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
1.2
Cost
Impact
1.5
1.5
1.5
Very difficult
Requires fully equipped
construction camps. Costly due
to remoteness.
1.5
1.5
1.5
Very difficult
1.2
Difficult
1
Very difficult
Difficult
Average
OVERALL
Cost
Impact
1.2
Difficult
Average
Staging areas and
Construction yards
Northern Ontario
1.5
Very difficult
1.2
1.2
1.5
1.5
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APPENDICES
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The Single Line Diagrams (SLD) shown in this appendix were developed in order to
prepare detailed technical data required for the estimates. These SLDs were the basis
of cost tables 4 and 5.
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120 meter ruling span; within the WRC parameters 3/0 Pigeon ACSR
conductor
Wood pole are direct buried, supported with anchor included for 50% of
tangents and 100% of angles/dead ends
10% screw pile foundations are included to support structures in abnormal
conditions.
Table 4: Unit Cost for New Transmission Facilities in Northern Ontario and the
Far North
For the estimate the substation scopes considered are:
230/115Kv 250MVA Auto Transformer TS Substation
12 x 115Kv CVT
4 x 115Kv Motor Operated Air Switch c/w Grounding Switch
12 x 115Kv Surge Arrestors
8 x 115Kv Manually Operated Air Switch
Control building
Install SCADA, Telecom, P&C system
Install 2 x Station Service Transformers for substation loads
Install DC Charger and Battery System for P&C
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SNC-Lavalin T&D
195 The West Mall
Toronto, ON
M9C 5K1
Phone: (416) 201 5939
Fax: (416) 231 5356E-mail:
Paul.Mackintosh@snclavalin.com