Breaker Replacement for Hoover Dam

This is a Request for Information (RFI) for program planning purposes only. No formal solicitation for this work exists at this time. The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is in the process of obtaining information from industry to be used in the further development of a specification/Statement of Work (SOW) for the replacement of two circuit breakers at the Hoover Dam hydro-electric power plant. The existing circuit breakers are approximately 18 years old and are underrated for the current conditions. They were manufactured by Hitachi and are type OFPT-20XF-90PA. Interested parties are invited to voluntarily provide information, product data, recommendations, considerations, rough cost estimates, and questions related to power plant circuit breakers that could be considered in the development of a specification/SOW. Interested parties may include, but are not limited to, vendors, and commercial and government customers. A draft specification for the existing breakers is attached to this announcement for review and comment by interested industry vendors. Drawings will be provided upon request. Goal/Requirements of replacement circuit breakers:1. Existing circuit breakers to be replaced with commercially available circuit breakers that are non-proprietary. 2. The replacement circuit breakers must meet the electrical ratings in the attached draft specification. They must be suitable for operation in the existing locations and at the range of temperatures expected at Hoover Dam. The response to this RFI should include:1. Name, address and contact information of party submitting a response to the RFI.2. Description of vendor capabilities and commercial terms and conditions.3. Comments, suggestions, questions related to the existing circuit breaker drawings.4. Comments and recommendations on the draft specification that will assist Reclamation in the development of a specification/SOW that will provide for optimum competition among commercial sources and enhance the Government's ability to obtain quality, commercially available, non-proprietary breakers, at reasonable prices.5. Best practices for the design and specification of commercially available circuit breakers for hydro-electric power plants such as Hoover Dam.6. Description of technical challenges and approaches to achieve the above goals.7. Product data, drawings, etc. of commercially available circuit breakers for hydro-electric power plants.8. Rough estimates or order-of-magnitude for the fabrication and installation of the breakers for budgetary purposes only. This RFI is issued for information only. Respondents are advised that Reclamation is under no obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received, or provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information submitted under this RFI. Responses are not offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this RFI. Responses to this RFI are to be submitted no later than June 30, 2009. All responses to this RFI shall be submitted to Denise Colwell/LC-3131, Contracting Officer, P. O. Box 61470, Boulder City, NV 89006-1470 or via email address: [email protected]. All questions related to this RFI and requests for drawings shall be submitted in writing to the email address above and shall include an email address of the requestor. When it is determined that a formal solicitation will be issued, a pre-solicitation notice will be posted on Federal Business Opportunities web site at http://www.fedbizopps.gov/.