The City of Ottawa is seeking proposal submissions to provide professional engineering and electrical trade services to undertake an electrification study at 10 City facilities in Phase One and 108 City facilities in Phase Two, across the greater Ottawa area. This study will show what electrical capacity is available in individual sites and give an idea of what it would cost to convert all potential hydrocarbon loads to electricity at 12 of the sites.
The Ottawa City Council has declared a climate emergency and is working towards eliminating fossil fuels from its facilities, fleets, and operational equipment by 2040. This will require significant changes to the current equipment and standards, and additional electrical loads are expected to replace fossil fuel equipment. The increase in electrical load required, may be more than the existing facilities electrical service can supply. It is important for the City to understand the implications of adding significant loads to existing buildings. Increasing the electrical capacity in a facility can be expensive and it is important it is done properly.
The City is seeking engineering and electrical trade experience to help establish the readiness of its larger facilities to accommodate additional electrical loads. Along with the Facility Supervisor of each facility, the Contractor will determine the current conditions, identify any current issues limiting the ability to use existing service capacity, evaluate future upgrades on select buildings, and assess any concerns that may pose a problem to further electrification of the sites.
The proposed upgrades may include electric space and water heating, electric ice-resurfacers, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations for both fleet and public vehicles, and/or battery chargers for field equipment.
