Three industry-led teams that include West Virginia and four other major research universities have been awarded contracts to provide a range of research and engineering services to the National Energy Technology Laboratory. The collective value of the three contracts is expected to exceed $465 million over a five-year period.

NETL, part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratory system, conducts research in coal, natural gas, and oil technologies, and analyzes energy systems and international energy issues for the DOE Office of Fossil Energy, and performs contract and project management for a number of other DOE Offices.

The consortium of universities, consisting of Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and West Virginia University, joined with a major industrial firm to pursue each of the three competitive awards. URS Corp. is the prime contractor on a program to provide fossil energy research and engineering services. Booz Allen Hamilton will manage work on energy sector planning and analysis; KeyLogic Systems is the prime contractor for project execution and integration.

“West Virginia University has a long and productive heritage of energy research with $120 million in research over past five years,” WVU Vice President for Research and Economic Development Curt Peterson said. “The University’s nationally-recognized expertise makes us a natural partner to work on the teams that will provide research services to NETL. We are proud to be a member of those teams along with our distinguished higher education peers. Our work with NETL ties in perfectly with WVU’s Advanced Energy Initiative.”

WVU has more than 100 skilled faculty members undertaking a wide range of energy research in areas such as extraction of fossil fuels and natural resource management; renewable energy; energy efficiency and conservation; and clean fossil fuel development and carbon management.

Over the past four years, three of the five participating universities have collectively performed over $40M in research services for NETL under the previous support services contract.

The Teams and the Work

The URS-led team will be responsible for providing personnel, facilities, equipment, materials, supplies and services to support NETL on the development and implementation of basic and applied fossil energy research. The team will also work with NETL’s research staff to provide research and infrastructure support; health and safety and quality control support; and logistical and technical coordination support.

“URS has a long history of supporting the DOE, including providing management services for four of the largest National Research Laboratories in the U.S.: the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories,” said Tom Zarges, president of URS’ Washington Division. “We look forward to leveraging the diverse core competencies of the team to bring cost-effective services and leading expertise to the NETL’s Office of Research and Development.”

The Booz Allen Hamilton team will conduct energy sector analysis and planning for NETL including engineering analysis, research and development benefit analyses, life-cycle analysis, and energy resource development and impact assessment services.

“We are delighted to bring the combined capabilities of Booz Allen and its core subcontractors (Midwest Research Institute, Technology & Management Services, Inc., and WorleyParsons Group, Inc.) and our university partners together to support energy analysis at NETL,” said Booz Allen program manager, Gary Leatherman.

The KeyLogic team will support NETL’s work in managing and reviewing the more than 1,800 projects currently awarded to external vendors and NETL in-house researchers. This team’s activities will also include conducting validation assessments and project performance reviews, disseminating results to the technical community, and providing training in process improvement.

“We are honored to support NETL and their mission to deliver technological solutions that simultaneously address our nation’s three overarching energy issues: affordability, supply security and environmental quality,” said KeyLogic Program Manager Carey Butler.

Team Leadership Background

Headquartered in San Francisco with regional divisions, URS is a leading provider of engineering, construction and technical services for public agencies and private sector companies around the world. The company offers a full range of services including program management; planning, design and engineering; systems engineering and technical assistance; construction and construction management; operations and maintenance; and decommissioning and closure services. URS provides services for power, infrastructure, industrial and commercial, and federal projects and programs.

Booz Allen Hamilton, based in McLean, VA, is a leading strategy and technology consulting firm that works with government agencies, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit organizations on organization and strategy; economic and business analysis; supply chain and logistics; intelligence and operations analysis; information technology; systems engineering and integration; assurance and resilience; and modeling and simulation.

KeyLogic Systems is a management and IT consulting firm headquartered in Morgantown, WV, serving federal and commercial clients throughout the nation. KeyLogic Systems provides professional services focused on program and project management, business intelligence, and portfolio management.

NETL Background

NETL is a federally owned and operated laboratory that devotes the majority of its funding to R&D partnerships with industry, universities, and other government entities to support DOE’s mission of advancing the national, economic and energy security of the United States. On-site research is focused in the area of computational and basic sciences, energy system dynamics, geological and environmental systems, and material science. NETL’s partnership programs in energy and environment will return benefits for generations to come.

-WVU-

gg11/24/09

CONTACT: Gerrill Griffith, WVU Research Corp.
(304) 293-3743, Gerrill.Griffith@mail.wvu.edu