Project Builder
Size a power project and get the full equipment bill of materials — generation, switchgear, UPS and controls — with catalogue-based price bands.
What The Project Builder Does
The Project Builder turns a power requirement into a full bill of materials. You answer six short steps — site conditions, how you measure capacity, generation technology, application, redundancy and commercial configuration — and it returns the equipment list a project of that size actually needs: prime movers, main power transformers, medium-voltage switchgear, transfer switching, UPS, controls, fuel handling, cooling, emissions equipment, civil scope and interconnection.
It is the second tool, not the first. Power Solution Intelligence answers which technology to build. The Project Builder answers what to buy once that decision is made. Most buyers run them in that order.
How The Equipment List Is Built
Machines are chosen from the published dossier catalogue. The selection rule takes the fewest units that meet the site load within a 15% overshoot tolerance, reading nameplate ratings from the same equipment dossiers published on this site. Every result prints which machine was selected, how many rated candidates the rule compared, and whether the tolerance had to be relaxed — with a link to the dossier the figures came from.
Quantities follow the unit that was actually selected. Redundancy is applied to that unit, not to a generic block: N+1 buys one spare machine, 2N buys a second full train. Transfer switching is sized per unit on reciprocating plant and at the plant service point on a fuel-cell array, because the array parallels onto one AC bus.
Balance-of-plant prices come from the published price index. Transformers, switchgear, transfer switches and UPS are priced from observed transaction bands held in the equipment category index, and each priced line states its basis on the line itself. Where no indexed band and no cited source exists, the line is shown as not priced rather than filled with a placeholder figure.
Site answers change the estimate. The distance to the gas main prices the gas lateral directly; leave it blank and the model falls back to a cited EPA-model half-mile assumption and says so. Service voltage, available ampacity, water availability and heat-tolerance answers all feed the interconnection and cooling scope.
What This Tool Does Not Do
This is a budgetary estimate, not an engineering design and not a quotation. It does not perform a gas interconnection study, a short-circuit or arc-flash study, a utility system impact study, or county-level air permitting. Gas lateral diameter is an assumption tiered by plant size, because pricing it properly requires a utility-stated delivery pressure.
Prices are bands, not offers. Secondary-market pricing moves with availability, condition, delivery terms and negotiation, often by a wide margin. Use the output to set a budget and a scope, then bring it to a real sourcing conversation.
Where To Go Deeper
Every category in the bill of materials has a dossier covering specifications, secondary-market pricing by condition tier, inspection criteria and known failure points: gas turbines, generators, fuel cells, transformers, switchgear and UPS systems. The constants, sources and rules behind both tools are published on the methodology page.
FAQ: Power Project Bill Of Materials
What do I get at the end of the Project Builder?
A complete equipment list grouped by system — generation, transformers, switchgear, transfer switching, UPS, controls, fuel, cooling, emissions, civil and interconnection — with a quantity, a specification and an estimated cost band on every line, plus a total project cost band and an annual operating cost view. The plan can be saved to your account and exported as a PDF.
How is the number of generating units decided?
The rule takes the fewest catalogue units that cover the site load within a 15% overshoot tolerance, then applies your redundancy choice to that unit: N+1 adds one spare machine, 2N adds a second full train. The selected machine, the number of rated candidates compared, and any relaxed tolerance are printed with the result.
Where do the prices come from?
Generation prices come from the equipment dossier catalogue. Balance-of-plant categories are priced from observed transaction bands in the published price index, and each line carries its basis. Lines with no indexed band and no cited source are shown as not priced instead of being filled with a placeholder.
Do I need to know my load in kilowatts?
No. You can enter kilowatts, enter megawatts, or size the load from rack count, rack density and PUE if you are planning a data center. All three paths converge on the same total before the equipment list is built.
How does this differ from Power Solution Intelligence?
Power Solution Intelligence compares technologies against each other on twenty-year net present value, deployment time, availability and emissions — it answers which technology to build. The Project Builder assumes that decision is made and produces the purchase scope and budget for it.
Is the estimate a quote?
No. It is a budgetary screening estimate built from published price bands. Actual pricing depends on availability, condition, delivery terms and negotiation. Use it to set budget and scope, then request pricing on specific units.