Photo courtesy Sundt Construction Inc.
Tampa Electric Company South Tampa Resiliency
Tampa
Award of Merit
Submitted by: Sundt Construction
Owner: Tampa Electric Co.
Lead Design Firm: Sargent and Lundy
General Contractor: Sundt Construction
Civil Contractor: Moretrench Industrial
Four Wärtsilä reciprocating engines producing a combined 72 MW now form a microgrid for south Tampa that will maintain power. The plant occupies less than 2 acres on an operating Air Force base, where the footprint made sequencing across disciplines a daily challenge. But after two consecutive hurricanes hit Tampa in 2024, the storm surge put parts of MacDill Air Force Base under 4 ft of salt water, including the project’s laydown area. Saltwater damaged equipment skids for two of four engine units. The team reconfigured the schedule around the contractor’s onsite fabrication capabilities, fabricating and replacing components in-house to mitigate delays.
Work was sequenced to allow disciplines ample time and space to work daily. Federated models in Navisworks carried the process pipe and steel structure alongside OEM equipment, electrical conduit and cable tray, helping with clearances while digital workstations let crews access models and drawings on site. Engine foundations were placed to a 1/16-in. tolerance between baseplates, requiring significant preplanning. Crews also pulled and terminated around 250,000 linear ft of cable without a check-out failure.
