Our Experience
Megaproject Procurement
This confidential project involves one of the largest investments in a semiconductor facility ever undertaken in the United States — with a total investment exceeding $20 billion. The project sought to transfer reasonable risks to the supply chain while navigating a market in which unprecedented investment in AI infrastructure has made leading contractors more selective about which projects they choose to pursue.
The project also faced the challenge of building a significant asset in a region without the established infrastructure or local capabilities required to support an investment of this scale — adding layers of complexity to both the delivery strategy and the procurement approach.
Our role was to support the Owner through the megaproject procurement of the major engineering and construction contracts during the early phases of the project, providing scope of work development, RFP development, commercial model development, and procurement and negotiation support across their multi-billion dollar investment.
One of the key challenges during the early stages of the project was the need to drive a very aggressive schedule while carefully managing spend ahead of the final investment decision. The compressed timeline meant that the procurement process had to be initiated earlier than would typically be the case, requiring additional risks to be defined and aligned with bidders during the procurement phase itself.
The singular challenges faced by this project — combined with intense competition from other fab and data center programs for the same pool of contractors — made it less attractive to prospective bidders. The central challenge was therefore to define a procurement process that established clear mechanisms for resolving known and unknown risks with bidders during the procurement process, while maintaining their interest and engagement throughout.
We established a close working relationship with the Owner's team and key stakeholders, providing advice and support across the full megaproject procurement lifecycle. Our input ranged from optioneering analysis and procurement documentation development, through to supporting the bidding process and assisting with the development of internal governance documentation.
Our principal task was to draw on our experience across major EPC projects and provide practical options for how to approach the challenges specific to this program. Working side by side with the Owner's team, we contributed directly to the development of scopes of work, procurement and evaluation documentation, and participated actively in negotiations with bidders — ensuring the Owner had experienced advisory support at every critical decision point.
A central element of our contribution was leading the development of the Scope of Work for the major engineering and construction packages. We captured and consolidated requirements from engineering, project management, and construction teams — translating them into a single, detailed set of requirements that established a shared understanding between the project and its prospective contractors of the full scope, expectations, and delivery standards. This technical foundation was essential to structuring a commercially robust procurement process and enabling bidders to price and plan with confidence.