Engineering Services
Engineering Consultancy, Energy Audits and Feasibility Studies
Engineering consultancy services are worth most at the point where a decision is still reversible. A feasibility study that stops a project costing a fraction of what the project would have cost is a good outcome, even though it feels like a negative one — and an energy audit that reallocates capital from generation to efficiency changes the return on everything that follows.
Trivonix provides independent technical advice on energy and industrial projects: audits, feasibility studies, due diligence and owner's engineer support.
What this service covers
- Advice with a recommendation
- Every study ends with a stated recommendation and the reasoning behind it, not a menu of options and a shrug.
- Measured evidence
- Findings based on logged data and site verification, not on interviews and nameplate ratings.
- Willing to say no
- If a project does not stand up, the study says so. That is what independent advice is for.
Energy audits
An energy audit establishes where energy goes, what it costs, and which interventions repay their capital fastest. Done properly it is a measurement exercise; done badly it is a walk-round producing generic recommendations that could have been written without visiting.
What a measured audit involves
Analysis of utility billing and tariff structure, interval demand data over a representative period, temporary sub-metering on major loads, thermal imaging of electrical distribution and process equipment, compressed air leak surveys where applicable, motor and drive assessment, lighting and HVAC assessment, and a reconciled energy balance across the site.
What you get from it
A ranked list of measures with estimated saving, capital cost, payback and implementation complexity for each; identification of tariff or contract demand changes that save money with no capital at all; and a baseline against which future measures can be verified.
Feasibility studies
A feasibility study answers whether a project should proceed, and under what conditions. The valuable part is usually the constraints section rather than the financial model, because the model is only as good as the assumptions the constraints set.
- Technical feasibility — site suitability, capacity, integration with existing infrastructure, and the engineering constraints that cap what is achievable.
- Regulatory pathway — approvals required, likely lead times, and any policy dependency that could change the economics mid-project.
- Grid or supply feasibility — available capacity, connection cost, and the utility's own constraints.
- Capital and operating cost estimation to a stated accuracy band, with the basis of estimate documented.
- Financial modelling with explicit assumptions and sensitivity analysis on the variables that actually move the result.
- Risk register with mitigation, including the risks that cannot be mitigated and must simply be accepted or avoided.
Technical due diligence
Where an asset is being acquired, refinanced or taken over, technical due diligence establishes what is actually there and what it will cost to keep running. Buyers are usually shown performance data; the useful work is in the gaps around it.
- Physical condition survey and remaining useful life assessment of major equipment.
- Design review against the standards applicable at the time of construction and any that have since changed materially.
- Performance analysis against the original design basis, with degradation and availability separated rather than blended.
- Documentation completeness — as-builts, test records, warranties, statutory certificates, and O&M history.
- Compliance and safety review, including earthing, protection settings and any statutory inspection overdue.
- Forward capital expenditure forecast, so the acquisition price reflects what the asset will need, not only what it currently produces.
Owner's engineer support
On projects delivered by a third-party contractor, we act for the owner: reviewing the contractor's design, witnessing tests, verifying progress claims against actual deliverables, and assessing variations before they are approved rather than after they are paid.
The role is deliberately positioned. We are not there to duplicate the contractor's engineering or to obstruct them — a well-run project needs the contractor to move fast. We are there so the owner has someone technically competent reading the same drawings, and so that the difference between 'commissioned' and 'commissioned and evidenced' is somebody's specific responsibility.
Frequently asked questions
What does an energy audit actually deliver?
A measured picture of where energy is consumed, and a ranked list of interventions with estimated saving, capital cost and payback for each. A good audit also finds savings requiring no capital — tariff changes, contract demand adjustments, load rescheduling — which frequently fund the measures that do require capital.
When should a feasibility study be commissioned?
Before land, equipment or connection deposits are committed. The study's value lies in the decisions it can still change. Once significant capital is spent, a study becomes documentation of a decision already made rather than an input to making it well.
What does technical due diligence cover when acquiring an energy asset?
Physical condition and remaining life of major equipment, design review against applicable standards, actual performance versus design basis with degradation and availability separated, completeness of documentation and statutory certification, compliance and safety review, and a forward capital expenditure forecast so the price reflects future obligations as well as current output.
Will you advise against a project if the numbers do not work?
Yes — that is a large part of the value of independent advice. A study that identifies a fatal constraint before commitment costs a small fraction of the project it prevents. We state a recommendation with the reasoning, rather than presenting options and leaving the client to infer our view.
What does an owner's engineer do on a contractor-delivered project?
Reviews the contractor's design against the employer's requirements, witnesses factory and site testing, verifies progress claims against actual deliverables rather than reported percentages, assesses variations before approval, and reviews the handover documentation. In short, it gives the owner technically competent representation reading the same drawings as the contractor.
Related services
- design engineering servicesDetailed design and drawing production — calculations, single line diagrams, layouts, cable schedules and issued-for-construction documentation.
- industrial engineering servicesElectrical and utility engineering for operating plants — power distribution, load studies, protection coordination, upgrades and expansions.
- renewable energy solutionsPortfolio-level decarbonisation planning — generation, storage, efficiency and electrification assessed together against a real load profile.
- utility scale solar power plantGround-mounted, captive and utility-scale solar power plants — from land and evacuation studies through construction and grid synchronisation.
Browse the full range of Trivonix engineering and clean energy services.
Need an independent technical view?
Tell us the decision you are trying to make. We will scope a study that answers it — and tell you if a smaller piece of work would do.