Support for the Implementation of Renewable Energy Auctions in Azerbaijan

Location: Azerbaijan

Business sector: Sustainable Resources and Climate Change, Power and energy

Project number: 77660

Funding source: SFEBSF – EBRD Shareholders SF

Contract type: Consultancy Services

Notice type: Invitation for expressions of interest (CSU)

Issue date: 25 Mar 2019

Closing date: 22 Apr 2019   at  17:00   London

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Single stage open competitive selection

Project Description:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) is looking to engage a consultant (the “Consultant”) to support the Ministry of Energy in Azerbaijan to develop and implement a competitive scheme for the award of future support to renewable energy generators. This process should allow the Azerbaijani authorities to discover the genuine market price for certain RE renewable energy technologies in Azerbaijan, use competitive pressure to promote low support levels, and award support through a robust, fair and transparent process.

Assignment Description:

EBRD intends to select and contract a consulting company (the Consultant) to undertake the Assignment.

The selected Consultant is expected to provide the following services:

1) Finalise the selection of a site for developing a wind power project from a short-list, based on technical, environmental and financial feasibility.

2) Develop a detailed design for a competitive bidding process for supporting renewable energy, accounting for current arrangements, renewable energy targets and the market context.

3) Prepare, up to the final version, all the tender related documentation required for the deployment of a competitive procurement scheme for a solar PV project and a wind power project.

4) Provide detailed technical, financial and legal assistance to the relevant authorities for the implementation of the competitive procurement scheme for a renewable power project.

Full Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Assignment can be found through this link:

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/77660-tors.pdf .

Consultant Selection Procedure: Single stage open competitive selection. Interested firms are invited to submit a Technical and Financial Proposal.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in May 2019 and has an estimated overall duration of 24 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: up to EUR 1,250,000.00 (exclusive of VAT). Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the specific needs of the Bank, the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope.

Funding Source: It is expected that the Assignment will be funded by Technical Cooperation Funds managed by EBRD. Please note selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions based on the consultant’s country of origin.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant selected for this assignment will be a firm or a group of firms (in which case only the leading firm will be contracted) with previous related project experience and:

1. A) Economics/Policy expertise in the design of support schemes for renewable energy – in particular, support schemes that use a competitive process to determine the level of support for, and the selection of, renewable energy projects;
2. B) Legal expertise, with experience in:
3. Assisting policymakers and/or bidders in renewable energy auctions/tenders (including experience advising on limited recourse renewable energy project financing and competitive tender arrangements);
4. Drafting secondary legislation in the electricity sector – preferably including full RFPs (including power purchase agreements);
5. C) Technical expertise on renewable energy projects – in particular, on solar PV projects and wind energy projects – including:
6. Renewable energy projects (in particular, both on-shore wind and solar PV projects, preferably with experience in providing assistance to regulators on technical aspects of RE projects and acting as Owner’s Engineers (OE)
7. Advising on the technical integration of intermittent renewable energy sources to the electricity grid.
8. D) Environmental and social impact assessment expertise – including both international and local experience;
9. E) Preferably, experience in the power sector of a country (or more) within the Caucasus region (preferably Azerbaijan), including knowledge of the legislative and regulatory setting and familiarity with the network and grid code.

The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include (at least) the following key experts (the “Key Experts”):

1) Key Expert 1: Team Leader – Expert in Renewable Energy policy and regulatory matters with:

• preferably 10 years’ experience in project management, specifically in projects related to the power sector;
• proven experience in leading a team of experts and the ability to demonstrate adequate project management skills, managerial skills and team leading experience;
• fluency in English for coordination and report writing purposes;
• considerable experience:
  – in designing renewable energy support schemes, preferably competitive bidding processes; and
  – in regulatory matters of the electricity sector, preferably including the integration of renewable energy in electricity markets and systems (preferably at least 10 years);

2) Key Expert 2: Technical Expert(s) with at least 5 years of experience in the design and/or operation of solar PV projects and wind power projects, as well as experience of the technical integration of intermittent renewable energy sources into electricity systems;

3) Key Expert 3: Legal Expert(s) with:

1. at least 5 years (preferably 10 years) of experience in drafting energy sector legislation and regulations relating to renewable energy (for example, power purchase agreements); and
2. experience in advising (at least in 1 project) clients on the competitive procurement of renewable energy (on the developer and/or the authorities’ side).

At least one of the legal experts (in case the proposal features more than one, otherwise just the single expert) should have both international and local (related to Azerbaijan) expertise and experience, as well as be fluent in both English and Azerbaijani;

4) Key Expert 4: Financial/Commercial Expert with at least 5 years (preferably 10 years) of experience in renewable energy project financing;

5) Key Expert 5: Environmental and Social Expert with at least 5 years (preferably 10 years) of experience in advising clients on social and environmental aspects of energy projects.

All the key experts are expected to have strong communication skills, be fluent in English and, preferably, have experience in past projects in the Caucasus region. It is essential for at least some of the team members to be fluent in the local language.

Submission Requirements: Interested Consultants are invited to submit a completed Technical and Financial Proposal as per the standard templates and instructions available through this link:

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/single-stage-package.docx

Interested Consultants should make themselves familiar with these Standard Templates, Standard Instructions and Conditions of Contract in preparation of their proposals.

• The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in English electronically via eSelection not later than the Closing Date, as one single PDF file. The technical proposal should not exceed 25 pages excluding the Declaration Form and CVs (Form 1- TP 1 and Form 1 – TP 6).
• The Financial Proposal (Form 2 – FP 1 and FP2) shall be submitted in English separately by email only to the Bank Contact Person. Consultants are reminded of the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of the Financial Proposals.

A Technical Proposal that contains elements of a financial proposal shall be declared non-responsive. A Financial proposal submitted together with the technical proposals via e Selection shall be declared non-responsive.

For the avoidance of doubt, technical proposals should be sent through eSelection and NOT to the below email address. Financial proposals should be sent to the below email address and NOT through eSelection.

Bank Contact Person:

Larissa Gosling

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

One Exchange Square

London EC2A 2JN

Tel: + 44 20 7338 6338

e-mail: goslingl@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)

Deadline to Submit Clarification Questions: Via e-mail to the Bank Contact Person by 4 April 2019.

Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:

1. Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria

(a) Firm’s previous project experience in similar assignments (40%)

(b) Quality of the methodology proposed for the Assignment (20%)

(c) CV of Team Leader (20%)

(d) CVs of other Key Experts (20%).

The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is 75.

2. Opening of Financial Proposals

After the technical evaluation is completed, only the submissions which score 75% of the total marks available for the technical criteria will be eligible to have their financial proposals opened.

3. Combined Technical and Financial Evaluation

The lowest evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) is given the maximum financial score (Sf) of 100. The formula for determining the financial scores (Sf) of all other Proposals is calculated as follows:

Sf = 100 x Fm/ F, in which “Sf” is the financial score, “Fm” is the lowest evaluated Financial Proposal, and “F” the price of the Proposal under consideration.

Proposals are then ranked according to their combined technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = 80; F = 20) T + F = 100 as follows: S = St x T% + Sf x F%.

Important Notes:

1. The proposal validity period is 120 days from the deadline date for the receipt of submissions. During this period, the Consultant shall maintain its original Proposal without any change, including the availability of the Experts, the proposed rates and the total price.
2. The selection will be made from the Proposals received in response to this notification only, on the basis of the submission requirements and selection criteria set out in this Procurement Notice. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected and invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.
3. Any updates of and clarifications on this procurement notice shall be announced as updates on this notice, without any other notification. In the event of changes consultants will need to download the updated versions. Consultants are required to periodically check the notice for updates. Failure to take the updates into account while preparing the Proposal may result in disqualification or penalties to the scores in the evaluation.

Source: ebrd