UNDP Jobs - 64231- National Consultant – Renewable Energy and Energy

National Consultant – Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Expert

Location :

Port Moresby, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

21-Mar-2016

Application Deadline :

08-Mar-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

National Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

40 days from March 2016 – September 2016

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence. UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment, and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), acting as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is providing assistance to the Government of Papua New Guinea’s (GoPNG) Climate Change Development Authority (CCDA) in the preparation of the GEF Full Size Project (FSP) “Facilitating Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Applications for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction (FREAGER)”. The main objective of the project is to enable the application of feasible renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies for achieving greenhouse gas emission reduction in PNG. This is with the view of enhancing the realization of non-LULUCF GHG emissions in the country.

Project Description

In PNG’s Copenhagen Accord response of 2 February 2010, it stated seeking opportunities to “decrease GHG emissions at least 50% before 2030 while becoming carbon neutral before 2050”, subject to certain conditions (UNFCCC, 2010). The country can make great strides towards its stated objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2050 if it takes full advantage of technically achievable abatement and sequestration opportunities . PNG is already reducing the bulk of its GHG emissions, which are mainly from LULUCF, through its REDD+ programs. Tackling the remaining GHG emissions (i.e., from non-LULUCF sources) is mainly through the reduction of fossil-based energy utilization and this is currently being done through several energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives by government and private sector.
A comprehensive evaluation of the set GHG emission reduction target (for non-LULUCF sources) will be done in conjunction with the setting of EE and RE targets under the National Energy Policy. The evaluation is to confirm the current target or if necessary come up with a more realistic level of target considering the current situation in the energy sector, and of the national economy, the ongoing and planned initiatives in the country (by the government, donor agencies, private sector, etc.), and what can potentially be done to enhance the utilization of feasible RE resources and application of EE technologies that will support economic development in PNG. The facilitation or enabling objective is meant to address, i.e., eliminate the identified barriers to the cost-effective application of RE technologies using the country’s indigenous RE resources, as well in the effective and extensive application of EE measures and techniques that are also in line with low carbon development and involved in the sustainable development in the country. In this regard, a barrier removal approach will be applied for this project.
Thus, proposed project will aim to facilitate the application of appropriate technological, institutional and policy-oriented options that would enable the widespread application of RE and EE technologies for supporting the sustainable development of all communities particularly in the highlands and outer islands. This would involve making use, in a rational and cost-effective manner, of available RE and non-RE resources to ensure socio-economic growth that contributes to increased climatic resilience, productivity and income generation of the citizens, and GHG emission reduction.

Duties and Responsibilities

The national consultant will assist in providing inputs across all components of the project hence the consultant will be expected to have the capability to contribute in multiple areas of expertise related to renewable energy and energy efficiency in PNG.

These areas include:

Energy policy, planning, and regulation (particularly with regard to renewable energy and energy efficiency);
Renewable energy technology application;
Financing of energy systems (particularly of renewable energy systems and energy efficiency projects);
Energy efficiency technology;
Renewable energy power systems;
Electric power systems design; and
Assessment and development of human capacity in energy (particularly with regard to renewable energy and energy efficiency).

The national consultant’s tasks and duties in assisting the international consultant will include the following:

Logframe and Project Results Framework Design: The national consultant will play a key role in assisting the refinement of project logframe and in its expansion (via addition of indicators and baseline and target values of indicators) into the Project Results Framework (“PRF”):

Logframe preparation: Attend 2.5 to 3 day logframe workshop during the first mission of the full-scale design process and actively provide inputs to the discussion of barriers, objective, outcomes, and outputs. Work with the RTA, international consultant, CCDA rep, and UNDP CO to build on the results of the logframe workshop to refine and finalize a logical project lograme (objective, outcomes, and outputs) that corresponds to the relevant barriers identified at the workshop and known to exist in PNG;
Working with the project design team, develop draft indicators for each of the objective, outcomes, and outputs in the logframe;
Provide well-researched baseline values for each of the indicators designed as well as well-thought-out target values, working in consultation with the OCCD representative.

Background Information (Information on “Baseline Situation”): The national consultant will play a key role in collecting and analyzing background information necessary as a basis for project design, as well as background information that will be incorporated into various parts of the ProDoc and CER, especially the “situation analysis.” Background information needs will be further elaborated based on the logframe workshop and mission findings and, later, needs that arise in ProDoc and CER preparation. It should be noted that background information or “baseline situation” information (information on the situation previous to and at project start) is distinct from “baseline project” information (information on relevant projects and activities that will occur at the same time as the project, 2017-2020, and that might occur in the absence of the project anyway), the latter of which is covered in the next subsection. In providing background information, in many cases, the provision of tables with data or lists of projects by the national consultant will be useful for incorporation into the ProDoc. Very recent data is highly preferred whenever possible. Also, references/ sources of data should also be included whenever possible. Key areas in which the national consultant will likely need to provide background information, working in coordination with the CCDA representative when possible, are the following:

Energy policy, planning, regulation, and institutional structure in PNG:

Provide key and recently updated information on PNG plans, policies, regulations, and government programs related to renewable energy and identify key gaps with regard to strongly promoting renewable energy;
Provide key and recently updated information on PNG plans, policies, and regulations related to energy efficiency with regard to strongly promoting energy efficiency;
Provide up-to-date information on key organizations and departments in government, industry, and private sector with regard to promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.

PNG energy situation generally:

Provide up-to-date background information on energy consumption in PNG, broken down by type of primary energy. Provide information on rural versus urban energy use. Ideally, also provide this information for earlier years, so changes over time will be illustrated;
Provide information on sources (e.g. for fossil fuels, imports versus domestic supply) of energy used in PNG;
Provide forecasts on future energy demand in PNG.

Electricity system in PNG:

Provide up-to-date background information on installed capacity, load, and annual consumption of electricity in PNG. If possible, also provide information for past years, so that growth will be illustrated. Provincial level information (with corresponding populations) may also be of interest if available;
Provide up-to-date basic information on electrification levels (proportion of population with access to electric grid and electricity) and plans for expansion of electrification. Provincial level information, if available, may be of interest;
Provide forecasts on future power demand in PNG.

Renewable energy in PNG:

Provide background information on key renewable energy resources in PNG;
Provide up-to-date background information on renewable energy installations already existing in PNG, broken down by type of renewable energy and province. This item is especially critical background to project design and should receive special attention from the national consultant, working with the representative from CCDA. The information provided should include larger installations, such as village power systems, as well as estimates of smaller installations such as solar home systems and home solar water heaters;
Provide information/ estimates on scale and location of use of diesel generators, as well as annual diesel consumption;
Provide analysis of types of renewable energy with high potential for expansion in PNG;
Provide analysis of barriers to expansion of renewable energy in PNG;
Provide background and brief assessment of companies involved in renewable energy in PNG (including IPPs, service providers, and product providers);
If relevant, include information on past donor projects in renewable energy in PNG. What were the successes and what were the problems?

Energy efficiency in PNG:

Provide key background information on energy efficiency in PNG, including key initiatives already taken to date. This item is especially critical background to project design and should receive special attention from the national consultant, working with the representative from CCDA. The information should include both building and industrial energy efficiency;
Provide analysis of key, high-potential areas in PNG for energy efficiency initiatives;
Provide information on companies involved in the energy efficiency sector, including ESCOs or other firms providing energy efficiency services and product companies;
Provide assessment of barriers to increased energy efficiency in PNG;
If relevant, include information on past donor projects in energy efficiency in PNG. What were the successes and what were the problems?

Financing:

Provide brief basic background on structure of banking sector in PNG;
Provide information on any support to date provided by banks to renewable energy and/or energy efficiency projects;
Assess key barriers to increased financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in PNG. Carry out discussion with banks and, based on these discussions, provide input on their attitudes towards financing renewable energy and energy efficiency projects.

Current human capacity levels and organizations involved in renewable energy and energy efficiency in PNG:

Provide assessment of current human capacity levels in various types of and various aspects of renewable energy in PNG;
Provide assessment of current capacity levels with regard to various aspects of energy efficiency in PNG, including capacity of energy efficiency service providers in the industrial and building sectors.

Information on the Baseline Project:

The national consultant, coordinating with the CCDA representative and reaching out to other relevant parties such as DPE, PPL, and IPPs, will be responsible for providing information on other relevant renewable energy and energy efficiency initiatives and funding that will be carried out during the same timeframe as the project (2017 – 2020), perhaps even in the absence of the project;
These other initiatives should include expected government initiatives, donor initiatives, and private sector initiatives.

Incremental Reasoning:

The national consultant will conduct expert brainstorming / ideation and discussion with project design team members and other stakeholders to generate a strategy for ensuring that project activities are innovative, in line with country priorities, and, critically, such that they would not occur in the absence of the project. That is, the national consultant should contribute to the design of a strategy in which the UNDP-GEF project provides significant and unique value add, so that the progress towards increased renewable energy and energy efficiency in PNG will be significantly greater than it would have been in the absence of the project. Further, the national consultant should work with the project design team in developing a strong argument as to why the GEF funds will indeed be leveraged to achieve a much stronger impact than would occur in their absence.

Design of Activities:

The national consultant should provide ideas and detailed input as needed for activities to achieve each of the project outputs included in the finalized logframe. Each output will be associated with one or more activities. Activities should be defined in significant detail, so that the project will be “implementation ready” once approved by the GEF. Also, indication should be made of which activities are to be carried out using GEF funds and which activities are to be carried out using co-financing. Working with the project design team, the national consultant should ensure that activities lead towards tangible results that will contribute in a concrete way towards increased application of renewable energy technologies and increased energy efficiency in PNG. Thus, there should be an emphasis on demonstration, policy adoption and implementation, and dissemination and replication of demos, while academic studies, except where critical, should be minimized.

Design of Demos:

Working closely with CCDA and other relevant stakeholders, the national consultant should work to ensure full design of the demos, a description of which will be included in a ProDoc annex. The national consultant should ensure the design of the demos is feasible, both from a technical perspective and a social and financial perspective. Scale and key technical aspects should be designated, as well as location, financing, and partners. Considerable effort may need to be expended to determine the best location for the demos as well as to negotiate cooperation with various parties. Like other project activities, the demos should be designed to be implementation ready once the project begins.

Budget Preparation:

Working with the project design team, the national consultant should provide key inputs for budget preparation. In some cases this may require collection of cost estimates while in others it may involve providing the international consultant with information on typical costs and levels of effort (in work days) in PNG.

CO2 Emissions Analysis:

The national consultant will work with the international consultant and CCDA to develop CO2 emissions reduction analysis for the project.

TOR Preparation:

The national consultant will provide input to the international consultant for preparation of TORs for consultants and personnel to be recruited for the full scale project.

Environmental and Social Assessment Preparation:

The national consultant will gather information and provide input as needed for the project’s Environmental and Social Assessment.

Response to STAP and GEF comments:

The national consultant will provide expert input to facilitate responses to the comments and queries of the STAP and GEF with regard to the PIF.

Project Partner Facilitation for Demos:

The national consultant, working with CCDA, will coordinate with potential partners and help secure their involvement in project demos.

Project Partner Facilitation for Co-Financing:

The national consultant, working CCDA, will coordinate with potential partners and help secure their final commitment for project financing.

Finalization of ProDoc and CER:

The national consultant will provide all other support needed to finalize the ProDoc and CER for submission to the GEF. This will include provision of information for various parts of these documents, participation in the validation workshop after the drafts are complete, and assistance in information gathering/ analysis as needed to respond to comments of the RTA.

Competencies

Technical Competencies:

Strong expertise in engineering with a focus on renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE);
Proven experience in designing renewable energy and energy efficiency installations;
Knowledge of policy, planning, and financing aspects associated with renewable energy and energy efficiency;
Ability to be strategic, creative and proactive in project design.

Core Competencies:

Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of national institutions;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Excellent research and analysis skills, strong technical writing and written communication skills, with ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Good team player with the ability to maintain good relationships;
Good at follow up and keeping to timeline;
Identifies problems and issues requiring further attention when needed.

Required Skills and Experience

Education

Advanced University degree in the field of Engineering with a focus on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and power systems.

Experience

At least 7 years of relevant professional experience in project design, in particular energy efficient or renewable energy; proven multidisciplinary knowledge and experience in the renewable energy and energy efficiency fields, covering, government policy and planning; renewable energy technologies and projects, including challenges and benefits; energy efficiency technologies and projects, including challenges and benefits; financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; capacity building of personnel in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects; awareness raising in the fields of renewable energy and energy efficiency; and feasibility study and design of renewable energy and energy efficiency demo projects;
Proven experience in providing expert inputs and project design to donor funded projects;
Strong research skills and skills in presenting research findings in tables and written summaries;
Experience collaborating with government organizations and conducting liaison work;
Strong network within PNG in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors, including government, utility, and private sector contacts.

Languages:

Excellent oral and written English skills are essential.

Evaluation of applicants

Individual consultants will be evaluated based upon the offer which gives the best value for money based on the Lump Sum proposal submitted, selected by the UNDP PNG Country Office in consultation with the UNDP Asia Pacific Regional Centre Technical Advisor;
The maximum rate that a consultant may bid is the bid which the consultant has listed as part of their financial proposal based on maximum budget limit for this assignment. Consultants are free to bid lower than their maximum rate.

Application procedures

Qualified candidates are requested to apply by 8 March 2016 by sending their application packages to registry.pg@undp.org with the subject line “National Consultant-FREAGER Project Design”.

The application should contain:

Cover letter explaining why the applicant is the most suitable candidate for the advertised position and a brief methodology on how the applicant will approach and conduct the work (if applicable). Please paste the letter into the "Resume and Motivation" section of the electronic application;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees, please upload the P11 instead of your CV;
Financial Proposal* - specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement. The financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days – in home office and on mission, travel --total estimated number of days in the field are 10-- and any other possible costs).

Please note that the financial proposal is all-inclusive and shall take into account various expenses incurred by the consultant/contractor during the contract period (e.g. fee, health insurance, vaccination, office costs and any other relevant expenses related to the performance of services.). All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.
Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner.
Individual Consultants are responsible for ensuring they have vaccinations/inoculations when travelling to certain countries, as designated by the UN Medical Director. Consultants are also required to comply with the UN security directives set forth under dss.un.org

Refer link: http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=28306 for the General Terms and Conditions, P11 form, Terms of Reference, Technical & Financial Proposal template and Procurement Notice.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to a large number of applications we receive, we are able to inform only the successful candidates about the outcome or status of the selection process.

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Please make sure you have provided all requested materials.