Background

In accordance with UNDP and GEF procedures, a team of four consultants is being hired to develop the ESCO Moldova full project. The project is intended to support the development of the first commercial ESCO (Energy Service Company) in Moldova, a public-private partnership between the City of Chisinau and selected investor(s). The ESCO is intended to be launched as a tool to help promote additional investments in the field of energy-efficiency in the municipal sector in Moldova. The purpose of the project preparation grant is to fully design the activities, outputs, and outcomes of ESCO Moldova Project in close cooperation with a team of 3 other consultants (1 international, 2 national), UNDP Moldova office and the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre.

An international ESCO expert is being hired to prepare and finalize the package of documentation to the GEF Secretariat before the end of the year. The documents to be prepared include (i) a UNDP Project Document (ii) a Request for CEO Endorsement and (iii) a GEF Tracking Tool. Copies of the GEF documents can be found: http://www.thegef.org/gef/guidelines_templates

UNDP will provide the consultant with the latest version of the UNDP project document standard template.  

Project description

The ESCO Moldova project is being developed by UNDP and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project aims to promote green urban development in Moldova using the ESCO (Energy Service Company) modality as the means of promoting sustainability. The focus of the ESCO investments will be in areas where the potential for emission savings is largest such as the housing, municipal heating, and industrial sectors that are concentrated in urban centers. In Moldova, there are no cities that can currently be described as green cities, only cities that aspire to become green as for example Chisinau. Urban development is primarily driven by economic considerations and ‘greening’ considerations are for the most part not taken into account. Most Moldovan cities are increasingly in decay and have outmoded urban infrastructure, deteriorated communal housing, poor planning, lack of municipal budget to meet the needs of growing urban populations and urban poverty. All these problems are present in the capital city of Chisinau. Specifically, ensuring maintenance and communal services for multifamily housing remains a key priority for all cities. Multi-family apartment blocks account for 157.2 million m2 or 60% of the housing stock; one out of three (or 50 million m2) is in need of capital renovation, while 3.8 million m2 is in emergency state and has to be demolished. Regardless of technical conditions, over 70% of multifamily apartment buildings have very low thermal performance (especially buildings constructed in 1950 -1980s): thermal losses account for up to 50% of heat consumption.

ESCOs, a concept widely proven in the United States and Europe, and has proven a useful tool to promote energy savings through energy performance contracting and shared savings agreements.In the baseline situation, no municipal ESCOs are likely to be sucessfully launched in Moldova in the next four years. In Moldova, as of early 2013, not a single ESCO exists in the country and there is almost no experience with working with ESCOs. In the absence of this project, and in the absence of GEF funding it is highly unlikely that a properly capitalized ESCO with the proper expertise will exist in Moldova in the next four years. The reason is simple. The ESCO concept is new to Moldova and there is no prior successful experience with energy performance contracting and there is no advantage in being a first mover. The first mover in the ESCO business in Moldova will have additional costs associated with legal and regulatory issues and related to the fact that energy performance contracts are new instruments which have not yet been tested in the market place. However, the regulatory basis for ESCOs in Moldova is moving in the right direction with a new law energy-efficiency, Law 142, which was adopted in 2010.

Energy-Efficiency Law 142 has as its main purpose to harmonize Moldovan law related to energy-efficiency with the relevant EU directives. The Energy-efficiency Law 142 a) establishes main directions for energy efficiency national policy; b) Approves national energy efficiency programs and action plans; c) Elaborate and apply energy efficiency mechanisms and financial instruments for and d) Establish organizational order, structure and activity procedures for the state energy efficiency authority. In particular, it sets minimum standards for energy-efficiency, requires energy audits, and promotes the establishment of a regulatory framework which would encourage the creation of ESCOs. The law defines ESCOs and the concept of Energy Performance Contracts (EPC). 

Despite the existence of Energy-Efficiency Law 142, there are no sub-laws or regulations which would define how ESCOs would operate in Moldova. There are several other baseline activities that Moldova is participating in including the Economic Stabilization and Recovery Plan 2009-2011 (2009); National Development Strategy 2008-2011 (2008); Energy Strategy 2020 (2007); Copenhagen Accord to the Kyoto Protocol (2010); National Energy Efficiency Program for 2011-2020 (2010); Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS) to year 2010 (pending adoption 2012);-       Government’s Activity Program 2011-2014 (2011); National Strategy for Development Moldova 2020 (2012). However, none of these activities specifically promotes the concept of ESCOs for green urban development. Therefore, in the baseline situation and without this project it can be concluded that it would be unlikely for a municipal ESCO to sucessfully be launched under the business-as-usual scenario.

Energy service company (ESCo) - natural or legal person that delivers energy services and / or other energy efficiency improvement measures in an user’s facilities or premises, and accepts some degree of financial risk in doing so. The payment for the services delivered is based (in whole or in part) on achievement of energy efficiency improvements and on the meeting of the other agreed performance criteria

Duties and Responsibilities

The responsibility of the international ESCO expert is to work with the team of consultants (international corporate finance expert, national energy sector expert and national stakeholders consultation expert) to develop project documentation that will be acceptable to the GEF in order that the ESCO Moldova project can be fully approved and can start in 2014. It is envisaged that the international consultant will need to make two missions to Moldova, one in the summer of 2013 (which includes participation in a stakeholder workshop) and one at the end of the year.

Expected deliverables

The key products to be delivered are as follows:
  • A detailed project workplan detailing all the project outputs and when they will be delivered (at the start of the assignment)
  • A Project Baseline Report which defines in detail the baseline of the project (following mission 1)
  • A draft GEF Request for CEO endorsement, UNDP project document, and GEF tracking tool (following mission 1)
  • A finalized GEF Request for CEO endorsement, UNDP project document, GEF tracking tool which incorporates the comments of all key stakeholders and the GEF Secretariat following their first review of the project (following mission 2).

In addition, the international consultant is expected to provide detailed comments and inputs and suggestions for improvement to the business development report of the corporate finance experts and the draft business plan and the draft term sheet/MoU between the investor and the City of Chisinau. The assignment is viewed as a team assignment and the international consultant should support the work of the other consultants.

Prior to approval of the Request for CEO Endorsement, UNDP Project Document, and GEF Tracking Tool, a draft version shall be submitted for comments to UNDP by 31 October 2013.

UNDP and the stakeholders will submit comments and suggestions within 10 working days after receiving the draft. It is envisaged that the finalized package of documents shall be submitted by the end of end of 2013 to GEF Secretariat.

Competencies

Functional Competencies:
  • Strong interpersonal skills, communication and diplomatic skills, ability to work in a team
  • Ability to plan and organize his/her work, efficient in meeting commitments, observing deadlines and achieving results
  • Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback
  • Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations
  • Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities
Corporate Competencies:
  • Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
  • Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
  • Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability
  • Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
  • Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Required Skills and Experience

Education

  • Graduate degree in economics, engineering, environmental science or equivalent experience.
Experience:
  • Experience in developing projects related to energy-efficiency and energy savings
  • Experience working with ESCOs (Energy Service Companies) 
  • Recent knowledge (in last 3 years) of successfully developing a new GEF energy and/or climate change related project document and GEF request for CEO endorsement which was approved by GEF Secretariat 
  • Experience working with UNDP on energy sector projects 
  • Experience working with other international organizations on projects in the energy sector 
  • Experience working in the Eastern Europe and CIS region
  • Experience working in the energy sector and in developing countries
Language requirements:
  • Fluent in written and oral communication in English
  • Knowledge of Romanian or/and Russian will be a strong asset.

Management arrangements:

Responsibility for Managing the Consultant

The International Expert will report to the Head of Environment Section of UNDP Moldova and to the Regional Technical Advisor on Climate Change Mitigation at the UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre.

Payment for Services

The Expert shall be paid in three installments as follows:

Milestone 1 Submission of detailed workplan for the assignment and questionnaire for national consultants listing all the data and information which needs to be collected 30% (prior to mission 1)

Milestone 2 and Milestone 3 Submission of Baseline Section of draft GEF Request for CEO Endorsement and Project Document (milestone 2) and then Submission of the draft GEF Request for CEO Endorsement and UNDP Project Document (milestone 3) for submission to GEF Secretariat– 30% (following mission 1)

Milestone 3 Finalization of GEF CEO endorsement request and UNDP Project document incorporating all comments received from GEF Secretariat on the first review  40% (following mission 2)

All travel should be paid for by the expert as part of the lump sum for services.

Responsibility for Expenses and their Reimbursement

The Consultant will be responsible for all personal administrative and travel expenses associated with undertaking this assignment including office accommodation, printing, stationary, telephone and electronic communications, and report copies incurred in this assignment. During the missions to Moldova, the office accommodation, printing, stationary and all related services will be provided by UNDP Moldova. The cost of travel to Chisinau and the cost of hotel accommodation and expenses should be included as part of the lump sum. In the unlikely event that a third mission is required to Chisinau then UNDP will cover this cost. At the current point in time, only two missions are envisaged as being required.

Financial Proposal
 
Lump sum contracts  

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR. In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (number of anticipated working days – in home office and on mission, travel – international and local, per diems and any other possible costs), preferably according the above template.

Travel

The International Expert will have two missions to Moldova: the first mission is anticipated for July 2013, the second - for September/October 2013. The number of days spent in Moldova for each mission is 5 days.

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel. In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

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...).   

Payments will be made only upon confirmation of UNDP on delivering on the contract obligations in a satisfactory manner in accordance with milestones.

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

Applications

Applications can be from individuals or from a company. In the event a company is applying, then UNDP can use the reimbursable loan agreement (RLA) modality for contracting. Companies which apply to this tender should use on the application only the CV of the one person who is applying for the consultancy position and not provide detailed company background.

Qualified women and members of minorities are encouraged to apply.

Due to 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 including brief cover letter, P11, CV, and financial proposal as either one or several attachments to your email. Incomplete applications (after the deadline) will not be considered. Late applications which are submitted after the deadline will also not be considered.

Evaluation

Initially, individual consultants will be short-listed based on the following minimum qualification criteria:

  • Graduate degree in economics, engineering, environmental science or equivalent experience
  • Experience in developing projects related to energy-efficiency and energy savings 
The short-listed individual consultants will be further evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

  • Responsive/compliant/acceptable, and
  • Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.
Technical Criteria – 60% of total evaluation – max. 300 points:
  • Graduate degree in economics, engineering, environmental science or equivalent experience - up to 30 points;
  • Experience in developing projects related to energy-efficiency and energy savings - up to 45 points;
  • Experience working with ESCOs (Energy Service Companies) - up to 35 points;
  • Recent knowledge (in last 3 years) of successfully developing a new GEF energy and/or climate change related project document and GEF request for CEO endorsement which was approved by GEF Secretariat - up to 35 points; 
  • Experience working with UNDP on energy sector projects - up to 30 points;
  • Experience working with other international organizations on projects in the energy sector - up to 25 points;
  • Interview (demonstrated technical knowledge and experience; communication/ interpersonal skills; initiative; creativity/ resourcefulness) - up to 100 points.

Financial Criteria 40% of total evaluation – maximum 200 points.

The winning candidate will be the candidate, who has accumulated the highest aggregated score (technical scoring + financial scoring).

FC: 62000