Background

Power Division is implementing GEF-Funded Project “Development of Sustainable Renewable Energy Power generation (SREPGen)”. The objective of the Project is to reduce the annual growth rate of GHG emissions from the fossil fuel-based power generation by exploiting Bangladesh’s renewable energy resources for electricity generation. The basic approach of the Project will be to promote renewable energy in Bangladesh through the recently established Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA). For Bangladesh to achieve a greater share of renewable energy (RE) in its energy mix, the Project will support activities that will (i) transform SREDA into a strong RE project facilitation center to bring confidence to private RE investors and increase the number of approved RE projects; (ii) increase the capacities of appropriate government agencies to generate, process, obtain and disseminate reliable RE resource information for use by potential project developers and investors; (iii) increase the affordability of photo-voltaic solar lanterns (PVSLs) for low income households by supporting pilot PVSL diffusion activities; and (iv) increase the share of RE in Bangladesh’s power mix through facilitating the financing, implementation and operation of pilot (RE) energy projects using rice husk and solar panels. The lessons learned from the pilot plants will be utilized to scale-up the dissemination of PVSLs and investment in on-grid RE projects and RE technologies.

Bangladesh is an agriculture-based country where more than 65 percent of the people live in rural areas and major portion of primary energy consumed in rural area is supplied by biomass, mainly agricultural residues, animal dung and wood fuels.

Electricity production in Bangladesh mainly depends on non-renewable fossil fuels having limited reserves. The government is now focusing on the alternative sources of energy to harness electricity to meet the continuous increasing demand. To reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, conversion of biomass to electricity could play an important role in this regard.

It is planned to study the availability of different type of biomass fuels (e.g. tree residue, agriculture residues and animal dung and poultry litters, etc.) and to assess their prospects for generation of electricity.

SREPGen will implement renewable energy resource mapping covering biomass, solar and wind. This initiative covers comprehensive resource assessment for each RE resource, including ground-based data collection. As SREDA will be the information hub for renewable energy investment and SREDA will continue to work for development of renewable energy and energy efficiency; so all types of data on renewable energy resources are essential to promote renewable energy for power generation.

With the view above, SREPGen will engage a consultancy firm/organizations/research institutes to assess and mapping biomass resources with geographic information system (GIS) in Bangladesh and to design a number of small-scale biomass based power plants for piloting.

For devolving TOR for the firm and implementation, supervision and monitoring of this assessment, SREPGen project is seeking for an Individual National Consultant.

Objective:

The consultant will develop, design, supervise, monitor and evaluate a Biomass Resource Assessment and Mapping study to be carried out by a Consulting Firm to be appointed by  SREPGen Project.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of work:

The consultancy is expected to be concluded by 30 September 2017. S/he will attend to the following tasks:

Deliverables:

The National Consultant – Biomass Resource Assessment Specialist will report to and deliver her/his outputs to the Project Manager, SREPGen Project, SREDA, Power Division. The deliverables will be the following:

1. TOR for bio mass assessment and mapping.
2. Review report of Inception report submitted by the Consulting firm.
3. Report of implementation supervision and monitoring of biomass assessment.
4. Evaluation Report on interim report submitted by the firm for biomass assessment.
5. Final evaluation report on firm’s submitted final biomass assessment report.

Supervision and Performance Evaluation:

The Consultant will work closely with the Project Manager, SREPGen Project, SREDA, Power Division under the guidance of Programme Specialist -Environmental Sustainability and Energy of UNDP

Timeframe and Deadline:

The assignment is for a total of 48 days over a period of 12 months from its commencement from October 2016 to September 2017.

Tentative payment schedule:

• 1st payment (25% of total contract value) – Timeline: - Within 7 working days of the assignment- will be paid after submission and acceptance of Inception Report, Methodology of works, TOR for bio mass assessment and mapping.
• 2nd payment (10% of total contract value) - Timeline: Within 16 working days of the assignment -will be paid after submission and acceptance of Review report of Inception report submitted by the Consulting firm.
• 3rd payment (10% of total contract value)-Timeline: Within 20 working days of the assignment - will be paid after submission and acceptance of Evaluation Report on interim report submitted by the firm for biomass assessment.
• 4th payment (35% of total contract value)-Timeline: Within 42 working days of the assignment - will be paid after submission and acceptance of Report of implementation supervision and monitoring of biomass assessment.
• Final payment (20% of total contract value)-Timeline: Within 48 working days of the assignment - will be paid after submission and acceptance of Final evaluation report on firm’s submitted final biomass assessment report.

 Duty Station

Dhaka with frequent field visits.

Inputs:

All other inputs including the laptop with necessary software packages to carry out the service will have to be borne by the consultant.

Competencies

• Excellent writing skills in English and Bangla with strong interpersonal skills;
• Ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;
• Ability to work independently and participate effectively in team-based environment;
• Proven networking, team-building, organizational and communication skills;
• Demonstrates openness in sharing information and keeping people informed;
• Shares knowledge and experience.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic qualifications:

• Must have at least a Master’s degree in electrical, chemical or mechanical engineering, or closely related discipline. PhD degree holder will get preferences.

Experience:

• Must have at least 20 years of professional experience in the development of renewable energy/conducting energy resource assessment/renewable energy study/research;
• Experience of conducting/supervising and monitoring minimum two similar studies in the field of biomass or renewable energy resource assessment;
• Involvement in development of national policy/ies related to biomass or supporting guidelines is an advantage;
• Should have good knowledge and working experience with development partners;
• Should have good involvement in formulations of relevant national policies and other regulatory frameworks;
• PhD preferred with good records of in renewable energy related publications in internationally peer reviewed journal;

Language:

• Fluency of English language is required.

Lump sum contracts:

The National Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be a fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration.

Evaluation of the Candidates:

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Cumulative analysis-

The award of the contract will be made to the individual consultant up on Cumulative Analysis/evaluation and determined as:

1. Responsive/compliant/acceptable; and
2. Having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation;

Only candidates obtaining a minimum 70% mark in technical evaluation will be considered eligible for financial evaluation.

Technical Evaluation Criteria (Total 70 marks):

1. Level and relevance of Education obtained; (10 marks)
2. Professional experience in the development of renewable energy /conducting energy resource assessment/renewable energy study/research; (30 marks)
3. Working experience with UN/donors/GoB; (10 marks)
4. Involvement in formulations of relevant national policies and other regulatory frameworks;(20 marks).

Financial Evaluation (Total 30 marks)

All technical qualified proposals will be scored out 30 based on the formula provided below.

The maximum points (30) will be assigned to the lowest financial proposal. All other proposals received points according to the following formula:

p = y (µ/z)

Where:

• p = points for the financial proposal being evaluated;
• y = maximum number of points for the financial proposal;
• µ = price of the lowest priced proposal;
• z = price of the proposal being evaluated.

Documents to be included when submitting the proposals:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Proposers who shall not submit below mentioned documents will not be considered for further evaluation.

• Personal CV or P11, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references; P11 can be downloaded from the link below: http://www.bd.undp.org/content/bangladesh/en/home/operations/jobs/
• Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment and a methodology on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial Proposal: Financial Proposal has to be submitted through a standard interest and availability template which can be downloaded from the link below:

http://www.bd.undp.org/content/dam/bangladesh/docs/Jobs/Interest%20and%20Submission%20of%20Financial%20Proposal-Template%20for%20Confirmation.docx

Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.