UNDP Jobs - 72417- International Consultant

International Consultant – Specialist on Pumps

Location :

Home based with 1 mission to ASHGABAT, TURKMENISTAN

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

10-Jun-2017

Application Deadline :

30-May-17 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

10.06.2017-30.12.2018

Languages Required :

English Russian

Expected Duration of Assignment :

35 working days

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

As problems of water management, energy consumption, land degradation (salinization), and agricultural productivity are all closely intertwined in Turkmenistan, so too are potential solutions. The project will address these problems through integrated activities, with a goal toward achieving multiple benefits in different areas. Thus improved water management will lead not only to greater water availability, but also to significant energy savings, avoided GHG emissions, and reduced salinization. Application of new renewable-energy solutions in water management will lead not only to avoided GHG emissions, but also to greater water availability in remote populated areas. This integrated approach will be practically applied and technically proven first at specific sites in the Akhal velayat, then replicated across the country through region-specific planning and outreach, as well as supporting policies and investment at the national level.

The project’s activities are organized into four components:

Component 1 will introduce new technologies in irrigated agriculture and pumping for energy efficiency, water conservation, and sustainable land management (SLM);
Component 2 will scale-up investment in new and expanded efficient water-management infrastructure;
Component 3 will deliver local and region-specific planning and educational outreach for IWRM and SLM among farmers and water-sector designers and managers;
Component 4 develops and supports implementation of policy reform for IWRM.

The first two components will constitute the technical foundation of the project. For agriculture and infrastructure, respectively, these components will identify, verify, and document the most promising ways to save water, increase energy efficiency, and reduce water-related root causes of land degradation in Turkmenistan. The components will generate technical and financial performance data and practical experience to be used to plan and provide necessary justification to scale-up public investment and technology deployment nationwide.

While the first two components define the technical opportunity and priorities for replication, the second two components will seek to carry actual replication out on a national scale. The third component supports replication from the bottom up via development of action plans at the regional and district levels across the country, as well as educational outreach and capacity-building among farmers and local water-management personnel. The fourth component will work from the top down, defining and implementing policies, programmes, and investment plans for integrated water management and SLM at the national level.

Moving billions of cubic meters of water over thousands of kilometers requires vast inputs of energy. Turkmenistan’s networks of canals and drainage collectors, as well as its wells, are served by several thousand pumping stations. Most of this powered infrastructure dates back to the Soviet era and has not been replaced. Due to its sheer size, but also inefficiencies resulting from age, insufficient maintenance, and other factors water management is the second largest power-consuming sector in Turkmenistan, accounting for about 25 percent of total power consumption.

In addition, in remote areas not connected to the electric grid, especially in the Dashoguz velayat, diesel fuel is used to run over thousand pumps. This equipment varies widely in water-pumping capacity and energy consumption rates, with most consuming about 14 liters of diesel fuel per hour of operation. Based on a conservative estimate of 700 hours of operation per year per pump, the project team estimates that diesel-powered water pumps in Turkmenistan collectively consume about 15 million liters of fuel per year. Consequently, irrigation and water supply is responsible for a large and growing share of national GHG emissions.

There are three major ways to raise energy efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and curtail associated GHG emissions from the water management sector. The first is to reduce water losses and consumption, thereby reducing pumping volumes and pumping energy consumption throughout the system. The second is to increase the efficiency of pumps and other energy-using infrastructure. The third is to replace pumps and other infrastructure with more efficient or renewable technology.

The project will carry out audits of at least hundred pumps, including at least twenty-five diesel pumps, across the whole range of sizes and levels within the water management system, from large water intake facilities to farms. These audits will assess pump efficiency and energy consumption, as well as operating schedule, overall operating condition, and will provide recommendations for repair or replacement as warranted. This activity will include not only the audits, but also servicing and replacement of pumps where most needed and other remedial measures.

The UNDP plans to recruit an international Pump Specialist to perform the actions outlined below for the EERE Project.

Duties and Responsibilities

In accordance with the above-mentioned objective of the assignment and under the supervision of the Project Manager and Portfolio Manager, the International Consultant (IC) will be tasked to perform the following duties and responsibilities:

Action one: Read the relevant sections of the project document, reports by International and National consultants, project targets and indicators in relation to pump audit as well as other relevant information provided by the project team and identify potential opportunities for reduction of energy consumption resulting from repair and/or replacement of inefficient pumps and other remedial activities;
Action two: Provide guidance, advice and methodological support to National expert on electric and diesel pumps on pump audits and take part in audit of several pumps in Turkmenistan;
Action three: Prepare a detailed list of key baseline data to be collected and/or obtained by the local experts in relation to pump audit of selected pumps as well as data to be collected over the implementation of the pilot projects;
Action four: Review the data collected by the National expert on electric and diesel pumps and calculate baseline energy consumption and potential for energy savings for each pilot project and overall for all projects;
Action five: Based on the data collected by the National expert on electric and diesel pumps prepare comparative analysis of projected pump performance before and after remedial measures under the project;
Action six: Prepare preliminary report with quantitative baseline of pump performance, clear recommendations for efficiency improvements and investment return projections;
Action seven: Provide regular advice and support to the project national experts and the Project Manager on project’s relevant activities;
Action eight: Prepare a detailed final report on the assignment, including challenges, lessons learned and recommendation for implementation of projects activities.

Deliverables and timeframe:

Deliverable 1 prepared through actions 1, 2 and 3 above:

Brief report outlining recommendations to local expert on electric and diesel pumps prepared;
A list of key baseline data to be collected/obtained by the project team in relation to pump audit of selected pumps as well as data to be collected over the implementation of the pilot projects are prepared.

Location: Home based. Number of days: 5 days.

Deliverable 2 prepared through actions 4,5 and 6 above:

Data collected by the project team assessed and baseline energy consumption and potential for energy savings for each pilot project and overall for all projects calculated;
Comparative analysis of baseline pump performance vis-à-vis projected pump performance after remedial measures prepared;
Consultancy report on quantitative baseline of pump performance, clear recommendations to improve efficiency and payback time on investments prepared.

Location: Home based and mission to Turkmenistan. Number of days: 20 days.

Deliverable 3 prepared though actions 7 and 8 above:

Regular email/skype communication with the project team maintained;
Final consultancy report on overall assignment, including challenges, lessons learned and recommendations for implementation of project activities prepared.

Location: Home based. Number of days: 10 days in 2017.

Payment conditions:

This is an installment-based contract that should cover the costs of consultancy required to produce the above deliverables. The final schedule of payments will be agreed upon in the beginning of consultancy. Payment will be released in three installments: 1st installment: 20% (for deliverables 1), 2nd installment: 50% (for deliverables 2) and 3rd instalment: 30% (for deliverable 3) – upon timely submission of respective deliverables and their acceptance by UNDP Turkmenistan.

Competencies

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.

Functional Competencies:

Knowledge of and work experience in the energy efficiency related water and agriculture projects, including those funded by the GEF;
Excellent training, facilitation and communication skills;
Results driven, ability to work under pressure and to meet required deadlines;
Good understanding and experience in the field of GHG emissions calculation and monitoring.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

University degree (technical) in the field of engineering and/or construction; advanced degree in aforementioned fields will be viewed as an advantage.

Experience:

At least 5 years of working experience in the design of pump systems and implementation of pump audits;
Good knowledge of international standards and methodologies of pump audit;
Previous relevant work experience with the UN or other international organizations is an asset;
Knowledge and experience of work in the CIS or Central Asia is an advantage.

Language requirements:

Fluent English. Knowledge of Russian is preferred.

Submission of applications:

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:

All experts applying for this position are required to provide:

Brief (1-2 pages) methodology for the assignment;
Financial Proposal with the references to (1) the daily rate for the assignment and within the timing scale indicated in the present TOR, and (2) any other expenses (including transportation costs, accommodation costs, the possibility of vaccination and etc.). Template of the form can be found at: http://www.tm.undp.org/content/turkmenistan/en/home/operations/jobs. The UNDP will enter into an Individual Contract based on a lump sum amounts. The financial proposal shall represent a detailed, justified and “all inclusive” amount. In order to assist UNDP in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal shall include a breakdown of this lump sum amount, including: a daily fee for the tasks and an estimated duration as specified in this announcement, travel (to and from the missions), per diems, any other possible costs (including vaccinations, dwelling, communication etc.);
Cover letter explaining why they are the most suitable candidate for the assignment;
Filled P11 form including past experience in similar projects and contact details of referees (blank form can be downloaded from http://europeandcis.undp.org/files/hrforms/P11_modified_for_SCs_and_ICs.doc.

Evaluation of proposals:

Individual Consultants will be evaluated based on the combined scoring methodology. When using this method, the award of the contract should be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

Responsive/compliant and
Having received the highest score – out of 100 points

Out of the maximum score, the score for technical criteria equals 70% - maximum 70 points, and for financial criteria 30% - maximum 30 points.

The technical evaluation will take into account the following as per the scoring provided:

Education in engineering and/or construction – 20 pts;
The experience (5 years) in the design of pump systems and implementation of pump audits – 25 pts;
Methodology – 10 pt;
Good knowledge of international standards and methodologies of pump audit – 15 pts;
Previous relevant work experience with the UN and in the CIS or Central Asia – 10 pts;
Fluency in English – 10 pts;
Fluency in Russian – 10 pts.

Financial proposal – 30% of total evaluation - max 30 pts.

Additional requirements for recommended contractor:

Recommended contractors aged 62 and older, and if the travel is required, shall undergo a full medical examination including x-ray, and obtain medical clearance from the UN-approved doctor prior to taking up their assignment. The medical examination is to be cleared by the UN physicians, and shall be paid by the consultant.