UNDP Jobs - 83655- International Consultant to facilitate the Integra

International Consultant to facilitate the Integration of Small-Scale Renewable Installations

Location :

Home-based and Podgorica, MONTENEGRO

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

29-Mar-2019

Application Deadline :

04-Mar-19 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

29 March 2019 – 30 June 2019

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

45 consultancy 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

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), acting as an implementing agency of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is supporting Government of Montenegro, specifically the Ministry of Sustainable development and Tourism (MSDT), to implement a 36-month project “Growing Green business in Montenegro”. The project is jointly financed by the GEF, MSDT, Investment Development Fund and municipalities. The objective of the project is to promote low emission business initiatives and decarbonization of Montenegrin economy.

All activities and measures undertaken by the project will need to result in tangible greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions reduction and are to be considered from the perspective of climate smart planning. Project provides assistance in the establishment of “Eco Fund” and further development of Green Business incubator in Cetinje as well as performance based payment schemes with the goal to provide initial capital for relevant stakeholders (including public and private companies, municipalities, research-scientific institutions, civil society organizations, individuals) for initiation, development and testing of the most innovative project ideas, including the opportunity for further co-financing of the most successful solutions. Through the future grant and incentive program, the project seeks to actively engage with the relevant stakeholders to jointly develop, finance and implement these ideas further.

Government subsidies represented significant motivating factor for development of renewable energy power production facilities in general. With falling prices of the renewable energy technologies, investments in RES became increasingly attractive and market competitive even without government support. However, in practice, this development refers to large-scale investments only, such as investments in large wind or solar farms. It is very important to understand current development environment, possibilities and limitations of smaller-scale decentralized solar production within the existing regulatory framework established to encourage competition in electric power production industry, as well as to increase the industry efficiency by means of market mechanisms.

The Guidelines that will be created under this assignment should secure information and recommendations on legal, commercial and technical aspects of integration of small-scale renewable installations. Once the existing framework and its limitations are known and addressed this would secure more opportunities in tapping into potentials of renewables which could remain unused if the new business models for operations of renewable energy-based power plants are not introduced and implemented. This is precisely the reason why project “Growing Green business in Montenegro” contains grant component that could financially support future businesses which will base their business models on the guidelines developed under this assignment.

UNDP is seeking for the technical assistance in developing analysis of current legal and technical regulation resulting in clear guidelines and recommendation on Integration of Small-Scale Renewable Installations.

Objective of the assignment

The purpose of the assignment is to provide technical assistance and develop Guidelines on Integration of Small-Scale Renewable Installations. The focus of the work will be on identifying existing legal and financial framework for installation of small-scale solar installations, existing and potential gaps which will serve as a base for development of recommendations and guidelines on integration of small-scale renewable installations. The purpose of the assignment is to support development of decentralized solar energy market in Montenegro by de-risking investments and sourcing innovative technologies in local communities. The overall objective of the assignment is to improve business conditions in the sector of decentralized renewable energy sources (renewables) by means of development of innovative business models for production and use of solar energy, to create market for and facilitate wider use of solar energy in Montenegro.

Duties and Responsibilities

The overall objective of the technical assistance is to formulate common position of different stakeholders in the Montenegro when considering the way forward to incentivize small scale renewable installations.
Under the direct supervision of the UNDP Project Manager, selected consultant shall perform the following tasks:
Inception phase:
Following the signature of the contract and development of initial activities, the selected consultant shall prepare and submit the Inception Report. Inception Report shall summarize all initial activities, site visits, status of existing documentation, eventual issues, problems, bottlenecks etc. The inception report will contain outline of the Final report and its content to be discussed with national counterparts.
Inception phase should result in clear work plan, needed inputs and list of partners to be interviewed to achieve results expected under Task 1 to 3 (listed below).
Following inception phase, selected consultant will focus on achieving following results:

Task 1:

Analysis and recommendations of LEGAL, COMMERCIAL AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK.
The report should have, but not be limited to the following parts:

Assessments of current legal and regulatory framework from the perspective of integration of small-scale renewable installations
Detailed assessment of legal and regulatory framework relevant for the assignment, including energy law, spatial planning and building development, building codes and legally required documents for business operation (consents, licenses, permits, accreditations etc.), and other relevant national policies and regulations;
Assessment and choice of the commercial schemes relevant for specific prosumer’s categories;
Assessment of regulatory framework with regard to the excess energy value;
Assessment of regulatory framework with regard to the network tariffs to be applied for prosumer’s class of network users;
Assessment of legal and regulatory framework with regard to the other taxes and levies (excl. VAT);
Initial assessment of the VAT legislation issue relevant to the application of net metering/billing schemes;
Assessments of current problematic issues, possible solutions and evaluation of each solutions (viability, risks and advantages).

Task 2:

Analysis and recommendations of the GRID INTEGRATION AND TECHNOLOGY AND CAPACITY CRITERIA.

Assessments of current technology framework from the perspective of integration of small-scale renewable installations into MNE grid;
Detailed assessment of the technical requirements, both on the prosumer’s demand and supply side, including connection requirements pertaining to the national electricity distribution system;
Assessments of current problematic issues, possible solutions and evaluation of each solutions (viability, risks and advantages).

Task 3:

Compiling information from Task 1 and2 into a complete package of information for the most cost effective and efficient solar PV technology, taking into account post-installation maintenance costs and service. Special attention should be placed on the calculation of the industry benchmark values which in turn will be used for programme/project development purposes.

Account of any issues that may impact on the installation or performance of an installed solar PV array;
Key areas risk assessment and suggested mitigation actions.

Time duration and travel: The consultant will be engaged on short-term basis for the period of 45 days under Individual Contract. The planed tasks will be executed on part time basis during the period from 29 March until 30 June 2019.
Assignment is home based with total of 10 field working days and visits to Montenegro.

Competencies

Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission and strategic goals of UN/UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Ability to lead strategic planning, results-based management and reporting;
Builds strong relationships with clients, focuses on impact and result for the client and responds positively to feedback;
Consistently approaches work with energy and a positive, constructive attitude;
Demonstrates good oral and written communication skills;
Demonstrates ability to manage complexities and work under pressure, as well as conflict resolution skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Degree in Economic Science, Accounting, Electrical science, or area relevant for the published ToR.
At least MSc as advanced degree in the area relevant for the published ToR.

Experience:

At least 5 years of working experience in the field of power sector regulation, Internal Electricity Market, Renewables
Experience in preparation of policy papers, gap assessments and/or legislative/regulatory analyses.
Experience with Prosumer concept.
Demonstrated knowledge of WB region.
Experience with the usage of various systems analysis methods and techniques.

Language:

Fluency in local language and intermediate English level knowledge is required.

Other

Capability to work effectively under deadline pressure and to take on a range of responsibilities;
Ability to work in a team, good decision-making skills, communication and writing skills.

Criteria for selection:

Combined Scoring method will be used. When using this weighted scoring method, the award of the contract should be made to the inidividual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as: (i) responsive, compliant, acceptable, and (ii) having received the highest score out of a pre-determined set of weighted technical and financial criteria specific to the solicitation.

Technical criteria weight - 70% (Background and education 10%; Relevant previous experience 20%; Substantial knowledge/Required competencies 30%; Required language 10%);
Financial criteria weight - 30%.

Only offerors obtaining a minimum 490 points for technical criteria will be considered for the financial evaluation. For more information on procurement methodology for Individual Contractors, please refer to Procurement Notice.

Application procedure:

Interested applicants are requested to submit their applications by March 4, 2019 by using the Apply now button. The application should contain CV or P11 that can be downloaded at http://www.me.undp.org/content/montenegro/en/home/operations/jobs.html. Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file.

Only the short-listed applicants will be contacted and requested to submit a letter of interest including a price quotation indicating the lump sum (in EUR) requested for the work envisaged in the section "Description of Responsibilities".