Background
UNDP is the UN's global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. UNDP Country Office in Cambodia works in partnership with the Royal Government of Cambodia, non-government organizations, civil society organizations, community-based organizations, multilateral aid agencies, bilateral donors and private sector to support the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To support the implementation of the country programme 2019-2023, the Policy and Innovation Hub (PIH) plays an important role within the country office to develop high level policy and technical advisory support to the government. Its work guided by three set of strategies (1) research, policy and innovation, (2) communication, and (3) programming. Through the policy, research and innovation, communications, and programming, the PIH is expected to deliver the two main outputs (1) Prosperity, and (2) Planet. Climate change, natural resources, circular economy and energy are the focused areas of the Output 2, i.e. Planet.
Because of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and related lockdowns, a major proportion of global workforce are operating “work from home”, including in Cambodia. This is leading to an increased use of energy at homes in the form of air conditioning for space cooling, lighting, running appliances and electric equipment. This is increasing the peak power demand on grid during the day apart from raising monthly electricity bill of households on top of already impacted livelihoods because of the pandemic. Under these circumstances, many households find it challenging as their affordability to pay the utility bills had impacted significantly because of disrupted livelihoods. To address these challenges, UNDP received core funds to respond to these challenges by closely working with concerned ministries and departments in Cambodia.
Therefore, proposed activities under this TOR will support MEF to analyze electricity tariffs released in early 2020 considering the time of use, peak and off-peak periods, scenario analysis for integration and influence of demand side management measures including rooftop solar. Further, it is expected to analyze cost and benefit analysis of different electricity generation systems. All these are important in shaping post-COVID economic revival. Increased use of renewable and alternative energy sources may reduce increased dependence on fossil fuel, and reduced pressure on foreign exchange reserves by turning to alternative energy solutions such as solar energy.
Duties and Responsibilities
In close collaboration and cooperation with Energy Team based at MEF, the individual consultant will undertake the following tasks. Outputs from these tasks should be practical at field level than to remain as theoretical analysis.
Conduct a detailed cost and benefit analysis (CBA) of different electricity generation systems with a detailed cost assessment of electricity pricing for each production phases (generation, transmission, distribution and retail segments) of Cambodia’s energy market. This analysis must include its generation potential, implementation timeline and investment analysis. Investment analysis shall consider uncertainties related to the monetary values (e.g. buying cost, rate of interest, maintenance cost, future cost of energy, etc.), and parameters which affect the monetary quantities (e.g. anticipated life time of the product, malfunctionsfrequency,expectedsavingofconventionalenergy,variabilityofmeteorologicalconditions, uncertainties related to the performance testing results of the systems etc.);
Analysis of different energy mix scenarios to achieve optimal cost of electricity generation and to reduce the electricity blackout rate in the case of Cambodia;
Analysis of electricity market structure that best suits Cambodia’s current context monopolistic/oligopolistic or competitive market for generation, through survey of regulatory policies, its influence on electricity prices and forecasting techniques for assessing electricity price. This analysis must consider influence of energy efficiency on the price of electricity;
Assessment of Time of Use (TOU) tariff impact on different type of consumers and rooftop solar users including an analysis on energy security, grid stability, capacity charge, energy tariff rate for peak and low loads using the real time data;
Conduct training on the CBA to Energy Team personnel at MEF;
Prepare a roadmap and capacity assessment to establish an energy unit in the MEF. The roadmap shall include the mandates of the unit and capacity building plan; and
An assessment of financing options for investments in energy sector in Cambodia to improve reliability and affordability for consumers connected to low voltage line. This assessment shall include a section for electrification of 1,037 villages that are difficult to reach with grid extension by using possible investments in renewable and alternative energy sources.
Competencies
Technical Compentecies:
Strong knowledge of government policies in power/energy sector and strategies related to the RE and EE measures;
Past practices in developing training modules in energy planning, conversion technologies, and demand side management is an added advantage;
Excellent organizational skills, especially for facilitating meetings and writing reports; and
Good interpersonal/communication skills.
Functional Compentencies:
- 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;
Required Skills and Experience
Education:
At least postgraduate degree in Electrical/Power Engineering and/or Energy Economics or a related discipline or a combination of appropriate Bachelor and Postgraduate degrees;
Experience
At least 7 years of work experience in fields of energy markets, regulatory policies, economic analysis and/or financing of energy systems, energy management and process engineering sector particularly in the field of implementation of high-impact, cost-effective energy management and process engineering solutions;
Demonstrated experience working with governments and international organizations in a developing country context, where such experience in south-east Asia is an added advantage;
Demonstrated experience in implementing community level energy solutions;
Experience in liaising and working with stakeholders, in particular public and private sector parties
Experience in designing and facilitating capacity building processes, consultations and coordination processes;
Language Requirement:
- Excellent writing, editing and oral communication skills in English is required.
Interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=66283 more detail information about term of references, instructions to offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer through online.
UNDP reserves right to reject any applications that is incomplete.
Please be informed that we don’t accept application submitted via email.
Interested Offerors are required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system. 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. Your online applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload maximum one document.
Interested individual offeror must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications:
1. Proposal:
(i) Letter of interest/proposal, explaining why the applicant considers him- or herself the most suitable for the work.
(ii) Letter of interest/proposal, providing brief methodology on how the work will be conducted and/or approached.
2. Financial proposal (Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP)
3. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references
Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email pheara.lek@undp.org and cc procurement.kh@undp.org . While the Procurement Unit would endeavor to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 5 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC).