Consultancy Services for the Support to the Auction Administrator for the design and implementation of a competitive procurement

Item Description:

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) was founded in 1991 to create a new post-Cold War era in central and eastern Europe, furthering progress towards ‘market-oriented economies and the promotion of private and entrepreneurial initiative’. The EBRD is owned by 67 countries from five continents, as well as the European Union and the European Investment Bank.

Ukraine faces a growing challenge to modernise and de-carbonise its energy sector, which remains heavily reliant on imported oil, coal and natural gas as well as ageing nuclear power plants. The Ukrainian government has declared a strategic goal of increasing energy diversity and reducing its dependence on energy imports. Ukraine has adopted a policy of convergence in its energy policy with the EU acquis. There is growing momentum amongst Ukrainian policymakers for a shift from the existing Green Tariff scheme to a competitive mechanism to determine the level and recipients of renewable energy support. Once implemented, such a market-based system would more closely align Ukraine with international trends and also be consistent with EU requirements.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD” or the “Bank”) has been closely engaged in Ukraine’s electricity sector and in the renewable energy sector in particular since it started operations in the country, through direct investments in projects and regulatory and policy advice. It played an instrumental role in ensuring that the contractual framework for purchasing renewable energy could attract international investors, provided support for guidelines on the permitting procedures for renewable energy, commented on drafts of the New Electricity Market Law and provided input on the revised power purchase agreement adopted in March 2018. The Bank, jointly with the Energy Community Secretariat (“EnCS”) and in cooperation with the International Renewable Energy Agency (“IRENA”), prepared the “Policy Guidelines on the Competitive Selection and Support for Renewable Energy,” published on 26 March 2018.

The Bank is seeking to support the Ukrainian Government’s decision to shift to a competitive auction mechanism and has developed a comprehensive technical assistance programme to support relevant Ukrainian authorities on all aspects of the transition to competitive bidding processes. The EBRD is looking for one Consultant to support the Auction Administrator in its future roles in the Ukrainian renewable energy competitive procurement design and implementation. Please note that a separate related assignment was published (eselection id 77157) for support to the future Ukrainian Entity responsible for target setting for renewable energy Auctions. Interested firms may apply to both assignments and may be selected for both assignments.

Assignment Description:

EBRD intends to select a consulting firm (the “Consultant”) for the Assignment.

The expected outcomes of the Assignment are mainly capacity building and support for the Auction Administrator in the design and implementation of a transparent, private sector lead renewable energy competitive procurement mechanism ultimately benefitting the Ukrainian consumers and economy.

The selected Consultant is expected to provide support to the Auction Administrator, on coordination between the different entities involved in the competitive procurement process and during public consultation, develop a detailed design for a competitive bidding process for supporting renewable energy and advise the Auction Administrator on the transition to a mechanism by which support to renewable energy is provided in relation to a reference electricity market price. Finally, the Consultant is expected to provide the necessary support to the Auction Administrator in implementing the pilot auction(s).

Full Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Assignment can be found through this link:

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/77164-tor.pdf

Consultant Selection Procedure: Single stage open competitive selection. Interested firms or groups of firms are invited to submit a Technical and Financial Proposal.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in February 2019 and has an estimated overall duration of 24 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 1,530,000 (exclusive of VAT).

Subject to availability of funding, the performance of the selected Consultant and the business needs, the Assignment may be extended beyond the current scope.

Funding Source: It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by the EBRD Special Shareholder Fund and the Ukraine Multi-Donor Account. Selection and contracting are subject to the availability of funding.

Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions based on the consultant’s country of origin.

Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Consultant will be a firm or a group of firms preferably with previous project experience related to:

o the design of support schemes for renewable energy and in particular, support schemes that use a competitive process to determine the level of support for, and the selection of, renewable energy projects and reforms of electricity markets;

o assisting policymakers and/or bidders in renewable energy auctions/tenders (including experience advising on limited recourse renewable energy project financing and competitive tender arrangements) and drafting secondary legislation in the electricity sector – preferably including full RFPs (including power purchase agreements);

o renewable energy projects (specifically, solar PV, onshore wind and biomass projects), preferably with experience in providing assistance to regulators on technical aspects of such projects;

o similar assignments within power sector in Eastern Europe.

The Consultants expert team is expected to include the following key experts (the ‘Key Experts’):

• Team Leader is envisaged to be an expert in Renewable Energy policy and regulatory matters preferably with at least 10 years of previous professional experience in project management, in leading a team of experts, and designing renewable energy support schemes, preferably competitive bidding processes and in regulatory matters of the electricity sector, preferably including the integration of renewable energy in electricity markets and systems;
• RES Technical Expert(s) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in working on technical characteristics of solar PV, on-shore wind and biomass/biogas generation and preferably with experience in providing assistance to regulators on technical aspects of such projects;
• Legal Expert(s) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in assisting policymakers and/or bidders in renewable energy auctions/tenders (including experience advising on limited recourse renewable energy project financing and competitive tender arrangements) and drafting secondary legislation in the electricity sector – preferably including full RFPs (including power purchase agreements);
• Economics/Policy Expert(s) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in design of support schemes for renewable energy and in particular, support schemes that use a competitive process to determine the level of support for, and the selection of, renewable energy projects and reforms of electricity markets;
• Financial Expert(s) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in renewable energy project financing;
• Social and Environmental Expert(s) with preferably 10 years of previous professional experience in advising on the social and environmental aspects of energy projects.

The consultants may propose other non-key experts considered relevant for the purpose of conducting the Assignment, only CVs of the Key experts will be evaluated as part of the technical proposal.

Submission Requirements: The Consultant(s) are now invited to submit a completed Technical and Financial Proposal as per the standard templates and instructions available through this link:

this link http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/single-stage-package.docx

Interested Consultants should make themselves familiar with these Standard Templates, Standard Instructions and Conditions of Contract in preparation of their proposals.

• The Technical Proposal shall be submitted in English electronically via eSelection not later than the Closing Date, as one single PDF file. The technical proposal should not exceed 50 pages excluding the Declaration Form and CVs (Form 1- TP 1 and Form 1 – TP 6).
• The Financial Proposal (Form 2 – FP 1 and FP2) shall be submitted in English separately by email only to the Bank Contact Person. Consultants are reminded of the requirement to ensure the confidentiality of the Financial Proposals.

A Technical Proposal that contains elements of a financial proposal shall be declared non-responsive.

A Financial proposal submitted together with the technical proposals via e Selection shall be declared non-responsive.

Bank Contact Person:

Maria Haugh
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
e-mail: haughm @ebrd.com

For the avoidance of doubt, technical proposals should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address. Financial proposals should be sent to this email address and NOT through eSelection.

Deadline to Submit Clarification Questions: Via e-mail to the Bank Contact Person by 15 February 2019.

Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:

Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria

o Firm’s previous project experience in the design of support schemes for renewable energy and in particular, support schemes that use a competitive process to determine the level of support for, and the selection of, renewable energy projects and reforms of electricity markets – 10%

o Firm’s previous project experience in assisting policymakers and/or bidders in renewable energy auctions/tenders (including experience advising on limited recourse renewable energy project financing and competitive tender arrangements) and drafting secondary legislation in the electricity sector – preferably including full RFPs (including power purchase agreements) – 10%

o Firm’s previous project experience in renewable energy projects (specifically, solar PV, onshore wind and biomass projects), preferably with experience in providing assistance to regulators on technical aspects of such projects – 10%

o Firm’s previous project experience in similar assignments within the power sector in Eastern Europe – 20%

o Quality of the methodology proposed for the Assignment – 20%

o CVs of the Key Experts – 30%

The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is 80.

• Opening of Financial Proposals

After the technical evaluation is completed, only the submissions which score 80 or above of the total marks available for the technical criteria will be eligible to have their financial proposals opened.

• Combined Technical and Financial Evaluation

The lowest evaluated Financial Proposal (Fm) is given the maximum financial score (Sf) of 100. The formula for determining the financial scores (Sf) of all other Proposals is calculated as follows:

Sf = 100 x Fm/ F, in which “Sf” is the financial score, “Fm” is the lowest evaluated Financial Proposal, and “F” the price of the Proposal under consideration.

Proposals are then ranked according to their combined technical (St) and financial (Sf) scores using the weights (T = 80; F = 20) T + F = 100 as follows: S = St x T% + Sf x F%.

Important Notes:

• The proposal validity period is 120 days from the deadline date for the receipt of submissions. During this period, the Consultant shall maintain its original Proposal without any change, including the availability of the Experts, the proposed rates and the total price.
• The selection will be made from the Proposals received in response to this notification only, on the basis of the submission requirements and selection criteria set out in this Procurement Notice. The highest-ranked Consultant will be selected and invited to negotiate the contract, subject to availability of funding.

Any updates of and clarifications on this procurement notice shall be announced as updates on this notice, without any other notification. In the event of changes consultants will need to download the updated versions. Consultants are required to periodically check the notice for updates. Failure to take the updates into account while preparing the Proposal may result in disqualification or penalties to the scores in the evaluation.