Technical Advisory Services and Due Diligence for Renewable Energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa

Empower New Energy AS (Empower) has received financing from the African Development Bank toward the cost of essential pre-investment activities for its initial portfolio of small and medium scale renewable energy projects in Africa, and intends to apply part of the agreed amount for this grant to payments under the contract for “Technical Advisory Services and Due Diligence for Renewable Energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”.

Empower is the fund manager of the impact investment fund Empower Invest AS (Empower Invest), which actively selects solar PV, small run-of-river hydro, battery storage and small wind projects across Africa and other emerging markets for investment, with a focus on small to medium- sized projects, usually between 1MW and 10MW.

Through these investments, Empower delivers high financial, environmental and social returns to investors and stakeholders based on a diversified portfolio of projects across many jurisdictions. Empower’s vision is a world powered by affordable renewable energy, and its mission is to bridge the financing gap that currently impedes the fulfilment of numerous renewable energy projects in Africa and other emerging markets.

The Service Provider (SP) will be required to perform technical and environmental due diligence on a project-by-project basis on preliminarily-approved renewable energy projects across the African continent (with the exception of South Africa). Projects include (but may not be limited to): solar PV (rooftop and mini-grid), hydro, and hybrid systems. Requirements for the due diligence process may vary according to project type and location.

The SP will be required to undertake the following tasks, although this list may be expanded or vary according to project context and the needs of Empower Invest:

• Verification of energy production estimates.
• Technical design verification.
• Provide conclusions and inputs for commercial valuation of the project concerned, with reference to investment cost for key equipment, and prepare / finalise written advice accordingly.
• Assess key environmental risks and issues concerning the project, including but not necessarily limited to:
• General Environmental and Social Risk management, potentially including (but not necessarily limited to):

The expected time required for providing these services, per project, is 6-8 weeks. All comments and written feedback will be provided in Empower’s due diligence tool known as the Gateway, which is currently hosted on the Wrike platform. Access to the Gateway is on a restricted basis and all users are required to be comply with confidentiality obligations.

Empower now invites eligible consultants to indicate their interest in providing these services. Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc.). Consultants may constitute joint ventures to enhance their chances of qualification. Contract duration will be for a two-year maximum fixed term, as specified in the individual appointment proposal.

Eligibility criteria, establishment of the short-list and the selection procedure shall be in accordance with the African Development Bank’s “Rules and Procedures for the use of Consultants” (Published in 2008, and revised in July 2012) which is available on the Bank’s website at http://www.afdb.org.

Interested consultants may obtain further information at: notices@empowernewenergy.com with copy to raja@empowernewenergy.com .

Expressions of interest must be delivered or emailed to the address above by 9th November, 2020 at 23:59 CET and mention “Technical Advisory Services and Due Diligence for Renewable Energy projects in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Attn: Raja Dasgupta
Blended Finance and Impact Manager
Eden Square, Westlands
P.O. Box 13799 – 00800, Nairobi – Kenya

Request for Expressions of interest