Consultancy for Project Implementation Support & Supervision Services – UKT Tirana Water

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.

Ujesjelles Kanalizime Tirane (“UKT”, the “Company” and “Client”) is a municipal utility company which provides water supply and sewage for the municipalities of Tirana, Vora and Kamza. The Company is majority owned by the Municipality of Tirana with 82.5 per cent. The Municipality of Kamza owns 14.6 per cent and the Municipality of Vora owns the remaining 2.9 per cent. The Company serves around 0.7 million customers.

The Company’s water network is in a poor condition and is characterised by a high rate of failures disrepair which causes an unacceptably high level of interruptions in water supply (on average 8 hours per day) and poor water quality. In addition, poor infrastructure results in high physical water losses in the distribution network (non-revenue water accounted for 68 per cent as of 2015).

The Client supported by the Municipality of Tirana (the “Municipality”) approached the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the “EBRD”, or the “Bank”) with a request to finance priority investments that will improve the municipal water services in Tirana.

As a result, the Bank has signed a loan of up to EUR 15 million to UKT to finance the following components – “the Project”:

• Component 1: construction of a new water pipeline that will transfer water from Bovilla Water Treatment Plant to the western part of the City of Tirana by gravity. Currently, UKT’s customers in the western part of Tirana are served by depleting, pumped groundwater supplies; and,
• Component 2: extension of the capacity of Bovilla Water Treatment Plant (“WTP”) from around 57,000 million m3/year to 76,000 million m3/ year. Currently, the water flows by gravity, from the dam at Bovilla Reservoir — an abundant resource – to Bovilla WTP through a transmission pipe which will soon be duplicated. The duplication of the transmission pipe will be financed by the Italian Corporation, and would allow more raw water to be fed to the WTP.

The Project aims to assist the Company in: i) providing a more resilient water system, reaching its objective of providing a 24 hour water supply by 2021, ii) reducing the Company’s operational costs by supplying water by gravity versus the high cost of pumping groundwater, and iii) increasing sustainability by removing/reducing the Company’s reliance on depleting and polluted wells to supply Berxull.

Assignment Description:

The overall objective of the assignment is to facilitate the timely and effective implementation of the Project by rendering assistance to the Client of EBRD’s environmental and social (“E and S”) and financial reporting requirements.

With the involvement of the Consultant the Client will have access to the best practice in the implementation of the Project, as well as advice on specific technical issues including E and S requirements.

The Consultant shall perform the following main tasks:

1. Overall project management support as required;
2. Assistance in all environmental and social (E and S) aspects.
3. Assistance in all financial reporting aspects
4. Arrangement of timely disbursements under the contracts.

Full Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Assignment can be found here:

http://www.ebrd.com/documents/procurement/tor-76830.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 Q1 2019 and has an estimated overall duration of 24 months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 175,000 (exclusive of VAT).

Funding Source: It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by the EBRD Shareholder Special Fund.

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 this assignment.

The Consultant shall employ suitably qualified professionals, who will be competent to carry out their duties in accordance with responsibilities and/or authorities that are specified in the TOR. Consultant will demonstrate equal opportunities in the mobilization and management of human resources.

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

• Project manager

– Minimum B.Sc. degree in civil engineering or similar

– Minimum 10 years’ experience in water and/or waste water facilities design and construction supervision

– Minimum 8 years as project manager or team leader for similar projects

– Specific experience in Multilateral Development Bank’s financed projects

– Experience in implementation of at least two similar assignments

• Financial Specialist

– Minimum B.Sc. degree in finance, accounting and/or similar

– Certified Public Accountant or Certified Financial Advisor

– Minimum 5 years’ experience in environmental studies and EIA impact assessment

– Specific experience in Multilateral Development Bank’s financial reporting

• Environmental Specialist

– Minimum B.Sc. degree in biology, environment or similar

– Minimum 5 years’ experience in environmental studies and EIA impact assessment

– Specific experience in environmental requirements according to Local law

• Health and Safety Specialist

– Minimum B.Sc. degree in relevant sector

– Minimum 5 years’ experience in similar projects

– Specific experience in safety of construction for infrastructural projects.

– Good knowledge and understanding of EBRD’s environmental and social requirements and past experience of assistance in their successful implementation.

Submission Requirements: The consultants are now invited to submit a completed Technical and Financial Proposal as per the standard templates and instructions available at 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.

1. 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 20 pages excluding the Declaration Form and CVs (Form 1- TP 1 and Form 1 – TP 6).
2. 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:

Sanda Jugo
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
e-mail: JugoS@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 28/01/2019

Selection Method and Evaluation Criteria:

1. Technical Proposal Evaluation Criteria

(a) Firm’s previous project experience in similar assignments, in particular in project management, environmental and social (E and S) matters, financial reporting and disbursement monitoring (25%)

(b) Quality of the methodology proposed for the Assignment (25 %)

(c) CVs of the Key Experts (50 %).

The minimum technical score (St) required to pass is 70.

2. Opening of Financial Proposals

After the technical evaluation is completed, only the submissions which score 70 or above of the total marks available for the technical criteria will be eligible to have their financial proposals opened.

3. 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:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.