Support for the Implementation of Renewable Energy Auctions in Moldova

Project Description:

Moldovan authorities are committed to reaching a target of at least 10% of total electricity generation from renewable energy (RE) sources by 2020, under the National Renewable Energy Action Plan (NREAP). In this context, the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure and other relevant Moldovan authorities, including the intergovernmental Tender Committee, (jointly referred to hereafter as “the Moldovan authorities”) have improved the policy and regulatory frameworks to attract investments in RE through several reforms, including Law 10/2016 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources which transposes the EU directive 28/2009/EC and follows the principles of the EU’s Guidelines on State aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020. Being a signatory of the Energy Community Treaty, Moldova is required to transpose EU acquis related to RE support schemes.

With the aim of replacing the previous support to large RE projects, the Moldovan authorities are currently in the process of launching RE auctions for on-shore wind and solar PV projects during the course of 2019 and, potentially, in 2020 (“the tenders”).

At the request of the Moldovan authorities, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD; “the Bank”) is currently providing technical assistance on drafting the tendering documentation and other related documentation required for launching these tenders.

Assignment Description:

The Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure (“the MoEI“) requested the Bank’s assistance in providing support for the successful implementation of these tenders. Within this context, the Bank wishes to engage a consultant (the “Consultant”) to provide detailed technical, financial and legal assistance to Moldovan authorities in implementing for the implementation of one on-shore wind tender and one solar PV tender, both to be launched in Q3 2019 and carried out in parallel (the “Assignment”).

The assignment will include the following tasks:

1) Task 1: Review and, if necessary, make recommendations on possible improvements to the Tender Documentation (including the Request for Proposals, the tender announcement and all other bidding documents).
2) Task 2: Assist Moldovan authorities in responding to bidder clarifications at different stages of the bidding process, including questions on the Request for Proposals, assessment of changes provided by bidders, and dissemination of such changes.
3) Task 3: Provide assistance to Moldovan authorities for the evaluation of bids in line with the evaluation criteria established in the RFP – this will include conducting a high-level assessment of all bids, as well as a detailed (technical, financial, legal and environmental) assessment of bids that comply with pre-set requirements. This Task will also include supporting Moldovan authorities in drafting and promoting a Government Decision on offering eligible producer status to all bidders that are successful in the tendering procedure.
4) Task 4: Provide the Moldovan authorities with assistance in conducting Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) negotiations with selected bidders – this will include any required legal support within this context, such as preparing a negotiation strategy, management of condition precedents, assisting in negotiations meetings etc.

Consultant Selection Procedure: Two stage open competitive selection. Interested firms or groups of firms seeking to be shortlisted for the assignment are invited to submit expressions of interest.

Assignment Start Date and Duration: The Assignment is expected to start in July 2019 and has an estimated overall duration of 18 (eighteen) months.

Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 1,000,000 (exclusive of VAT).
The Consultant must determine whether any VAT would be chargeable on the services and the basis for that determination, without taking into consideration the special status of the Bank as an IFI and state this to the Bank in their response to the Invitation for Expressions of Interest. To the extent that a Consultant incurs input VAT on goods and services purchased in connection with the provision of services (e.g. VAT on airline ticket) which is not otherwise recoverable by the consultant from the local tax authority, the gross cost to the consultant of such expenses shall be treated as a reimbursable expense.

Funding Source: It is anticipated that the contract will be financed by EBRD Donor Funds – specific funding source yet to be identified. 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:

A) Economics/Policy/Commercial expertise in the design of support schemes for renewable energy – in particular, support schemes that use a competitive process to determine the level of support for, and the selection of, renewable energy projects;
B) Legal expertise, with experience in:
a. Assisting policymakers and/or bidders in renewable energy auctions/tenders (including experience advising on limited recourse renewable energy project financing and competitive tender arrangements);
b. Drafting secondary legislation in the electricity sector – preferably including full RFPs (including power purchase agreements);
C) Technical expertise on renewable energy projects (in particular, both on-shore wind and solar PV projects), preferably with experience in providing assistance to regulators on technical aspects of RE projects and acting as Owner’s Engineers (OE);
D) Environmental and social impact assessment expertise – both international and local;
E) Preferably, experience in the power sector of country(ies) within the Eastern Europe region, including knowledge of the legislative and regulatory setting and familiarity with the network and grid code. Relevant experience in Moldova and/or neighbouring countries will be considered an advantage.

The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:

1) Key Expert 1: Team Leader – Expert in Renewable Energy policy and regulatory matters with:

• preferably 10 years’ previous professional experience in project management, specifically in projects related to the renewable energy sector – in particular in designing renewable energy support schemes and competitive bidding processes, as well as in regulatory matters of the electricity sector including the integration of renewable energy in electricity markets and systems;
• proven experience in leading a team of experts and the ability to demonstrate adequate project management skills, managerial skills and team leading experience;

2) Key Expert 2: Technical Expert(s) with preferably 5 years of previous professional experience in working on technical characteristics of:
a. on-shore wind generation (for example, conducting site assessments);
b. solar PV generation (for example, conducting site assessments);

3) Key Expert 3: International Legal Expert(s) with:
a. preferably 5 years or more previous professional experience in drafting energy sector legislation and regulations relating to renewable energy (for example, power purchase agreements); and
b. experience in advising clients on the competitive procurement of renewable energy (on the developer and/or the authorities’ side).

4) Key Expert 4: Local Moldovan Legal Expert(s) with:
a. preferably 5 years or more previous professional experience in drafting energy sector agreements relating to renewable energy (for example, power purchase agreements) in Moldova and/or internationally; and
b. preferably, experience in advising clients on the competitive procurement of renewable energy (on the developer and/or the authorities’ side) in Moldova and/or internationally;
c. strong knowledge and proven experience in Moldovan law related to the electricity sector – and, in particular, to the renewable energy sector – is a requirement;
d. fluency in Romanian (in addition to English).

5) Key Expert 5: Financial/Commercial Expert with preferably 5 years or more previous professional experience in renewable energy project financing;

6) Key Expert 6: Environmental and Social Expert with preferably 5 years or more of previous professional experience in advising clients on social and environmental aspects of energy projects.

All the key experts are expected to have strong communication skills, be fluent in English and, preferably, have experience in past projects within the Eastern Europe region or similar environments.

Submission Requirements: In order to determine the capability and experience of Consultants seeking to be shortlisted for this Assignment, the information submitted should include the following:

1. Company/group of firms’ profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2-4 pages).

2. Details of previous project experience or similar assignments particularly undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contract value, contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided (if different from duration) , main activities, objectives.

3. CVs of key experts who could carry out the Assignment detailing qualifications, experience in similar assignments, particularly assignments undertaken in the previous five years, including information on contracting entity/client, project location/country, duration (mm/yy to mm/yy), expert months provided, assignment budget, main activities, objectives.

4. Completed Consultant Declaration Form and Contact Sheet, the template for which is available from the following web-link:

http://www.ebrd.com/pages/workingwithus/procurement/notices/csu/contact_sheet.doc.

The above information should not exceed 35 pages excluding CVs and contact sheet.

The complete expression of interest (including CVs, Consultant Declaration and Contact Sheet) should be submitted, in English electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. The expression of interest shall be one file (pdf). The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded (4MB), the Consultant may split the expression of interest into further files.

Bank Contact Person:

Sanda Jugo
Procurement Operations and Delivery Department
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
One Exchange Square
London EC2A 2JN
e-mail: JugoS@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)

Important Notes:

1. Following this invitation for expressions of interest, a shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals. Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding.

2. The shortlist criteria are:
(a) Firm’s previous project experience in conducting policy and regulatory projects by providing policymakers and/or renewable energy developers with advice on renewable energy procurement processes and electricity market reforms, as well as providing assistance in the technical design, implementation and on the financing of renewable energy projects – specifically onshore wind and solar PV. Relevant experience within the Eastern Europe region or similar environments will be considered an advantage (50%)
(b) Firm’s previous project experience in assisting policymakers and/or bidders in renewable energy auctions/tenders and in providing related legal support, including drafting secondary legislation in the electricity sector – preferably including drafting of power purchase agreements (20%) (c) CVs of the Key Experts (30 %).