Assignment Description: The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "EBRD" or the "Bank") as lead institution is, together with its partners Agence Francaise de Developpement ("AFD") and the European Investment Bank ("EIB") (collectively the “Development Finance Institutions” or the “DFIs”) in the process of developing the second phase of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Sustainable Energy Financing Facility (“SEMED SEFF” or the “Facility”). While the first phase has been successfully launched in Morocco and could be extended into Jordan, the second phase will consist of credit lines of up to EUR 140 million to be provided to Participating Financial Intermediaries ("PFIs") in Egypt for on-lending to private sector borrowers (including SMEs and households). This Facility will also be based on lessons learnt from development and implementation of a pilot EgyptSEFF project with the National Bank of Egypt ("NBE") for USD 30 million, financed solely from the EBRD funds (see www.egyptseff.org).
The purpose of the Facility is to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable energy (SE) by promoting the expansion of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) bankable investments in Egypt using the financial intermediation model already being used by the DFIs in other countries.
Egypt faces several major challenges in its energy sector. Egypt is a net importer of oil and gas despite the presence of domestic sources. Although there have been recent large increases in gas and electricity prices to industrial consumers, energy prices in Egypt are low in comparison with those in the region. Historically low prices for energy and energy subsidies have led to the development of energy and carbon intensive industries in Egypt, with Egypt's economy the third most energy intensive in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The Facility is seeking to address Egypt's energy and resource intensity by encouraging investments in EE and RE projects
The Facility will be supported by:
(1) A grant of up to EUR 20.3 million to be provided by the EU Neighbourhood Investment Facility (NIF). The grant will be used for incentives to sub-borrowers and PFIs; and
(2) Technical assistance (“TA”) totalling up to EUR 6.3 million. The TA will consist of two consultancy assignments: Project Consultant (PC) and a Verification Consultant (VC).
The EBRD now wishes to engage a Project Consultant (the “PC”), to provide capacity-building to PFIs to institutionalise the know-how required to support these types of investment, as well as providing support to PFIs to build a pipeline of eligible Sub-projects for financing and helping Sub-borrowers to develop and prepare their Sub-projects for financing by PFIs as well as providing visibility to the Facility and donors. In order to build capacity amongst professionals in the local market to ensure there is support for PFIs in implementing their own green lending products in the future, the PC will also provide training for local experts, to help them develop necessary skills and technical expertise for identification and preparation of technically feasible and financially viable projects for EE and RE investments.
A Verification Consultant (the “VC”), whose appointment will be the subject of a separate procurement notice, will ensure that the objectives of the Facility are met by checking and confirming that Sub-projects have been completed in accordance with the relevant investment plans, as prepared by the PC, and are on track to achieve the planned performance. This will be done through the physical assessment of the successful implementation and completion of all large-scale investments and up to 20% of randomly selected small-scale investments, to verify proper implementation; the remaining small-scale investments will be subject to a desk-based document review. On the basis of their assessment, the VC will determine the amount of incentives payable for each investment.
The PC Assignment will address barriers to investing in EE and RE projects within financial institutions as well as at the sub-borrower level. Low levels of energy tariffs and high levels of government subsidy provide a challenge to the implementation of EE projects. There is a lack of knowledge and know-how in how to implement EE and RE projects in Egypt, despite a huge potential market for EE and RE measures within industry, service and residential sectors, driven by fluctuating energy supplies and interruptions which could lead to operational losses. The Assignment will build skills within PFIs in assessing and financing EE and RE projects, and provide assistance to sub-borrowers in structuring and developing projects appropriate to their company needs.
Assignment Duration: The PC Assignment is expected to start by September 2016 and has an estimated overall duration of 48 months. There is a possibility for contract extension in time and money subject to project needs, satisfactory performance of the Consultant and availability of funding.
Cost Estimate for the Assignment: EUR 5,600,000; 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 Bank's special status 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 funded in part by the EU NIF - Southern and Eastern Mediterranean (SEMED) Regional Sustainable Energy Finance Facility: Phase II – Egypt, and in part by other donor funds to be confirmed.
Eligibility: There are no eligibility restrictions. It is anticipated that the contract will be financed through the EBRD's donor-funded Technical Cooperation Funds Programme. However, consultant selection and contracting will be subject to availability of funding from an appropriate donor.
Consultant Profile: Corporate services are required. The Project Consultant will be a firm or group of firms with substantial locally-based capacity. Participation of local experts is essential: the Project Consultant should make extensive use of (accredited where appropriate) qualified locally based experts, as most tasks will be carried out in the field. The PC will have demonstrable capacity to access, and mobilise at short notice, experts with the necessary skills and qualification to support the Facility implementation.
The Project Consultant will have extensive experience in:
(1) Project management of similar assignments in the region (in size and subject)
2) Engineering experts with extensive technical experience in industrial and building EE and RE project assessment and development
(3) Demonstrated experience of conducting energy audits and making appraisal of investment projects
(4) Marketing sustainable energy finance projects in a business-to-business context
(5) Developing training programmes on sustainable energy for financial institutions, engineers and businesses.
The Project Consultant will have recent experience of carrying out similar assignments in Egypt and/or the wider SEMED region.
The Consultant’s expert team is expected to include key experts as follows:
a. Project Manager, with preferably: 15 years’ experience in project management; international technical experience in industrial EE and or RE including related to EE and RE financing schemes; expertise in project implementation planning; languages (fluent spoken and written English is essential; knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage).
b. Lead Engineer, with preferably: 15 years’ international experience, including overseeing the work of a team of engineers; previous experience of explaining engineering measures in financial terms; language skills (fluent spoken and written English is essential; knowledge of Arabic would be an advantage).
c. Pool of Local Engineers: with knowledge of industrial processes and expertise with in industrial operations and building operation, e.g., process upgrade, heat recovery, modernisation/optimisation of energy supply systems (power distribution, compressed air, refrigeration, etc.), improved monitoring and control, on-site CHP generation, rehabilitation of commercial buildings, and renewable energy projects (SWHs, PV plants, small wind energy, CSP for heat, etc.); proven experience in development of sustainable energy projects, including: (i) conducting energy audits and validation of renewable energy resources, (ii) assessment of project investment plan including its risks and mitigation strategy, (iii) commercially based sustainable energy projects financing, and (iv) calculation of energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reduction for such projects; (fluent Arabic essential, fluent spoken and written English would be an advantage).
d. Communications and Marketing Experts, with preferably: 10 years’ experience in developing marketing strategy and marketing tools; a track record of successful marketing projects in a business-to-business marketing context; proven experience in working with corporate clients and/or banks on marketing their products; and language skills (fluent Arabic essential, fluent spoken and written English would be an advantage).).
e. Financial/Economic Expert(s), with preferably: 10 years’ experience as corporate finance expert, bank loan officer or economist with specialisation in financial analysis (including capital investment appraisal); proven expertise in financial structuring of cash-flow-based lending projects; fluent Arabic essential, fluent spoken and written English would be an advantage;
f. Environmental Expert, with preferably: 10 years’ experience of conducting environmental due diligence and environmental impact assessments for a variety of sustainable energy projects; fluent Arabic essential, fluent spoken and written English would be an advantage.
Submission Requirements: Interested consultants are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest. In order to determine the qualifications and competence of consulting firms seeking to be shortlisted, the information submitted should include the following:
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Company profile, organisation and staffing (max. 2-4 pages);
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Details of previous project experience or similar assignments 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;
- A table printed in landscape listing the proposed experts, their proposed role in the project team (using expert position as listed above), indicating the years of relevant professional experience, nationality, language skills, and a short summary of knowledge and experiences in relation to the requested position;
- CVs of key experts who could be available to work on the Assignment;
- Completed Consultant’s Declaration 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 20 pages excluding CVs and Consultant’s Declaration and Contact Sheet.
The complete expression of interest (including CVs and Consultant’s Declaration and Contact Sheet) shall be one file (pdf or Word), not exceeding 4MB, to be uploaded to eSelection. The EBRD reserves the right to reject applications of firms submitting more than one file. Only if the permissible file size is exceeded, the Consultant may split the expression of interest and CVs into two files.
Please note that eSelection should be accessed via Internet Explorer.
One electronic copy of the Expression of Interest shall be submitted, in English, electronically through e-Selection, to reach the Bank not later than the closing date. No hard copies of the expressions of interest are required.
Bank Contact Person:
Ms Georgia Vasiliadis (Principal Advisor)
Technical Co-operation
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Tel: + 44 20 7338 7750
e-mail: vasiliag@ebrd.com (submissions should be sent through eSelection and NOT to this email address)
Notes:
1. Following this invitation for Expressions of Interest, a shortlist of qualified consultants will be formally invited to submit proposals. Consultant selection and contracting will be subject to the availability of funding.
2. Shortlist criteria and weightings are as follows:
(a) Firm's relevant experience, including in implementation of financial programmes and sustainable energy projects (25%);
(b) Firm's relevant experience in Egypt / South-Eastern Mediterranean region (25%); and
(c) Experts' CVs: International Project Manager; International and Local Engineers; Communications, Marketing and IT Experts; Assistant Project Manager(s); Financial/Economic Experts (50%)
