Overview
REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST- FIRMS
DEADLINE EXTENDED
Notice: An amendment to the EOI Submission template has been issued on 04/19/2024. Other requirements in the TOR and REOI are not affected. Refer to the attached Amendment document and updated EOI Submission template.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) mobilised funds from the European Union Caribbean Infrastructure Fund (EU-CIF) for the Caribbean Regional Grid Interconnection and Renewable Energy Scaling Project and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this to eligible payments, under a contract for which this invitation is issued.
CDB now wishes to procure consultancy services for Grid Interconnection and Renewable Energy Scaling Advisory Services (GIRESA).
The objective of the consultancy is to provide capacity strengthening to CDB in the development of the Caribbean Regional Electricity Grid Interconnection and RE Scaling (CREGI-RES) under the Accelerated Sustainable Energy and Resilience Transition (ASERT) initiative, called an ASERTive. Specifically, the consulting firm, referred to as: Grid Interconnection and Renewable Energy Scaling Advisor (GIRESA) will provide technical advisory services to CDB for assessments, guiding and coordinating the development of the CREGI-RES Project. This Project aims to promote interconnection of electricity systems across CDB’s Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) and other relevant Caribbean countries to facilitate improved grid resilience and optimised development of RE resources. This, in turn is intended to trigger exponential step-change in improved energy supply security, carbon emission reductions and potentially provide transformative economic opportunities towards achievement of BMCs’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The key tasks/activities include but may not be limited to:
1. Develop the “Roadmap for CREGI-RES”. A staged approach is contemplated, and will include but not limited to:
(i) High level renewable energy resource assessment (based on existing data / studies) for the development, integration of utility-scale renewable power in the Caribbean region.
(ii) High level Analysis demand scenarios, energy and investments plans to estimate expansion of electricity production and national grid capacity in the Caribbean region by 2050 (joining together the past sub-regional plans).
(iii) High level export/import potential assessment for cross-border power trade in the Region.
(iv) Confirmation of the list of interested countries and priority subsea interconnector links with related cost benefit analysis.
(v) Identification of specific export / import potential per country.
(vi) Development of detailed scope for pre-feasibility studies for each interconnector link and prepare respective TORs (up to three ToR).
(vii) Identification of challenges and recommendations for specific actions (technical, market, economic, institutional, regulatory, political, legal, etc.) towards creating a sustainable regional power market integration.
(viii) Analysis on demand scenarios, risks, energy and investments plans to estimate expansion of electricity production and national grid capacity in the Caribbean region by 2050 (designed optimisation-based expansion scenarios that revealed detailed prospects of various cross-border interconnectors).
(ix) Communication plan, performance monitoring and evaluation framework; Environmental and social dimensions
(x) Prepared scope for stakeholder capacity building based on the country needs.
2. Guide the establishment of three Working Groups (WGs) on Renewables, Interconnection, and Regional Market, and provide technical advisory support during their operations.
3. Support the development of pre-feasibility and Pre- Front-end Engineering and Design (FEED) Studies.
The duration of the assignment is expected to be for a period of twenty-four (24) months.
CDB now invites interested eligible consulting firms to submit Expressions of Interest for the provision of these consultancy services.
Eligibility
A Consultant shall be eligible to participate if they fulfil:
1) the following eligibility requirements:
(a) in the case of a body corporate, it is legally incorporated or otherwise organised in an eligible country, has its principal place of business in an eligible country and is more than 50 per cent beneficially owned by citizen(s) and/or bona fide resident(s) of eligible country(ies) or by a body(ies) corporate meeting these requirements.
(b) in the case of unincorporated firms, the persons are citizens or bona fide residents of an eligible country; and
(c) in all cases, the consultant has no arrangement and undertakes not to make any arrangements, whereby any substantial part of the net profits or other tangible benefits of the contract will accrue or be paid to a person not a citizen or bona fide resident of an eligible country.
2) the following integrity requirements:
(a) is not subject to sanctions under the United Nations (UN) Security Council taken under Chapter VII of the Charter of the UN;
(b) has not engaged in Prohibited Practices, as detailed in Paragraph 2.02 a) of the Procedures for Dealing with Fraud and Corruption in CDB-Financed Projects (October 2014 or as updated from time to time)1;
(c) is not suspended or debarred by CDB for engaging in the Prohibited Practices referenced in 2) (b) above;
(d) is not publicly debarred by a Multilateral Development Bank subject to the Agreement on Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions2 in their own right, or under abovementioned agreement; and
(e) is not subject to a conflict of interest that would undermine the Consultant's ability to provide professional, objective, and impartial advice.
CDB requires that all parties involved in the procurement process avoid and declare promptly and proactively in writing to CDB any potential, apparent or actual conflicts of interest. Without limitation on the generality of the foregoing, the Consultant shall not be hired under the following circumstances: Conflict between consulting activities and procurement of goods, works or non-consulting services, conflict among consulting assignments, and/or close relationships with CDB staff or other stakeholders involved in or expected to be involved in the procurement or subsequent contract management.
Eligible countries are member countries of CDB and countries eligible for procurement under European Union (EU) funded projects, which are not member countries of CDB. These countries can be seen at the following link: https://www.caribank.org/publications-and-resources/resource-library/document/cdb-european-union-eligibility-criteria-cariforum-eu-economic-partnership-agreement-and-caricom
In the assessment of submissions, consideration will be given to technical competence, qualifications and experience, local and regional experience on similar assignments, financial capability, and existing commitments.
Interested consultant teams are required to submit their Expression of Interest using the “EOI Consulting Firms template”3 attached to this REOI or which can be made available upon request by contacting Address 1 below or downloaded from the Specific Procurement Notice on CDB’s website.
All information must be submitted in English. Further information may be obtained from the first address below between 09:00 and 16:00 hours Monday to Friday.
Instructions
Electronic submissions of the Expressions of Interest must be received at the first address below and copied to the second email address below no later than 1600 hours Barbados’ time on Monday May 6, 2024. The Expression of Interest will be deemed to have been received at the time that it is received by CDB. The burden of proving receipt of the e-mail will be on the applicant and will not be met solely by a read receipt or sent items report generated by the Consultant’s computer. The e-mail containing each submission should include the name and address of the applicant. The subject line shall be clearly marked “Expression of Interest – Grid Interconnection and Renewable Energy Scaling Advisor – Regional.”
The Selection Method shall be a Quality Based Selection. Following the assessment of submissions, a short-list of not less than three and not more than six applicants will be provided with full terms of reference and invited to submit technical proposals to undertake the assignment. CDB reserves the right to accept or reject late applications or to cancel the present invitation partially or in its entirety. It will not be bound to assign any reason for not short-listing any applicant and will not defray any costs incurred by any applicant in the preparation and submission of Expressions of Interest.
Consultants are advised to view CDB’s General Privacy Notice for information on how CDB manages and protects personal data.