Liberia Electricity Sector Strengthening and Access Project (LESSAP) Phase 2

LIBERIA ELECTRICITY CORPORATION

Project: - Liberia Electricity Sector Strengthening and Access Project-Phase Two

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Consultancy Services for a Transaction Advisor to Support the Government of Liberia in Developing and Implementing a Solar PV and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Park Auction

Project ID No.:  P180498

Reference No.: LR-LEC-472113-CS-QCBS

Closing Date: February 28, 2025,

Background

The Government of Liberia (GoL) has received grant financing from the World Bank-ESMAP to finance technical assistance services as part of the Liberia Electricity Sector Strengthening and Access Project (LESSAP) Phase 2 and intends to apply part of the proceeds of this financing for payments under the contract for the Consultancy Services for a Transaction Advisor to Support the Government of Liberia in Developing and Implementing a utility scale grid connected Solar PV (Solar) and Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) Park Auction.

Objective of the Assignment

The GoL plans to conduct a Solar and BESS auction. It aims to hire a consortium of consultants (the Consultant) to provide support to the Government of Liberia (the Client) in the development and successful implementation of a procurement process for up to 70 MWp of Solar PV plant and 20 MW/60MWh of BESS (sizing of the PV and BESS will be finalized before the transaction advisors are selected) in two sites, namely [Buchanan and Yekepa] (together the Projects) (exact sites will be finalized before the transaction advisors are selected). The Transaction Advisory mandate includes preparing the package needed for the GoL to successfully launch and implement the procurement of qualified private sector solar developers and achieve financial close of the Projects.

The Transaction Advisory support shall cover four main areas:

1. Technical and environmental and social (E&S) advisory: support the Client to (i) define the technical and E&S criteria of the Request for Qualification (RFQ), (ii) draft the minimum technical specifications of the Request for Proposal (RFP) based on the conclusions of the preliminary  studies developed for [Buchanan and Yekepa] sites, the VRE integration analysis (ongoing), and the BESS/PV analysis for specific sizing – the Consultant shall assume that it will have to produce additional work using these as inputs but assuming that further technical work will be needed to finalize the Projects’ Technical Specifications, (iii) draft the minimum E&S specifications of the RFP based on the conclusions of the E&S assessments for the sites, and develop minimum requirements that are aligned with the GoL national regulations and the WB E&S framework (ESF), (iv) draft the minimum requirements for the pre-qualifications stage (v) evaluate technical proposals from IPPs, (vi) provide technical inputs to Project Documents (e.g. matrix of technical risks), (vii) support the negotiations with the Preferred Bidders on the technical side, and (viii) more generally address technical questions/comments up to financial close of the Projects.
2. Legal advisory: support the Client to (i) draft the RFP and Project Agreements, (ii) evaluate compliance with proposal submitted by Bidders, (iii) provide legal inputs throughout the bidding process, (iv) provide legal inputs to Project Documents (e.g. risk matrix, market practice), (v) support the negotiations with the Preferred Bidders on the legal side, and (v) more generally address legal questions/comments up to financial close of the Projects;
3. Financial and Market advisory: support the Client to (i) lead and coordinate the bidding process as a whole, (ii) manage the discussions with potential lenders (multilateral development banks (MDBs) but also regional banks), (iii) advise on bankability matters, (iv) lead the discussion with the potential insurers and guarantors and structure suitable risk mitigation instruments for identified risks that needs to be covered by such instruments (and such based on market sounding with project developers or Independent Power Producers (IPPs)); (v) lead and run financial modeling to establish a bankable commercially viable project and inform the decision-making process, (iv) evaluate the bids from a financial/global perspective, (vi) support the negotiations with the Preferred Bidders on the financial/global technical side, and (vii) more generally address financial/cross-cutting questions/comments up to financial close of the RE projects.
4. Capacity building: knowledge and expertise transfer to the Technical Committee Member (including LEC, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Finance, etc.) on developing solar PV with BESS projects. This fourth area will be transversal to the three areas listed above to increase GoL's capacity to launch bankable and sustainable tenders.

Scope of Services

Liberia intends to implement its first utility-scale solar PV project financed and operated by an Independent Power Producer (IPP).  Financing solar investments by IPP is a model for future solar project development. Therefore, when performing the following scope of work, the transaction advisor shall provide its services in a manner favorable to replication by the GoL for other projects.

The Consultant is expected to develop the legal, technical, commercial, and financial mechanisms for solar PV with the BESS tender in Liberia to select one or more IPPs to finance, build, and operate the plants. The GoL will ensure that the Consultant have access to relevant documents for the auction development as they become available. The scope of work is divided into two Phases, preparation of the documentation and legal agreements, and development of the government support mechanisms (Phase 1) and launch of the tender until Financial Close (Phase 2). It is expected that during Phase 2 some small changes in the documentation/risk allocation may happen based on feedback from the pre-qualified bidders.

The Consultants under the present contract will be hired for both phases. Some of the activities will be output based while others such as the negotiation will be time based – the contract will reflect both types of payments.

The Scope detailed in the TOR below covers international best practices in renewable energy tenders by combining technical, legal, and financial advice.

Detailed terms of reference with tasks  can be obtained through the following link https://lecliberia.com/wp-content/uploads/ToR-for-the-Transaction-Advisor_Final_31-Jan-2025.docx

The Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) now invites eligible Consulting Firms (‘Consultants”) to indicate their interest in providing the above services. Interested firms (Consultants) should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services as follows:

1. Core business and years in business: 
   1. The firm shall be registered/ incorporated as a consulting firm with core business in the field of the assignment.
2. Qualification and Experience of the Firm: 
   1.  Consultant shall be well versed with relevant transactional experience and should be able to showcase their expertise to undertake the assignment by demonstrating a track record of successfully managing and executing similar transactions of comparable complexity.
   2. The Consultant should have solid experience working within Sub-Saharan Africa, A demonstration of the successful completion of at least one similar assignment in the region will be an added advantage.
3. Technical and managerial capability of the firm:
   1.  The Consultant will include legal, commercial, financial, and technical experts to answer the scope of work and must have experience structuring, negotiating, and financing similar auction schemes.
   2. To meet the requirements, it is required that the Consultant partners with an international legal firm with demonstrated experience in renewable energy tenders with BESS, as well as with a local legal firm.
   3. The Consortium will appoint a Lead Consortium member as the main point of contact with the Client. The Lead Consortium member shall be responsible for managing the advancement of different tasks and organizing the different experts if needed.

N.B To demonstrate their qualifications and experience in meeting the above shortlisting/selection criteria, Consultants are requested to submit, as a minimum, the supporting documentation listed below. 

1.  The firm's company brochures (or link to website) and including the core areas of business.
2. Company information: name, status, address, telephone number, facsimile number, year of establishment, contact person for the Project) number of permanent staff and partners, fields of expertise.
3. Details of most relevant projects undertaken for the specified years above, including value of consulting services and value of works, closed area, location, number of staff involved in the contract, name of the Client, name of partners for contract execution and share of services, source of financing, type of services provided, contract commencement and completion dates, a brief description of the contract.
4. Letters of recommendation from previous Employers.
5. LEC reserves the right to request the Consultant for verification of any submitted document/information.
6. A consultancy firm can only use its own qualifications and experience and not of its parent, sister, or subsidiary companies or its employees. The firm's incorporation/trade/registration documents are issued by the concerned government authority of the country of the firm.

Note: Key Experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage. 

The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers” First Published in July 2016 and revised Fifth Edition September 2023 (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications but should indicate clearly whether the association is in the form of a joint venture and/or a sub-consultancy. In the case of a joint venture, all the partners in the joint venture shall be jointly and severally liable for the entire contract if selected.

A consulting firm will be selected in accordance with the Quality and Cost-Based Selection (QCBS) method set out in the procurement regulations.

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 9:00 am GMT to 5:00 pm GMT.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in written form to the address below by February 28, 2025, at 23.59 hrs. local time. Electronic submissions should mention the subject message: Consultancy Services for a Transaction Advisor to Support the Government of Liberia in Developing and Implementing a Solar and Battery Energy Storage System Park Auction, sent to the address below. Only short-listed firms will be contacted. We encourage interested consultants to rely on email in submitting applications.

Executive Director for Projects

Liberia Electricity Corporation

P.O. Box 10-165 Waterside

Water Street,

1000 Monrovia, Liberia

Email: projectsprocure@lecliberia.com , pmashingaidze@lecliberia.com