REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST
(CONSULTANCY SERVICES – FIRMS SELECTION)
Assignment Title: Consultancy Service for the transaction advisory for competitive bidding of solar photovoltaic and wind power plants in Botswana
Reference No.: BW-MME-387842-CS-QCBS
- Background
Botswana plans to harness its excellent renewable energy (RE) resources and accelerate renewable energy development in the country through operationalization of Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The Government of Botswana (GoB) is committed to increase its share of renewable energy. Botswana’s Vision 2036 sets a goal to reach a share of 50 percent of renewable energy (RE) in its power mix by 2036. The Projects and Energy Development Unit (PEDU), under the Ministry of Minerals and Energy (MME), is planning to operationalize the IRP by launching competitively held tenders for solar and wind power. The Government of Botswana has received financing from the World Bank to support its efforts to operationalise the IRP. Part of this grant will support transaction advisors for procurement of RE Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) EPC projects.
Transaction advisory services will assist the GoB in structuring and tendering bankable projects for IPPs. The present assignment aims to hire a firm/consortium of consultants (the Consultant) to provide support to PEDU to develop and successfully implement a joint procurement for a 100 MW solar PV project and a 100 MW wind project. In preparation for the renewable auctions, the GoB is planning to conduct:
1) Solar and Wind resource assessment,
2) Site studies as well as environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the selected sites and;
3) Feasibility Studies
The mandate for transaction advisory would complement (1), (2) and (3) in preparing the package needed for the GoB to successfully launch the procurement of 100 MW of solar PV and 100 MW of wind.
2. Scope of Work
The transaction advisory support covers four main areas:
A. Technical advisory: support the Client to:
(i) Define the technical criteria of the Request for Qualification (RfQ);
(ii) Draft the Minimum Technical Specifications and testing conditions of the Request for Proposal
(RfP) based on the conclusions of the Feasibility Study;
(iii) Evaluate technical proposals;
(iv) Provide technical inputs to Project Documents
(v) Support the negotiations with the Preferred Bidders on the technical side;
(vi) Support the inclusion of socio-economic and gender benefits as evaluation criteria in the procurement process; and
(vii) more generally address technical questions/comments up to financial close of the RE projects.
B. Legal advisory: support the Client to:
(i) draft the RfP and Project Agreements;
(ii) Evaluate compliance of proposal submitted by Bidders;
(iii) Responsible for all legal requirements during the tenure of the contract
(iv) 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 RE projects.
C. Financial advisory: support to the Client to:
(i) Lead and coordinate the bidding process as a whole;
(ii)Manage the other consultants if applicable;
(iii)Advise on bankability matters;
(iv) Lead and run financial modelling to inform the decision-making process;
( v)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.
D. Capacity building: knowledge and expertise transfer to PEDU on the development of renewable projects (including solar – PV and CSP – and wind technologies). This fourth area will be transversal to the three areas listed above, with the objective to increase the capacity within PEDU to launch bankable and sustainable tenders.
PEDU invites eligible consulting firms/Consortium (‘’Consultants’’) to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have the required qualifications and relevant experience to perform the Services. The shortlisting criteria are:
a) Core Business: minimum 5 years' experience in providing Transactional Advisory Services for renewable energy projects
b) Demonstrate experience of having satisfactorily completed at least 4 assignments, (2) wind and (2) solar of similar magnitude and complexity in the past five years for both solar and wind that have reached financial close,
c) Demonstrate experience of having satisfactorily completed 500MW of wind and solar projects from which at least 1 solar of 50 MW and 1 wind of 50 MW
d) Demonstrate experience of having supported tender preparation and implementation of at least three (3) utility-scale renewable projects done by private companies under IPP scheme or any other auction, with at least one (1) of solar and one (1) of onshore wind in Sub- Saharan Africa
e) The consultant shall be illegible to work with International Financial Institutions
f) The consultant shall not be conflicted
The attention of interested Consultants is drawn to paragraph 3.14 to 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers dated July 2016, revised in November 2017, August 2018, November 2020 and September 2023 setting forth the World Bank’s Policy on Conflict of Interest.
Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications. Where firms are associating, the submission must include verifiable evidence of association from all the parties.
A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the QCBS method set out in the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers dated July 2016, revised in November 2017, August 2018, November 2020 and September 2023. Interested Consultants may obtain further information in writing at the address below during office hours i.e. 07:30 – 16:30 hrs.
Expressions of Interest, clearly labelled ‘’Expression of Interest – Consultancy Service to Transaction advisory for competitive bidding of solar PV and wind power plants in Botswana’’ must be hand delivered in a written form to the address below by 10 November 2023 at 12:00hrs local time.
Attention: The Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Minerals and Energy
3rd Floor, Office DT 10 Energy Security Plot 50656,
Fairground Office Park, Gaborone
Country: Republic of Botswana
Telephone: (+267) 3640260/200
Facsimile number: (+267) 3909368
Electronic mail address: muthapelo@gov.bw