Assessment of the off-Grid Sector in Niger including Households, Productive Uses and Public Facilities

• Country: Niger
• Summary: Assessment of the off-Grid Sector in Niger including Households, Productive Uses and Public Facilities
• NET Ref No: 51869576
• Deadline: 26 Apr 2021
• Financier: World Bank (WB)
• Purchaser Ownership: Government
• Tender Value: Refer Document
• Notice Type: Tender
• Document Ref. No.: 1273804
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• Description:
• Expression of Interest are invited for Assessment of the off-Grid Sector in Niger including Households, Productive Uses and Public Facilities. REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST FOR SELECTION # 1273804 This Request for Expression of Interest is for a Firm Selection. Please log in as a valid Firm User if you wish to express interest in this selection. Selection Information Assignment Title Assessment of the off-grid sector in NIGER including Households, productive uses and public facilities Publication Date 01-Apr-2021 Expression of Interest Deadline 26-Apr-2021 at 11:59:59 PM (Eastern Time - Washington D.C.) Language of Notice English Selection Notice Assignment Country · NE - Niger Funding Sources The World Bank Group intends to finance the assignment/services under: · BB - BANK BUDGET · TF0B5095 - Niger Energy Sector Support for Accelerating Electricity Access Individual/Firm The consultant will be a firm. Assignment Description The World Bank is seeking a qualified consulting firm to undertake an assessment of off-grid electrification of households, productive uses and public institutions to inform the design and implementation of the new operation Niger Accelerating Electricity Access Project (Haské Project). 2. Objective The proposed activity is to provide the analytical underpinning to inform the design and implementation of household solar off-grid electrification, productive uses of energy and electrification of public facilities in rural areas, including research on the most vulnerable segments of the population (poorest of the poor, women, refugees and host communities). It will also inform the development of an enabling environment for the uptake of studied technologies. The assignment covers three off-grid market segments: households, productive uses and public facilities. All the assessments should carry out multidimensions of beneficiaries including sex and socio-economic status. For each segment, the specific objectives of this study are: For Households: o Assess key barriers to the uptake of household off-grid solar market covering supply and demand side. Map out existing mechanisms to address identified barriers, their limits and effectiveness building on activities implemented by NESAP, ROGEP and other initiatives o Get a better understanding of the demand and supply side of the market with particular focus on the demand side constraints and opportunities, including for the most vulnerable segments of the market. o Propose a comprehensive intervention to address barriers along the value chain using existing financial instruments, suggesting new instruments as well as policy measures to accelerate market creation. Particular focus will be put on mechanism to address household affordability gap and availability of products. Such mechanisms may include supply side and/or demand side subsidies or result-based finance (RBF), or grants. o Propose a design of implementable business model through supply side and/or demand side financial support mechanism for companies and households. For Productive uses o Get a better understanding of the most common productive uses activities in rural NIGER for which access to a solar application could accelerate its development and increase the revenue of the beneficiary, o Pursue demand and supply assessment for identified value chains to be supported under the project. Propose a design and implementable business model for the project to accelerate the deployment of the solar application to the beneficiaries. o Identify value chains critical for vulnerable groups (women, refuges and host communities) and propose business models to promote PUE for these targeted populations o Assess the role of women, as well as opportunities and constraints women face (accessing to finance, type of business they start, insertion in value chains, programs and policies that support women entrepreneurs) For Public facilities o Map the current electricity access situation in public facilities (health including vaccine cold chain, education, water, public lighting, administrative building, places of worship, market places) and existing business models, including supply & installation, ownership, O&M arrangements and funding (central/local/community) arrangements o Identify, estimate energy demand (current and forecasted) and categorize public facilities found in rural areas in Niger and estimate solar system package needed to satisfy their energy demand o Assess potential private sector (already present on the market and potentially interested), perceived risks for long-term participation in sustainable electrification of public institutions and propose mitigation measures o Identify the main actions to be taken to ensure long term sustainability of solar systems installed in public facilities given the Niger context (organizational, technical, and financial aspects) o Analyze and propose new business models along with its risk mitigations tools which could support the electrification of public institutions in sustainable way. The analysis shall look at all possible approaches including, public services, community services, private sector service but not limited to. The different roles of stakeholders shall be clearly specified in the proposed model. The proposal should differentiate among categories of public facilities. These activities will consider, when relevant, assessing the barriers experienced by vulnerable groups. This assignment will inform the design of the off-grid component of the upcoming electrification Project Haské. Across all three segments, particular considerations should be given to women (as customers, but also employers and leaders of off-grid companies and entrepreneurs of PUE), refugees and host communities. Given travel limitations due to the current health crises and security risks, interest companies should demonstrate a strong local presence to cover field related works. The consultant may also build on previous and ongoing studies/projects such as: Off-grid solar market assessment in Niger & design of market-based solutions by Open Capital Advisors (June 2017) Regional Off Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP) - Off-Grid Solar Market Assessment & Private Sector Support Facility Design for NIGER by Greenmax Capital Advisors (July 2019) Off-grid Market Study in Niger and search for search for market-driven solutions by Open Capital Advisors Off-grid Market Assessment NIGER by Power Africa Off-grid Project (October 2019) Améliorer lAccès à la Cuisson Propre et Efficace au Niger, Geres (draft report Feb 2021) Energy Access Diagnostic Report Based on Multi-Tier Framework, June 2020 Ongoing Sahel and Lake Chad electrifications studies on FDP UNICEF vaccine cold chain project 3. Scope of work For the different tasks described below, the consultant is encouraged to review, analyze and use off-grid market findings from previews market studies and lessons learned from electrification projects such as NESAP and ROGEP. The assignment will cover three segments of the off-grid market: Household, Productive use, and Public Facilities. On the household segment, the information from a separately implemented Clean Cooking activity will have to be taken into account as these will be implemented jointly under the Haské project. In each segment, the consultant should always take into account the current pandemic situation due to COVID 19 and the gender dimension. Task 1 Households This task aims to assess key barriers to off-grid solar and key features of a revamped business models to support the market development building on activities implemented by NESAP and ROGEP. To achieve this, the consultant is expected to get a good understanding the currently off grid market and in particular the affordability gap barrier. The following activities are expected under this task: i. Assess the supply of solar solutions for off-grid households based on studies mentioned above and the results of the NESAP project. The analyses of the existing studies will determine gaps and areas that merit further investigation. The analyses should cover the following and also assess the status of women when relevant: a. Provide an overview of key solar market business players, including their sales models (e.g. sales, consumer financing, Pay as You Go), products (types and stock availability),... b. Map the solar market business players along the value chain (e.g. product design, manufacturing, distribution, retailing, financing, etc.), the geographical areas of intervention and their support and capacity building needs to accelerate the development of their business c. Provide a brief analysis of key sector players that solar companies are working with or could potentially work with. These may include mobile network operators, consumer products distributors, financiers (Commercial Banks, Micro finance institutions, guaranty funds, etc.) among others. The analyses shall indicate the role of these players and how they may affect the performance of the solar companies. d. Assess the penetration of quality off-grid solar products (Verasol certified) versus low quality. This shall include cost comparison and geographic location. An analysis of the suppliers of the low-quality products and their value chain and make proposals to encourage them to propose quality products. Assess the impact of non-standard or low-quality products on the market. e. Analyses of the existing regulation and policies in place and how they affect the supply of off grid quality products in Niger. This Analyses will focus on the impact of the duty tax exemption and the impact of value added taxes (VAT) in the cost of the products and how its exception may impact the final cost of the products. The consultant shall also review the duty tax exemption process and make recommendations to make
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