REOI-Transaction Advisor Services for the development of a 150 MWp Regional Solar Park in The Gambia

 REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – SELECTION OF FIRMS)

Country: Multinational-West African Power Pool (The Gambia)

Project: Solar development project in sub-Saharan Africa (phase 1)

Grant Nº: D3320

Project Identification No: P162580

Reference No: BJ-WAPP-102167-CS-QCBS

Assignment Title: Transaction Advisor Services for the development of a 150 MWp Regional Solar Park in The Gambia

The WEST AFRICAN POWER POOL (WAPP), a specialized institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), headquartered in Cotonou, Republic of Benin, has received financing from the World Bank toward the cost of the Solar development in Sub-Saharan Africa project (Phase I) and intends to apply part of the proceeds for consulting services.

The Consulting Services (“the Services”) include Transaction Advisor (TA) to support the development of a 150 MWp Regional Solar Park with Storage in The Gambia. The overall objective is to design a solar auction system in The Gambia for the selection of one or more IPPs to finance, construct and operate the Regional Solar Park.

Contractually, the transactional advisory support for the solar auction is divided into two (2) phases, of which the second is optional. The first (1st) phase focuses on the design of an auction and financial structuring for which the WAPP is the fiduciary client and the second (2nd) phase of support to the launch and smooth running of the auction for which the Government of The Gambia is the fiduciary client.

In Phase 1, the Transaction Advisor will be required to perform / provide, among others, the;

1. legal due diligence of the Regional Solar Park in The Gambia;
2. Evaluation of Commercial Contracts and Drafting of Contracts;
3. state to the art advice on the structure of the contractual arrangements
4. present working models and tools for the management and implementation of the project;
5. financial due diligence;
6. the auction process and its documentation;
7. the evaluation and preparation of Contracts / agreements including commercial Contracts and prepare all key documents such as the Concession Agreement, the Power Transmission Contract, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and the Direct Agreement (together with the "Project Contracts") and organize consultations with the private sector and the Government to ensure the direction of the auction.
8. consultation with the private sector in coordination with the Government;
9. capacity building of stakeholders.

The Transaction Advisor will be required in Phase 2 to provide support to the bidding process and the selection of the auction winner. This phase, which may be the subject of a separate contract to be signed with The Government of The Gambia, is optional and will only be awarded after satisfactory completion of Phase 1 services and subject to the availability of funding and the procurement rules of the parties concerned. Consultants are, however, required to submit a proposal for this phase (Phase 2).

Phase 2 will cover, among others, the

1. supporting the IPP pre-screening process;
2. supporting the tendering process;
3. supporting the bid evaluation of bids;
4. tract negotiation phase and required support to financial close.

The Consultant for the TA shall work closely with the consulting team responsible for the Feasibility Study (FS) and the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) to ensure the timely completion of the studies under this consultancy.

The level of effort of key personnel required for Phase 1 is estimated at 18 man-months and the total mission implementation period is estimated at 20 weeks after the signing of the contract. For the optional phase (Phase 2), the level of effort is estimated at 19 man-months for a duration of 6 months. The attempt planned start date of the mission is March 2021.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be downloaded HERE

Please note that these TOR are indicative and could change before the publication of the Request for Proposals.

The WEST AFRICAN POWER POOL now invites eligible consulting firms (“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:

1. Successful completion of at least two similar assignments as Transaction Advisor for renewable energy infrastructure projects including legal and regulatory due diligence;
2. Successful completion of at least two similar assignments as Transaction Advisor for a solar PV project, which included management of the tendering process under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), including preparation of the tender documents, assistance in contract award and provision of advisory services until the financial close of the project;
3. Successful completion of the development of solar auctions for the selection of IPP (s);
4. Successful completion of at least two financial analysis assignments, with relevant project finance experience through to financial close for power generation projects either funded by public resources (Government budget and support from TFP) or private investments (various formats of PPP with private sector participation);
5. Experience in the technical design of solar PV Park with storage and evaluation of tariff;
6. Experience in the West African electricity sub-sector.

Key Experts will not be evaluated at the shortlisting stage.

The attention of the interested Consultants is drawn to Section III, paragraphs 3.14, 3.16 and 3.17 of the “Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers”, World Bank Edition, July 2016 Edition (revised in November 2017 and August 2018) (“Procurement Regulations”) , setting out the World Bank's policy on conflicts of interest.

Consultants may associate with other firms to enhance their qualifications and shall 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 Consultant will be selected in accordance with the “Quality and Cost-based Selection” method set out in the Consultant Guidelines.

Expressions of interest must be submitted in writing in English. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, submissions must be done in PDF format and delivered by email only before October 05, 2020 (10:00 am Cotonou time) to the WAPP Secretariat procurement email address: procurement@ecowapp.org

The opening of received expressions will take place On October 5,2020 at 10:30 am Cotonou time.

Due to the COVID-19, hard copies shall not be accepted, and any hard copy sent to the WAPP Secretariat will be rejected. Proposals received by the WAPP after the expiry date indicated above will be rejected.

Expressions of Interest must clearly bear in the email subject the mention: “EOI - Transaction Advisor Services for a 150 MWp Regional Solar Park in The Gambia -Ref: BJ-WAPP-102167-CS-QCBS”.

Expressions without the subject mention above may not be identified on time as such we strongly recommend that all applicants follow the above instruction.

Applicants wishing to participate in the opening of applications received, which will be hosted online using Microsoft Teams, should send a request to the address below to Mr Mouhamadou S. Diedhiou via msdiedhiou@ecowapp.org no later than September 28, 2020 and the link to join the virtual meeting will be communicated to them. Answers to questions can be obtained by sending them to andorere@ecowapp.org; copies to msdiedhiou@ecowapp.org; bhessou@ecowapp.org; hchaibi@ecowapp.org; mmodjinou@ecowapp.org;

The Minutes of the opening session of the expressions of interest that were received will be communicated to all bidders immediately after the opening event.