Development of IT Solution. for. IRENA African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) Project Facilitation Platform

Transcription

1 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP) [RFP/ ] Development of IT Solution for IRENA African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) Project Facilitation Platform International Renewable Energy Agency Abu Dhabi, UAE [March, 2015] Page 1 of 38

2 Section 1: Letter of Invitation Dear Madam or Sir, Abu Dhabi, 31 March 2015 The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) hereby invites you to submit a Proposal to this Request for Proposal (RFP) for the following consultancy for: Development of IT Solution for an IRENA African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) Project Facilitation Platform 1. This RFP includes the following documents: Section 1 This Letter of Invitation Section 2 Instructions to Proposers (including Data Sheet) Section 3 Terms of Reference (TOR) including technical evaluation criteria Section 4 Proposal Submission Form Section 5 Documents Establishing the Eligibility and Qualifications of the Proposer Section 6 Technical Proposal Form Section 7 Financial Proposal Form Section 8 General Terms and Conditions (attached herewith) 2. Your offer comprising of a Technical and Financial Proposal, in separate sealed envelopes, should be submitted in accordance with the Data Sheet. 3. You are kindly requested to submit an acknowledgment letter to IRENA via the following [email protected] or the following addressee and location: International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA Secretariat, Masdar City, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Procurement Section, 2nd floor RFP: [RFP/ ], Development of IT Solution for an IRENA African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) Project Facilitation Platform Deadline for submission: 22 April, 2015, Time: hrs. Abu Dhabi time The letter should advise whether your company intends to submit a Proposal and if not, we would appreciate your kind indication of the reason, for our records purposes. 4. Should you need further clarification, kindly communicate with the contact person indicated in the attached Bid Data Sheet duly assigned to handle all queries for this RFP We look forward to your Proposal and thank you in advance for your interest in IRENA procurement opportunities. Yours sincerely, Jayantilal Karia Director of Administration and Management Services Page 2 of 38

3 Definitions of Terms Section 2: Instruction to Proposers a) Contract refers to the agreement that will be signed by and between the IRENA and the successful proposer, all the attached documents thereto, including the General Terms and Conditions (GTC 1 ) and the Appendices. b) Country refers to the country indicated in the Data Sheet. c) Data Sheet refers to such part of the Instructions to Proposers used to reflect conditions of the tendering process that are specific for the requirements of the RFP. d) Day refers to calendar day. e) Government refers to the Government of the country that will be receiving the services provided/rendered specified under the Contract. f) Instructions to Proposers (Section 2 of the RFP) refers to the complete set of documents which provides Proposers with all information needed and procedures to be followed in the course of preparing their Proposals g) LOI (Section 2 of the RFP) refers to the Letter of Invitation being sent by IRENA to the Proposers. h) Proposal refers to the Proposer s response to the Request for Proposal, including the Proposal Submission Form, Technical and Financial Proposal and all other documentation attached thereto as required by the RFP. i) Proposer refers to any legal entity that may submit, or has submitted, a Proposal for the provision of services requested by IRENA. j) RFP refers to the Request for Proposals consisting of instructions and references prepared by IRENA for purposes of selecting the best service provider to perform the services described in the Terms of Reference. k) Services refers to the entire scope of tasks and deliverables requested by IRENA under the RFP. l) Supplemental Information to the RFP refers to a written communication issued by IRENA to prospective Proposers containing clarifications, responses to queries received from prospective Proposers, or changes to be made in the RFP, before the deadline for the submission of Proposals. m) Terms of Reference (TOR) refers to the document included in RFP as Section 3 which describes the objectives, scope of services, activities, tasks to be performed, respective responsibilities of the proposer, expected results and deliverables and other data pertinent to the performance of the range of duties and services expected of the successful proposer. 1 Attached with the RFP Page 3 of 38

4 A. GENERAL 1. IRENA solicits Proposals in response to this Request for Proposal (RFP). Proposers must strictly adhere to all the requirements of this RFP. No changes, substitutions or other alterations to the provisions stipulated in this RFP will be accepted unless approved in writing by IRENA. However, whilst fully complying with the RFP requirements, Proposers are encouraged to provide any suggestions and solutions that may achieve a more cost-effective and value-for-money approach to fulfilling the requirements of this RFP. 2. Submission of a Proposal shall be deemed to constitute an acknowledgement by the Proposer that all obligations stipulated by this RFP will be met and unless specified otherwise, the Proposer has read, understood and agreed to all the instructions provided in this RFP. 3. Any Proposal submitted will be regarded as an offer by the Proposer and not as an acceptance of an offer of any Proposal by IRENA. This RFP does not commit IRENA to award a contract. 4. A Proposer shall not be in any position of conflict of interest arising from their current or future work with respect to IRENA. All Proposers found to have a conflict of interest shall be disqualified. Proposers may be considered to have a conflict of interest with one or more parties in this solicitation process, if they: 4.1 are or have been associated in the past, with a firm or any of its affiliates which have been engaged with IRENA to provide services for the preparation of the design, specifications, Terms of Reference and other documents to be used for the procurement of the goods and services to be purchased in this selection process; 4.2 were involved in the preparation and/or design of the programme/project related to the services requested under this RFP; 4.3 have owners, officers, directors, controlling shareholders, or key personnel who are related to IRENA staff involved in procurement functions; 4.4 submit more than one Proposal in this RFP, either as an individual entity, or through its membership with a joint venture/consortium/association that is also submitting a Proposal for the same contract. 4.6 are found to be in conflict for any other reason, as may be established by, or at the discretion of, IRENA. B. CONTENTS OF PROPOSAL 6. Sections of Proposal Proposers are required to complete, sign and submit in the number of copies the following documents: 6.1 Proposal Submission Covering Letter Form (see RFP Section 4); 6.2 Documents Establishing the Eligibility and Qualifications of the Proposer (see RFP Section 5 and Data Sheet); 6.3 Technical Proposal (see prescribed form in RFP Section 6); 6.4 Financial Proposal (see prescribed form in RFP Section 7); 6.5 Proposal Security, if applicable (if required and as stated in the Data Sheet, see prescribed Form in RFP Section 8); 6.6 Any attachments and/or appendices to the Proposal (including those specified under the Data Sheet) Page 4 of 38

5 7. Clarification of Proposal Proposers may request a clarification of any of the RFP documents no later than the number of days indicated in the Data Sheet before the proposal submission date. Any request for clarification must be sent in writing, or by electronic means to the IRENA address indicated in the Data Sheet. IRENA will respond in writing, or by electronic means and will send written copies of the response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) to all Proposers who have provided confirmation of their intention to submit a Proposal. IRENA shall endeavor to provide such responses to clarifications in an expeditious manner, but any delay in such response shall not cause an obligation on the part of IRENA to extend the submission date of the Proposals, unless IRENA deems that such an extension is justified and necessary. 8. Amendment of Proposals At any time prior to the deadline for submission of Proposals, IRENA may for any reason, such as in response to a clarification requested by a Proposer, modify the RFP in the form of a Supplemental Information to the RFP. All Proposers who have provided confirmation of their intention to submit a Proposal will be notified in writing of all amendments to the RFP. In order to afford prospective Proposers reasonable time to consider the amendments in preparing their Proposals, IRENA may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for submission of Proposals, if the nature of the amendment to the RFP justifies such extension. C. PREPARATION OF PROPOSALS 9. Cost of Proposal The Proposer shall bear any and all costs related to the preparation and/or submission of the Proposal, regardless of whether its Proposal was selected or not. IRENA shall in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the process. 10. Language of Proposal The Proposal, as well as all related correspondence exchanged by the Proposer and IRENA, shall be written in the language (s) specified in the Data Sheet. Any printed literature furnished by the Proposer written in a language other than the language indicated in the Data Sheet, must be accompanied by a translation in the preferred language indicated in the Data Sheet. For purposes of interpretation of the Proposal, and in the event of discrepancy or inconsistency in meaning, the version translated into the preferred language shall govern. 11. Proposal Submission Form The Proposer shall submit the Proposal Submission Form using the form furnished in Section 4 of the RFP. Page 5 of 38

6 12. Technical Proposal Format and Content Unless otherwise stated in the Data Sheet, the Proposer shall structure the Technical Proposal as follows: 12.1 Expertise of Firm/Organization this section should provide details regarding management structure of the organization, organizational capability/resources, and experience of organization/firm, the list of projects/contracts (both completed and ongoing, both domestic and international) which are related or similar in nature to the requirements of the RFP, and proof of financial stability and adequacy of resources to complete the services required by the RFP (see RFP Clause 15 for further details) Proposed Methodology, Approach and Implementation Plan this section should demonstrate the Proposer s response to the Terms of Reference by identifying the specific components proposed, how the requirements shall be addressed, as specified, point by point; providing a detailed description of the essential performance characteristics proposed; identifying the works/portions of the work that will be subcontracted; and demonstrating how the proposed methodology meets or exceeds the specifications, while ensuring appropriateness of the approach to the local conditions and the rest of the project operating environment. This methodology must be laid out in an implementation timetable that is within the duration of the contract as specified in the Data Sheet Management Structure and Key Personnel This section should include the comprehensive curriculum vitae (CVs) of key personnel that will be assigned to support the implementation of the proposed methodology, clearly defining the roles and responsibilities vis-à-vis the proposed methodology. CVs should establish competence and demonstrate qualifications in areas relevant to the TOR. In complying with this section, the Proposer assures and confirms to IRENA that the personnel being nominated is available for the Contract on the dates proposed. If any of the key personnel later becomes unavailable, except for unavoidable reasons such as death or medical incapacity, IRENA reserves the right to render the proposal nonresponsive. Any substitution arising from unavoidable reasons shall be made only with the approval of IRENA Other Information as may be relevant to the Proposal. The Technical Proposal shall not include any financial information. A Technical Proposal containing any form of financial information that could lead to the determination of the price offer may be declared non-compliant. 13. Financial Proposals The Financial Proposal shall be prepared using the attached standard form (Section 7). It shall list all major cost components associated with the services, and the detailed breakdown of such costs. All outputs and activities described in the Technical Proposal must be priced separately on a one-to-one correspondence. Any output and activities described in the Technical Proposal but not priced in the Financial Proposal, shall be assumed to be included in the prices of other activities or items, as well as in the final total price. Page 6 of 38

7 14. Currencies of Proposals All prices from Proposers originating from outside the Country specified in the Data Sheet shall be quoted in the currency indicated in the Data Sheet. However, where Proposals are quoted in different currencies, for the purposes of comparison of all Proposals IRENA will convert the currency quoted in the Proposal to US Dollar, in accordance with the prevailing UN operational rate of exchange on the last day of submission of Proposals; and 15. Documents Establishing the Eligibility and Qualifications of the Proposer The Proposer shall furnish evidence of its status as an eligible and qualified vendor, using the forms provided under Section 5, Proposer Information Forms. The documentary evidence of the Proposer s qualifications to perform the Contract, if the contract is awarded to the Proposer, shall be established to the IRENA s satisfaction. This evidence shall include, and must demonstrate, the following: 15.1 that, in the case of a Proposer offering to supply goods under the Contract which the Proposer did not manufacture or otherwise produce, the Proposer has been duly authorized by the goods manufacturer or producer to supply the goods in the country of final destination; and 15.2 that the Proposer has the financial, technical, and production capability necessary to perform the Contract. 16. Joint Venture, Consortium or Association If the Proposer is a joint venture, consortium, or association, all of the parties shall be jointly and severally liable to IRENA for the fulfillment of the provisions of the Contract and shall designate one party to act as a leader with authority to legally bind the joint venture, consortium, or association. The leader or lead entity, composition or the constitution of the joint venture, consortium, or association shall not be altered without the prior consent of IRENA. The description of the organization of the joint venture/consortium/association must be clearly defined in the course of establishing the eligibility of the Proposer, by defining the expected role of each of its component/member firm in the course of performing the services defined in the TOR. Where a joint venture/consortium/association is presenting its track record and experience in a similar undertaking as those required in the TOR, it should present such information in the following manner: Those that were undertaken together by the joint venture/consortium/association jointly and severally; and Those that were undertaken by the individual members of the joint venture/consortium/association expected to be involved in the performance of the services defined in the TOR. Page 7 of 38

8 Previous contracts completed by individual experts working privately but who are permanently or were temporarily associated with any of the member firms cannot be claimed as the experience of the joint venture/consortium/association or those of its members, but should only be claimed by the individual experts themselves in their presentation of their credentials. 17. Alternative Proposals Unless otherwise specified in the Data Sheet, alternative proposals shall not be considered. 18. Period of Validity Proposals shall remain valid for the period specified in the Data Sheet, commencing on the submission deadline date also indicated in the Data Sheet. A Proposal valid for a shorter period shall be immediately rejected by IRENA and rendered non-responsive. In exceptional circumstances, prior to the expiration of the proposal validity period, IRENA may request Proposers to extend the period of validity of their Proposals. The request and the responses shall be made in writing, and shall be considered integral to the Proposal. D. SUBMISSION AND OPENING OF PROPOSALS 19. Submission and Opening of Proposals 19.1 The Financial Proposal and the Technical Proposal Envelopes MUST BE COMPLETELY SEPARATED and each of them must be submitted sealed individually and clearly marked on the outside as either TECHNICAL PROPOSAL or FINANCIAL PROPOSAL, as appropriate. Each envelope MUST also bear the name of the Proposer. The inner and outer envelopes shall: bear the name and address of the Proposer be addressed to IRENA as specified in the Data Sheet and bear a warning not to open before the time and date for proposal opening, as specified in the Data Sheet. If all envelopes are not sealed and marked as required, IRENA will assume no responsibility for the misplacement or premature opening of the Proposal Proposers may always submit their Proposals by mail/courier or by hand delivery. When so specified in the Data Sheet, Proposers shall have the option of submitting their Proposals electronically. When the Proposals are expected to be in transit for over 24 hours, the Proposer must ensure that sufficient lead time has been provided in order to comply with IRENA s deadline for submission. Under such circumstances, the Proposer must inform IRENA of the exact date and time of their dispatch, through the submission of the official receipt and supporting documents (airway bill, etc.) issued by the forwarding/courier company that will deliver the Proposal to IRENA Proposers submitting Proposals by mail or by hand shall enclose the original and each copy of the Proposal, in separate sealed envelopes, duly marking the envelopes as Original Proposal and Copy of Proposal as appropriate. The number of copies Page 8 of 38

9 required shall be as specified in the Data Sheet. In the event of any discrepancy between them, the original shall govern. The original and copies of the Proposal shall be signed by the Proposer or person(s) duly authorized to commit the Proposer. The Proposer shall submit the original and copies of the Proposal in separate envelopes, marked ORIGINAL and COPY. The envelopes shall then be sealed in an outer envelope. 20. Deadline for Submission of Proposals and Late Proposals 20.1 Proposals must be received by IRENA at the address and no later than the date and time specified in the Data Sheet IRENA shall not consider any Proposal that arrives after the deadline for submission of Proposals. Any Proposal received by IRENA after the deadline for submission of Proposals may be declared late, rejected, and returned unopened to the Proposer. 21. Withdrawal, Substitution, and Modification of Proposals 21.1 Proposers are expected to have sole responsibility for taking steps to carefully examine in details the full consistency of its Proposals to the requirements of the RFP, keeping in mind that material deficiencies providing information requested by IRENA, or clarity in the description of services to be provided, may result in the rejection of the Proposal. IRENA shall not assume any responsibility regarding erroneous interpretations or conclusions made by the Proposer in the course of understanding the RFP out of the data furnished by IRENA A Proposer may withdraw, substitute or modify its Proposal after it has been submitted by sending a written notice in accordance with RFP Clause 19, duly signed by an authorized representative, and shall include a copy of the authorization (or a Power of Attorney). The corresponding substitution or modification of the Proposal must accompany the respective written notice. All notices must be received by IRENA prior to the deadline for submission and submitted in accordance with Clause 19 (except that withdrawal notices do not require copies). The respective envelopes shall be clearly marked WITHDRAWAL, SUBSTITUTION, or MODIFICATION Proposals requested to be withdrawn shall be returned unopened to the Proposers No Proposal may be withdrawn, substituted, or modified in the interval between the deadline for submission of Proposals and the expiration of the period of proposal validity specified by the Proposer on the Proposal Submission Form or any extension thereof. 22. Proposal Opening 22.1 IRENA will open the Proposals in the presence of an ad-hoc committee formed by IRENA. If electronic submission is permitted, any specific electronic proposal opening procedures shall be as specified in the Data Sheet The Proposers names, modifications, withdrawals, the presence or absence of documents, and such other details as IRENA may consider appropriate, will be Page 9 of 38

10 announced at the opening. No Proposal shall be rejected at the opening stage, except for late submission, for which the Proposal shall be returned unopened to the Proposer. E. EVALUATION AND COMPARISON OF PROPOSALS 23. Confidentiality 23.1 Information relating to the examination, evaluation, and comparison of Proposals, and recommendation of contract award, shall not be disclosed to Proposers or any other persons not officially concerned with such process, even after publication of the contract award Any effort by a Proposer to influence IRENA in the examination, evaluation and comparison of the Proposals or contract award decisions may, at IRENA s decision, result in the rejection of its Proposal In the event that a Proposer is unsuccessful, the Proposer may seek a meeting with IRENA for debriefing, but said debriefing shall be limited to the discussions of the strengths and weaknesses of the Proposal of said Proposer, and no information relating to the Proposal or rating of other Proposers may be discussed. 24. Clarification of Proposals To assist in the examination, evaluation and comparison of Proposals, IRENA may, at its discretion, ask any Proposer for a clarification of its Proposal. IRENA s request for clarification and the response shall be in writing. Notwithstanding the written communication, no change in the prices or substance of the Proposal shall be sought, offered, or permitted, except to provide clarification, and confirm the correction of any arithmetic errors discovered by IRENA in the evaluation of the Proposals, in accordance with RFP Clause 28. Any unsolicited clarification submitted by a Proposer in respect to its Proposal, which is not a response to a request by IRENA, shall not be considered during the review and evaluation of the Proposals. 25. Preliminary Examination of Proposals IRENA shall examine the Proposals to determine whether they are complete, whether the documents have been properly signed, and whether the Proposals are generally in order. IRENA reserves the right to reject any Proposal after preliminary examination of Proposal, if IRENA finds justifiable reason for such rejection, including but not limited to the discovery of significant or material deviation, conflict of interest, fraud, among others. 26. Evaluation of Proposals 26.1 IRENA shall examine the Proposal to confirm that all terms and conditions under the IRENA General Terms and Conditions and Special Conditions have been accepted by the Proposer without any deviation or reservation. Page 10 of 38

11 26.2 The evaluation committee shall review and evaluate the Technical Proposals on the basis of their responsiveness to the Terms of Reference and other documentation provided, applying the evaluation criteria, sub-criteria, and point system specified in the Data Sheet. Each responsive Proposal will be given a technical score. A Proposal shall be rendered non-responsive at this stage if it does not substantially respond to the RFP, and particularly the Terms of Reference, or if it fails to achieve the minimum technical score indicated in the Data Sheet In the second stage, only the Financial Proposal of those Proposers who achieve the minimum technical score will be opened for evaluation for comparison and review. The Financial Proposal Envelopes corresponding to Proposals that did not meet the minimum passing technical score shall be returned to the Proposer unopened. The overall evaluation score will either be based either on a combination of the technical score and the financial offer, or the lowest evaluated financial proposal of the technically qualified Proposers. The evaluation method that applies for this RFP shall be as indicated in the Data Sheet, 26.4 IRENA shall reserve the right to determine to its satisfaction the validity of information provided by the Proposer, through verification and reference checking, among other means that it deems appropriate, at any stage within the selection process. 27. Responsiveness of Proposal 27.1 IRENA s determination of a Proposal s responsiveness is to be based on the contents of the Proposal itself A substantially responsive Proposal is one that conforms to all the terms, conditions, and specifications of the RFP without material deviation, reservation, or omission If a Proposal is not substantially responsive, it shall be rejected by IRENA and may not subsequently be made responsive by the Proposer by correction of the material deviation, reservation, or omission. 28. Nonconformities, Errors and Omissions 28.1 Provided that a Proposal is substantially responsive, IRENA may waive any nonconformities or omissions in the Proposal that do not constitute a material deviation Provided that a Proposal is substantially responsive, IRENA may request the Proposer to submit the necessary information or documentation, within a reasonable period of time, to rectify nonmaterial nonconformities or omissions in the Proposal related to documentation requirements. Such omission shall not be related to any aspect of the price of the Proposal. Failure of the Proposer to comply with the request may result in the rejection of its Proposal Provided that the Proposal is substantially responsive, IRENA shall correct arithmetical errors on the following basis: if there is a discrepancy between the unit price and the line item total that is obtained by multiplying the unit price by the quantity, the unit price shall Page 11 of 38

12 prevail and the line item total shall be corrected, unless in the opinion of IRENA there is an obvious misplacement of the decimal point in the unit price, in which case the line item total as quoted shall govern and the unit price shall be corrected; if there is an error in a total corresponding to the addition or subtraction of subtotals, the subtotals shall prevail and the total shall be corrected; and if there is a discrepancy between words and figures, the amount in words shall prevail, unless the amount expressed in words is related to an arithmetic error, in which case the amount in figures shall prevail subject to the above If the Proposer does not accept the correction of errors made by IRENA, its Proposal shall be rejected. 29. Fraud and Corruption IRENA implements a policy of zero tolerance on fraud and corrupt practices and is committed to preventing, identifying and addressing all acts of fraud and corrupt practices against IRENA as well as third parties involved in IRENA activities. F. AWARD OF CONTRACT 30. Right to Accept, Reject, or Render Non-Responsive Any or All Proposals IRENA reserves the right to accept or reject any Proposal, to render any or all Proposals as non-responsive, and to annul the solicitation process and reject all Proposals at any time prior to award of contract, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Proposer, or any obligation to inform the affected Proposer(s) of the grounds for IRENA s action. IRENA shall neither be obliged to award the contract to the lowest price offer. 31. Award Criteria Prior to the expiration of proposal validity, IRENA may award the Proposer, whose proposal offers best value for money being the proposal that has obtained the highest score based on the evaluation method indicated in the Data Sheet 32. Right to Vary Requirements at the Time of Award At the time of award of Contract, IRENA reserves the right to vary the quantity of services and/or goods, by up to a maximum 15% of the total price offer, without any change in the unit price or other terms and conditions. 33. Contract Signature Within fifteen (15) days from the date of receipt of the Contract, the successful Proposer shall sign and date the Contract and return it to IRENA. 34. Performance Security 34.1 A performance security, if required, shall be provided in the amount and form provided in Section 8 and by the deadline indicated in the Data Sheet, as applicable. Page 12 of 38

13 34.2 Failure of the successful Proposer to comply with the requirement of RFP Clause 33 or RFP Clause 34 shall constitute sufficient grounds for the annulment of the award and forfeiture of the performance security if any, on which event IRENA may award the Contract to the Proposer with the second highest rated Proposal, or call for new Proposals. 35. Bank Guarantee for Advance Payment In the event that the advanced payment requested exceeds 20% of the total proposal price, or exceed the amount of $30,000, IRENA shall require the Proposer to submit a Bank Guarantee in the same amount as the advanced payment. A bank guarantee for advanced payment shall be furnished in the form provided in Section 9, and by the deadline indicated in the Data Sheet, as applicable. 36. Proposer s Conference When appropriate, a proposer s conference will be conducted at the date, time and location specified in the Data Sheet. All Proposers are encouraged to attend. Non-attendance, however, shall not result in disqualification of an interested Proposer. Minutes of the proposer s conference will be either posted on the IRENA website, or disseminated to the individual firms who have registered or expressed interest with the contract, whether or not they attended the conference. No verbal statement made during the conference shall modify the terms and conditions of the RFP unless such statement is specifically written in the Minutes of the Conference, or issued as an amendment in the form of a Supplemental Information to the RFP. 37. Vendor Protest IRENA vendor protest procedure provides an opportunity for appeal to those persons or firms not awarded a purchase order or contract through a competitive procurement process. This procedure is not available to non-responsive or untimely Proposers or those with rejected Proposals. In the event that you believe you have not received fair treatment, the following provides further details regarding IRENA vendor protest procedures: [email protected] Page 13 of 38

14 Instructions to Proposers DATA SHEET The following data for the services to be procured shall complement, supplement, or amend the provisions in the Instruction to Proposers. In the case of a conflict between the Instruction to Proposers and the Data Sheet, the provisions in the Data Sheet shall prevail. Project Context : Title of Services/Work: Country: Language of the Proposal: Conditions for Submitting Proposals for Parts or sub-parts of the TOR Conditions for Submitting Alternative Proposals A pre-proposal conference will be held: Period of Proposal Validity commencing on the submission date Proposal Security Validity of Proposal Security Proposal Prices shall be subjected to Taxation Advanced Payment upon signing of contract Liquidated Damages Performance Security Preferred Currency of Bid Proposal and Method for Currency conversion IRENA RFP Service for: Development of IT Solution for IRENA African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) Project Facilitation Platform. UAE, Abu Dhabi English x Not allowed x shall not be considered x No 120 days x Not Required x Not Required Yes, pls. submit a price inclusive of all applicable taxes x Not allowed will be imposed in accordance with general terms & conditions Not Required Single Currency: [USD] Page 14 of 38

15 Deadline for submitting requests for clarifications/ questions Contact Details for submitting clarifications/questions No. of copies of Proposal that must be submitted Three (3) working days before the submission Date/deadline. Focal Point in IRENA : Arjuna Kadirgamar Procurement Officer [email protected] or Luay Shalkhoub, Chief Procurement Officer [email protected] Originals Bids via to the secure address: [email protected] Clearly labelled PDF copy of the Technical Proposal, Financial Proposal. In addition attach (electronic) soft copy of the technical and financial offer. Copies: via courier to follow. (i) 2 x CDROM Technical Proposal & (ii) 2x CD ROM Financial Proposal The clear labels on the disk (i) RFP Name / number (ii) Bidders name. Proposal submission address Deadline of Submission Procedures and conditions for electronic submissions of the Proposals International Renewable Energy Agency, IRENA HQ, Masdar City, PO Box 236, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Tel: Date: 22 April 2015; Time: Hrs. Abu Dhabi time Allowed. See above. Page 15 of 38

16 Evaluation method to be used in selecting the most responsive Proposal Required Documents that must be Submitted to Establish Qualification of Proposers Combined scoring method, using 70%-30% distribution for technical and financial respectively. ( details of the technical evaluation criteria is in Section 3) Company Profile, which should not exceed thirty (30) pages, excluding the CVs Certificate of Registration of the business, including Articles of Incorporation, or equivalent document if Proposer is not a corporation Quality Certificate (e.g., ISO, etc.) and/or other similar certificates, accreditations, awards and citations received by the Proposer, if any Page 16 of 38

17 Section 3: Terms of Reference (TOR) TERMS OF REFERENCE (TOR) Development of IT Solution for - Irena African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) Project Facilitation Platform Secretariat of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) 1. Background The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is an intergovernmental body with a mandate to promote the widespread and increased adoption and the sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy (Article II) and to provide to its Members upon their request advice on the financing for renewable energy and support the application of related mechanisms (Article IV). IRENA directs its principal partnership activities towards knowledge sharing, ensuring that existing information and experience is developed, organised, and made accessible in a usable format. Cooperation at the global, regional and national levels, knowledge sharing, enabling policies and enhanced capacity, and the encouragement of investment flows and strengthened technology and innovation, are essential elements in the Agency s efforts. 1 IRENA s African Clean Energy Corridor (ACEC) initiative calls for accelerated development of renewable energy resources and cross-border trade of renewable power in the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP) and Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). The ACEC initiative builds on on-going regional initiatives such as increasing power trading at the pools, connecting power markets through a transmission corridor. The initiative supports the development of a large-scale clean energy project pipeline along the corridor so that bankable projects can be identified and supported with effective policy frameworks, planning, and appropriate funding. A key element of the ACEC initiative is support of market and financial frameworks to enable investment. In order to facilitate work around the ACEC and to advance efforts towards concrete investments and actions, an Africa Clean Energy Corridor Implementation Scheme is under development. One of the key implementation components of the Implementation Scheme is an ACEC Project Facilitation Platform (PFP), which will bring (1) projects, project developers and project owners, (2) financiers and investors, and (3) service and technology providers together in a virtual market place. The core of the PFP will be an actively operated and facilitated web-based online tool (PFP Interface) which will make the projects and all relevant stakeholders visible, easily identifiable and approachable, and by this increase the transparency and liquidity of the renewable energy project market in the region. PFP aims to facilitate (1) project initiation and (2) project development activities, and (3) bring bankable renewable energy projects to financial closure by facilitating access to financial and risk mitigation instruments, advisory services, and public finance for support programs. PFP will also be closely linked to IRENA s existing tools and databases, notably the PFP - Project Facilitation Platform is not the final name of the solution, the name and branding will be finalized during the assignment. Page 17 of 38

18 Project Navigator providing tools and templates for project developers, and relevant country level data already available on the ACEC countries. 2. Overview of the Project The project objective is to develop a web-based tool having the needed technical features to function as a market place and meeting the detailed functional specifications as set out in this Terms of Reference, including Annex 1, which includes the initial outline of the main functionalities. It is expected, however, that this initial outline will be modified and complemented during the process, and the consultant shall also actively provide suggestions for improvements. Therefore, Annex 1 shall be used as an illustrative description, not the final specification. The work shall be carried out in close interaction with IRENA, there shall be a regular feedback process, and the consultant shall be ready to make adjustments to the original design as seen appropriate by IRENA during the project. The PFP Interface will consist of public and confidential levels. The public part of the PFP Interface will enable the key stakeholders (project owners, financiers, services and technology providers) to register and submit general and publicly available information about themselves. It will also enable the project owners to list and describe their projects in the ACEC region, financers to list and describe their financing instruments and service and technology providers to list and describe their services and technologies. This information is accessible to anyone registered in the PFP, and will contain only information helping market players to screen the market, such as specific types and sizes of projects in specific locations, and specific financing instruments for specific purposes. This public information will thus enable quick and efficient search of projects, financing instruments and services and technologies according to specific interests and needs, and thus makes it easier for market players to identify relevant business cases and counterparties for them. The publicly available information will not contain business-sensitive information such as cash flows, profitability, etc. As an example, the public part of the PFP Interface with its search functions can be to a large extent similar with Clean Energy Pipeline or Bloomberg New Energy Finance databases and search functions. The confidential part of the PFP Interface will provide the market players with a closed space to engage in more detailed and confidential discussions and enable the exchange of more detailed information. Project owners can upload their project specific information (technical designs, resource and production estimates, financial modelling, permit process documentation, agreements, etc.) in the confidential part of the PFP Interface, which would thus act as a virtual data room typically used in M&A transactions (see for example Intralinks DataSpace, Merrill DataSite or Imprima irooms). However, PFP Interface would be simpler, only covering the data storing and sharing options, not other functions typically offered by virtual data room. Therefore the technical concept of the virtual data room can be also described as a tailored version of Dropbox type of a tool. Project owners could provide access to the confidential space for interested financiers or service providers through the PFP Interface, making it easier to start more detailed evaluation and negotiation process. The confidential space will also enhance the standardization of project information and thus increase the transparency and liquidity of the market. The market place will be supported by active facilitation work provided by IRENA and its partners including donor countries actively supporting renewable energy projects in the region (for example US and European Union and its individual member countries), multilateral development banks Page 18 of 38

19 (MDBs), and private sector advisors and experts. The facilitation work will include but not be limited to (1) evaluation of projects and identification of needs of project owners; (2) supporting investors to find projects (3) match-making between financiers and project owners and between different financiers; (4) channeling of expertise for the projects and financiers in a timely manner and (5) channeling project development funding provided by donor countries and MDBs. One of the most critical issues in project facilitation is to provide right and timely support in different stages of the project development and financing process. In addition to active facilitation, the PFP will also include tools and databases to facilitate project development and financing. IRENA has created several relevant tools and database for this purpose, which will be linked to the PFP. These may include for example country level regulatory assessments and country level zoning and renewable energy resource assessments, country level master plans, etc. IRENA has also developed the Project Navigator tool providing document templates and methodologies for project developers to ensure good quality project development. In addition to enhancing the quality of project development, the Project Navigator aims at standardizing the project development and related documentation and thus contributing to the transparency and liquidity of the market place. The PFP will offer an easy access for project owners to the Project Navigator tool, and documents created by using the Project Navigator can be easily stored in the confidential space of the PFP Interface. 3. Scope of Work The PFP Interface shall include interfaces for input and output of information. Input functions mean the data entries by market participants such as project developers, financiers and service and technology providers. This information shall be in a standardized format enabling efficient search functions on the PFP Interface. Output functions will include search functions by the market participants to screen and evaluate the information entered by market participants through the above mentioned input functions. The purpose is that the market participants themselves, and not IRENA, will enter the information on their organisations, projects and financing instruments on the PFP Interface, and be active participants in the market place. In addition, the PFP Interface shall include links to relevant country level and other data provided by IRENA s other databases and tools. The PFP Interface shall also contain a confidential project space ( virtual data room ) allowing the project owners to store, organise and share the confidential project information with financiers and other relevant stakeholders. These functionalities are described briefly in this chapter, and a more detailed initial outline is provided in Annex Input functions The PFP Interface shall enable five different types of input functionalities: a. Registration of project owner entities (project developers, utilities, industrial companies, entrepreneurs, NGOs, communities, etc.) b. Inserting of projects developed by project owner entities c. Registration of financing entities (MBDs, donor countries and other development finance institutions, private equity investors, utilities, industrial companies, commercial banks etc.) d. Inserting of financial instruments offered by financing entities Page 19 of 38

20 e. Registration of service and technology providers (financial, technical and legal advisors, technology companies, donor countries etc.) 3.2. Output functions The PFP Interface shall enable seven different types of output functionalities a. Project search (efficient search functions allowing for example investors to screen projects according to their specific investment criteria such as country, project type, size and stage, investment volume, etc.) b. Financing instrument search (efficient search functions allowing project owners to screen different financing instruments according to their specific interests such as type of financing, size of investments, project eligibility criteria, etc.) c. Service and technology search (efficient search functions allowing market participants to find service and technology providers for their specific needs) d. Organisation search (allowing search according to the names organisations registered on the platform) e. Country search (allowing easy access to existing country level data on renewable energy such as renewable energy resource estimates, policies and regulations, renewable energy generation statistics, etc.) f. Market analysis and statistics (aggregate figures on the cumulative amounts and financial volumes of the projects registered in the PFP, their distribution according to countries, project types, sizes and stages, etc.) g. Reporting to IRENA (partly based on the above market analysis and statistics data, but also activity reports, inactive project alerts, malfunction reports and other) 3.3. Linking of other databases and tools a. IRENA has developed a considerable amount of relevant country-specific information which will be offered to the market participants through the PFP. Part of this data will be in form of individual files (such as pdf and GIS), some data is included in databases. One such database is the REsource, compiling a large amount of publicly available country-specific data on renewable energy. b. This information shall be classified according to countries so that by searching specific countries the PFP Interface lists all relevant documents and databases on that country. The development work of the PFP Interface shall include this linking and implementation of the respective country search function. c. In addition to country level data for project owners, developers and financiers, the PFP Interface will contain a link to Project Navigator tool to provide direct access to project development tools, templates and data Confidential project space The technical concept of the confidential project space shall fulfil at least the following requirements. a. Data security: The confidential project space, or virtual data room, serves the purpose of storing, organising and sharing of confidential project information. Such information is highly sensitive, and therefore the security level of the confidential project space shall meet sufficient requirements. b. Access to confidential information: As a default, only the project owner having inserted the Page 20 of 38

21 project data shall have access to it. In addition, at the sole discretion of the project owner, access can be granted for other registered participants on the PFP. c. Modification, extracting or copying of confidential information: As a default, the information in the confidential project space cannot be modified, copied or extracted by any other entity than the respective project owner. At its sole discretion, the project owner may provide such rights to other registered participants on the PFP Other pages In addition, the PFP Interface shall contain at least the following pages a. News feed, sharing of relevant articles or blogs, event calendar and possibly other frequently updated information feed b. Information about the PFP, IRENA and potential partners c. Contact information page and legal disclaimer d. These shall be integrated or directly linked to PFP Interface main page 3.6. Technical specifications a. Website shall be created as a responsive format readable on mobile devices like IOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry and others b. IRENA shall have full ownership of the application once it has been developed c. Modification, customisation, addition or elimination of entries, features or functionalities shall be manageable by IRENA through Content Management System (CMS) d. Introductory support and training services provided to IRENA beyond the help information embedded in the PFP Interface e. Help file and help boxes under each sub-page shall be included in the PFP Interface to give users guidelines on the different functionalities of the PFP Interface f. Possibility to link to, read and post on Facebook and Twitter (News alerts etc.) g. Interface in English, more languages shall be easily addable h. The operation or even ownership of the PFP Interface shall be easily outsourced or exited to external parties, would IRENA want to do so 4. Timeline and Milestones Timeline for the work (until go-live) is 16 weeks, and the work shall in any case be completed by 31 August After launch and go-live the vendor shall provide support for 24 weeks. The support shall include at least the technical maintenance of the PFP, fixing of any problems that arise with regard to the agreed functionalities, and minor improvements as seen appropriate. The most important milestones are given below. The proposed time is indicative, and the bidders may propose an alternative timeline, however ensuring the completion of work by 31 August Page 21 of 38

22 Milestone Number Milestone Description* Milestone Date 1 2 Preparation of an inception report to be presented in the kick-off meeting. Kick-off meeting and kick-off meeting report. Submission of the detailed design including the structure of the site, initial visual layout of each page and the description of detailed functionalities Meeting within 2 weeks of the contract signing, kick-off meeting report within 1 week from the meeting 2 weeks from the kick-off meeting. 3 Review and approval of the detailed design 1 week 4 Piloting version of the PFP Interface ready 5 6 Testing with pilot projects selected by IRENA, linking of external databases and tools. Increasing the user volume, testing and fine-tuning based on the feedback from the users. 7 Handover, training and go-live 2 weeks 3 weeks from the finalisation of the detailed design 3 weeks from the finalisation of the piloting version 3 weeks from piloting phase 8 End of provision of support 24 weeks after go-live *These are estimated durations. The implementation plan to be confirmed in the agreement. 5. Evaluation Criteria Scoring of evaluation criteria Summary of Proposal Evaluation Technical Criteria Evaluation 70% Commercial/Financial Criteria Evaluation 30% TOTAL SCORE 100% Technical Evaluation Criteria The Technical evaluation will consist of three stages: Score weight 1. Stage one: The technical proposals shall be evaluated based on the criteria listed hereunder in Table 1. The passing score for this stage is 70%, which will qualify the proposers to the following stage. Overall weight in technical evaluation for this stage is 60% 2. Stage two: All companies who attained the minimum passing in stage one, shall be invited to give a presentation on the solution suggested in their technical proposal. The consultant shall give the presentation either at the IRENA headquarters or via teleconference within three weeks after the deadline of proposals, the exact date and time to be provided by IRENA. The Page 22 of 38

23 presentation criteria is listed hereunder as Table 2. Overall weight in technical evaluation for this stage is 40%. 3. Stage three: Scores from stage one and stage two will be calculated. Those who attain 70% and above shall have their financial proposals open. The overall evaluation score will be on a combination of the technical score and the financial score. 70/30 60% Table 1 Summary of Technical Proposal Evaluation criteria 1. Technical approach a. In the proposal, propose an approach and implementation strategy to carry out the work along with providing a target-oriented work plan that is realistic and in line with the milestones provided within the Terms of Reference. b. One mock up design for the PFP Interface to be attached to the proposal. See below for the description of the expected prototype and features of CMS c. Documented significant experience in the development of similar platforms, and development of CMS. Provide at least three relevant references of successful past projects. 2. Solution and technology a. The CMS should be developed in.net Platform and shall be hosted on IRENA environment. Web-based application shall be accessible by all main devices and web browsers, and it shall be responsive to the website to be readable on mobile devices, such as IOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry 3. Personnel a. Composition, qualifications, experiences and geographical locations of the experts who will be directly involved in the project in various capacities, including project manager and focal point for IRENA. Detailed descriptions of the roles and responsibilities of each team member within the team. For each team member, provide CV and samples of relevant work undertaken. Score Weight 15% 25% 25% 10% 25% Total 100% Points Obtainable Minimum passing score is 70% Prototype for the technical evaluation of the bids, what is expected: Bidders are invited to submit a prototype of the application with the proposal. The prototype will be used to evaluate mainly the creativity of the bidder, and its capacity to propose solutions tailored for the project. The prototype would contain three elements: (1) A graph of the possible architecture of the PFP Interface (2) Visual prototypes, which can take the form of an online demo or screenshots Page 23 of 38

24 (3) A description of the main elements of the CMS Table 2 40 % Presentation of the Proposed Solution 1. Presentation on the proposed approach and solution to be given at the IRENA headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Demonstrate clarity in understanding the overall objectives and scope of work. Score Weight 100 Points Obtainable Presentation shall be maximum of 45 minutes including 30 minutes for presentation and demo, and 30 minutes for questions and discussion Total 100% Minimum passing score is 70% The overall evaluation score will be on a combination of the technical score and the financial score. Page 24 of 38

25 ANNEX 1. Detailed functionalities of the IT Solution for PFP The PFP Interface shall include interfaces for input and output of information. Input functions mean the data entries by market participants such as project developers, financiers, and service and technology providers. This information shall be in the form enabling efficient search functions on the PFP Interface. Output functions will include search functions by the market participants to screen and evaluate the information entered by market participants through the above mentioned input functions. These input and output functions are described below in more detail. Input functions The PFP Interface shall enable five different types of input functionalities 1. Registration on project owner entities 2. Inserting projects 3. Registration of financing entities 4. Inserting financing instruments 5. Registration of service and technology providers The initial contents of each input function is presented in the following. These contents and formats will be modified during the project. 1. Registration of project owner entities In order to become a participant on the PFP the project owners have to register themselves in the market place. The project owner entities are able to submit projects to the market place after successful registration. At the registration the project owner entities shall insert the following information (certain fields can be left blank, certain are mandatory in order to complete the registration) Name of organization [free text format; enabling alphabetical order] Type of organization [pre-specified types to choose from: private company industrial, private company developer, private company other, utility, governmental, municipality or community, NGO] Country [pre-specified countries to choose from] Size of the organisation [insert number; turnover, balance sheet total, or annual budget] [insert number; number of personnel] Contact information [Contact person: insert name, phone and of the contact person] [Entity contact information: insert street address, P.O. Box, web page, phone, fax] General description [free text format, fixed space of approximately 1 page to provide general description of the organization owning / developing the project] 2. Inserting of projects developed by project owner entities Project owner entities shall insert the following information when submitting projects to the market place (certain fields can be left blank, certain are mandatory in order to complete the registration) Page 25 of 38

26 Link to a registered project owner [each project needs to be linked to one registered project owner entity in the market place] Project type [pre-specified technologies to choose from; wind, solar, hydro, biomass, etc] [Possibly sub-groups under the above, such as biomass heat, biomass, CHP, biomass power, etc] Country [pre-specified countries to choose from] Size [insert number, MW installed capacity] Investment [insert number, total investment cost excluding development costs in USD] Annual generation [insert number, MWh annual net generation] Financing plan [insert percentages for equity, debt, grant and other financing, sum forced to 100%] Financing currently sought [insert number, type and amount of financing currently sought, e.g. project development equity or grant financing] Other support currently sought [tags to existing services and technologies listed / defined in the market place] Status of the project [pre-specified stages for permitting process, feasibility studies, agreements negotiation and financing process: for example planned, drafts in process, finalized ] Expected start of construction [Insert date] Expected start of operation [Insert date] Two-page teaser [Exact format to be specified later, typical project teaser format including general project description] 3. Registration of financing entities In order to become a participant on the PFP the financiers have to register themselves in the market place. The financing entities are able to submit their financing instruments to the market place after successful registration. At the registration the financers shall insert the following information Name of organization [free text format; enabling alphabetical order] Type of organization [pre-specified types to choose from: development bank, other DFI, donor, host country, commercial bank, utility, industrial, private equity, IPP, other (specify)] Country [pre-specified countries to choose from; domicile country] Page 26 of 38

27 Size of the organisation [insert number; either balance sheet total, fund size, amount outstanding investments, etc., to be specified, may be different for different types of financiers] [insert number; number of personnel] Contact information [Contact person: insert name, phone and of the contact person] [Entity contact information: insert street address, P.O. Box, web page, phone, fax] General description [free text format, fixed space of approximately 1 page to provide general description of the financing entity] 4. Inserting of financial instruments offered by financing institutions Financing entities shall insert the following information when submitting their financing instruments to the market place (certain fields can be left blank, certain are mandatory in order to complete the registration) Link to a registered financier [each instrument needs to be linked to one registered financier in the market place] Instrument type [pre-specified instruments to choose from; equity, debt, mezzanine, grant, guarantee, results-based financing, other (specify)] Eligible countries [pre-specified countries to choose from; countries where the instrument can be used] Eligible project types [pre-specified types to choose from; same types as in project submitting interface] Eligible project phase [insert project phase in which the financing instrument can be used, can include multiple; early stage project development, finalization of project development, construction, operational stage] Eligible project size [range to be inserted, lower and upper limits for the eligible project size. Can be left blank to not limit searches based on this criterion] Eligible investment size [range to be inserted, lower and upper limits for the eligible investment size. Can be left blank to not limit searches based on this criterion] General description [free text format, fixed space of maximum of 1 page to provide general description of the financial instrument, how it works, how it can be applied, etc.] 5. Registration of service and technology providers Advisors and other service providers are required to register before being able to review projects and financing instruments At the registration the service and technology providers shall insert the following information (certain fields can be left blank, certain are mandatory in order to complete the registration) Page 27 of 38

28 Name of organization [free text format; enabling alphabetical order] Type of organization [pre-specified types to choose from: technical advisor, financial advisor, legal advisor, environmental advisor, zoning advisor, project developer, EPC contractor, O&M contractor, other] Services or technologies offered [pre-specified types to choose from enabling search functions] Countries of operation [pre-specified countries to choose from; countries where the organization offers its services or products] Size of the organization [insert number; number of personnel] Contact information [Contact person: insert name, phone and of the contact person] [Entity contact information: insert street address, P.O. Box, web page, phone, fax] General description [free text format, fixed space of approximately 1 page to provide general description of the organization and its services 6. Concluding remarks on input functions Log-in system. IRENA shall have the right to both prevent entities, projects or financing instruments from entering the PFP Interface or remove them thereof if it obvious that the entry is not valid and relevant. The platform shall require approval by IRENA before any entry will be shown on the market place. Also certain alerts shall be created to inform IRENA on updates and potentially outdated entries. For example, the PFP Interface shall inform IRENA when project information is updated, and if information on a certain project has not been modified during a certain time such as one year. The system shall also enable IRENA to assist entities in uploading of information in case problems arise. Publicity of personal contact information and possibly other information. It can be expected that especially certain financiers will not want their direct personal contact information to be shown on the platform. Therefore the platform shall enable the contact person information (and possibly some other information) to remain hidden on the PFP. The registering entities can thus partly choose the extent to which information on them is publicly available. In such cases the PFP Interface shall enable interested entities to leave their contact request on the organization page of the financing entity. This message / request shall be forwarded automatically through the PFP Interface to an address pre-defined by the financier entity. News and other features. The PFP Interface shall contain an option for news feed, sharing of relevant articles or blogs, event calendar and possibly other frequently updated information feed. It shall also contain the general information and contact information of PFP, IRENA and its partners. The main page of the PFP Interface shall contain and enable such functionalities. Output functions The PFP shall enable seven different types of output functionalities 1. Project search 2. Financing instrument search 3. Service and technology search Page 28 of 38

29 4. Organisation search 5. Country search 6. Market analysis and statistics 7. IRENA reporting The initial contents of each output function is presented in the following. These contents and formats may be modified during the project. 1. Project search Project screening is meant to be used especially by financiers and service providers to efficiently screen and identify projects that are eligible for their financing and services PFP Interface allows for screening of projects according to the criteria as listed in the project input slide Target is to have three-digit number of projects in the market place very soon; the search should enable the financers and service providers to quickly narrow this down to potentially interesting projects For countries, project types and other pre-classified criteria the search shall enable choosing multiple alternatives (such as several countries or project types) For size and range information the search shall enable free choice of the range (such as project or investment size) The search result shall be shown as a list of projects, which can be in alphabetic, country, technology, size or project phase order (these to be shown in columns after the project name column), and the user shall be able to choose in which order to see the search results It shall allow seeing the project information (the public profile inserted by the owner) on a single project by clicking on the project name The project information shall also have direct links to the owner and country information 2. Financing instrument search Screening of finance is meant to be used by project owners to efficiently screen and identify relevant financing sources matching with the specific needs of the project PFP Interface allows for screening of finance according to the criteria as listed in the finance input slide Target is to have at least financing instruments in the market place; the search should enable the owners to quickly narrow this down to a limited number of potentially interesting financing sources For instrument type and other pre-classified criteria the search shall enable choosing multiple alternatives (such as listing both equity and grant financing or both debt and mezzanine financing instruments) For size information the search shall enable free choice of the size; the result shall list all instruments having set a range including the size chosen The search result shall be shown as a list of eligible instruments, which can be in alphabetic, issuer, or financing type order (these to be shown in columns after the instrument name column), and the user shall be able to choose in which order to see the search results It shall allow seeing the information of a specific financing instrument (the information inserted by the financier) by clicking on the name of financing instrument The information page of the instrument shall also have a direct link to the financer 3. Service and technology search Service provider screening is meant to be used by project owners, financiers (and IRENA as the facilitator) to efficiently screen and identify relevant service and technology providers matching with the specific needs of the project Page 29 of 38

30 PFP Interface allows for screening of services and technologies according to the criteria as listed in the respective input slide The service providers may include also donors providing technical assistance (if in form of expert services rather than funding) The practical search functions (listings, links etc) the same as in case of project and financing searches 4. Organisation search The organization search shall enable search by the name of, or part thereof, an organisation. It has to be noted that one organization shall be allowed to register as more than one type of market participant. For example, a project owner can also be a potential investor to other projects, and therefore be both project owner and financier in the market place, and may thus list and link both projects and financing instruments to itself. As another example, a project owner may also provide project development services to other project owners, in which case such organization may want to register as both project owner and service provider (project development services). 5. Country search Country screening is meant to be used especially by financers looking for more information on the countries they are considering to invest in It is also meant to be used by project developers identifying suitable sites for project development Under the country screening the search allows for one country search at a time, showing the following information, as available for that country (the following list is indicative and will be specified during the project) Country level zoning and resource assessments prepared by IRENA (link to individual country files) Renewables Readiness Assessments, RRAs, prepared by IRENA (link to individual country files) REmap 2030 reports (link to individual country files) Costing data REsource, prepared by IRENA (link to country statistics in a database on IRENA web pages) SE4All Action Agenda, prepared by SE4All (link to individual country files) SE4All Investment Prospectus, prepared by SE4All (link to individual country files) List of projects in the country (technically a project search according to country criterion only) In a later stage additional internal or external tools and databases may be linked to the PFP, and the solution shall enable easy linking to such additional tools and databases. 6. Market analysis and statistics The PFP Interface shall be capable of providing summary, aggregate and statistical information on the contents of it. This shall include but not be limited to the following. On the main page the PFP Interface shall show at least the main aggregate information: Total number of projects on the PFP Aggregate investment volume of the projects on the PFP Number of project developers, financiers and service and technology providers on the PFP 7. IRENA reports In addition, the PFP Interface shall allow IRENA to do at least the following analyses The distribution of projects with regard to geography, project type, project size, project stage, and other parameters as defined in the input functionalities. Activity reports, such as how many additions have been made on PFP during a Page 30 of 38

31 certain period, how many modifications of existing projects there have been made on PFP during a certain period, when a specific organization, project or financing information has been updated last time, etc. 8. Concluding remarks on output functions Facilitation requests by registered participants. IRENA together with its partners will provide active facilitation of project development, financing and interaction on the PFP in general. IRENA will work proactively to identify specific needs. In addition, the PFP Interface shall provide the registered participants with an option to send a facilitation request for IRENA. This request will be confidential and be not shown to other registered participants. Showing and organising the results. When doing searches on PFP Interface the system shall show the number of hits for each criteria already during the search, not only as a result of search. For example, in case of project search, if country criteria is chosen, the search engine shall show after the name of the country, how many projects each country search will deliver if chosen. The project list on the screen shall be automatically updated accordingly after selection of any criteria. The system shall enable organising of the resulting search (such as project list) according to certain criteria, such as project size, project stage, date of entering the PFP, and possible other criteria which may be relevant for the users. Linking of other databases and tools IRENA has developed a considerable amount of relevant country-specific information which will be offered to the market participants through the PFP Interface. Part of this data will be in form of individual files (such as pdf and GIS), some data is included in databases. This information shall be classified according to countries so that by searching specific countries the PFP Interface lists all relevant documents and databases on that country. The development work of the PFP Interface shall include this linking and implementation of the respective country search function. In addition to country level data for project owners, developers and financiers, the PFP Interface will contain a link to Project Navigator tool to provide direct access to project development tools, templates and data. Confidential project space The technical concept of the confidential project space shall fulfil at least the following requirements. Data security: The confidential project space, or virtual data room, serves the purpose of storing, organising and sharing of confidential project information. Such information is highly sensitive, and therefore the security level of the confidential project space shall meet sufficient requirements. Access to confidential information: As a default, only the project owner having inserted the project data shall have access to it. In addition, at the sole discretion of the project owner, access can be granted for other registered participants on the PFP. Modification, extracting or copying of confidential information: As a default, the information in the confidential project space cannot be modified, copied or extracted by any other entity than the respective project owner. At its sole discretion, the project owner may provide such rights to other registered participants on the PFP. Commenting the documentation: The external entities having been granted access to a confidential project space shall be able to make comments to the documentation available. This can be implemented for example by adding a sticky notes function or other solution enabling making comments without modifying the underlying document. Page 31 of 38

32 Section 4: Proposal Submission Form This form must be returned along with the submission signed and stamped from authorized person To: IRENA, Chief Procurement Officer Dear Sir/Madam: We, the undersigned, hereby offer to provide professional services for IRENA s Consultancy Service for indicated subject with your Request for Proposal dated and our Proposal. We are hereby submitting our Proposal, which includes the Technical Proposal and Financial Proposal sealed under a separate envelope. We hereby declare that all the information and statements made in this Proposal are true and we accept that any misinterpretation contained in it may lead to our disqualification. We confirm that we have read, understood and hereby accept the Terms of Reference describing the duties and responsibilities required of us in this RFP, and the General Terms and Conditions of IRENA s. We agree to abide by this Proposal for 120 days. We undertake, if our Proposal is accepted, to initiate the services not later than the date indicated in the Data Sheet. We fully understand and recognize that IRENA is not bound to accept this proposal, that we shall bear all costs associated with its preparation and submission, and that IRENA will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the evaluation. We remain, Yours sincerely, Authorized Signature [In full and initials]: Name and Title of Signatory: Name of Firm: Contact Details: Section 5: Documents Establishing the Eligibility and Qualifications of the Proposer Proposer Information Form Page 32 of 38

33 1. Proposer s Legal Name [insert Proposer s legal name] 2. In case of Joint Venture (JV), legal name of each party: [insert legal name of each party in JV] 3. Proposer s actual or intended Country of Registration: [insert actual or intended Country of Registration] 4. Proposer s Year of Registration: [insert Proposer s year of registration] 5. Proposer s Legal Address in Country of Registration: [insert Proposer s legal address in country of registration] 6. Proposer s Authorized Representative Information Name: [insert Authorized Representative s name] Address: [insert Authorized Representative s Address] Telephone/Fax numbers: [insert Authorized Representative s telephone/fax numbers] Address: [insert Authorized Representative s address] 7. Attached are copies of original documents of: [check the box(es) of the attached original documents] Articles of Incorporation or Registration of firm named in 1, above, in accordance with ITB Sub- Clauses 4.1 and 4.2. In case of JV, letter of intent to form JV or JV agreement. In case of government owned entity, documents establishing legal and financial autonomy and compliance with commercial law. Joint Venture Partner Information Form [The Proposer shall fill in this Form in accordance with the instructions indicated below]. 1. Proposer s Legal Name: [insert Proposer s legal name] 2. JV s Party legal name: [insert JV s Party legal name] Page 33 of 38

34 3. JV s Party Country of Registration: [insert JV s Party country of registration] 4. JV s Party Year of Registration: [insert JV s Part year of registration] 5. JV s Party Legal Address in Country of Registration: [insert JV s Party legal address in country of registration] 6. JV s Party Authorized Representative Information Name: [insert name of JV s Party authorized representative] Address: [insert address of JV s Party authorized representative] Telephone/Fax numbers: [insert telephone/fax numbers of JV s Party authorized representative] Address: [insert address of JV s Party authorized representative] 7. Attached are copies of original documents of: [check the box(es) of the attached original documents] Articles of Incorporation or Registration of firm named in 2. In case of government owned entity, documents establishing legal and financial autonomy and compliance with commercial law. Page 34 of 38

35 Section 6: Technical Proposal Form TECHNICAL PROPOSAL FORMAT SECTION 1: EXPERTISE OF FIRM/ ORGANISATION This section should fully explain the Proposer s resources in terms of personnel and facilities necessary for the performance of this requirement. 1.1 Brief Description of Proposer as an Entity: Provide a brief description of the organization / firm submitting the proposal, its legal mandates/authorized business activities, the year and country of incorporation, types of activities undertaken, and approximate annual budget, etc. Include reference to reputation, or any history of litigation and arbitration in which the organisation / firm has been involved that could adversely affect or impact the performance of services, indicating the status/result of such litigation/arbitration Financial Capacity: Provide the latest Audited Financial Statement (Income Statement and Balance Sheet) duly certified by a Public Accountant, and with authentication of receiving by the Government s Internal Revenue Authority. Include any indication of credit rating, industry rating, etc Track Record and Experiences: Provide the following information regarding corporate experience within the last five (5) years which are related or relevant to those required for this Contract. Name of project Client Contract Value Period of activity Types of activities undertaken Status or Date Completed References Contact Details (Name, Phone, ) Page 35 of 38

36 SECTION 2 - APPROACH AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN This section should demonstrate the Proposer s responsiveness to the specification by identifying the specific components proposed, addressing the requirements, as specified, point by point; providing a detailed description of the essential performance characteristics proposed; and demonstrating how the proposed methodology meets or exceeds the specifications Approach to the Service/Work Required: Please provide a detailed description of the methodology for how the organisation/firm will achieve the Terms of Reference of the project, keeping in mind the appropriateness to local conditions and project environment Technical Quality Assurance Review Mechanisms: The methodology shall also include details of the Proposer s internal technical and quality assurance review mechanisms Reporting and Monitoring: Please provide a brief description of the mechanisms proposed for this project for reporting to the IRENA and partners, including a reporting schedule Subcontracting: Explain whether any work would be subcontracted, to whom, how much percentage of the work, the rationale for such, and the roles of the proposed sub-contractors. Special attention should be given to providing a clear picture of the role of each entity and how everyone will function as a team. SECTION 3: PERSONNEL 3.1 Management Structure: Describe the overall management approach toward planning and implementing this activity. Include an organization chart for the management of the project describing the relationship of key positions and designations. 3.2 Staff Time Allocation: Provide a spreadsheet will be included to show the activities of each staff member and the time allocated for his/her involvement. (Note: This spreadsheet is crucial and no substitution of personnel will be tolerated once the contract has been awarded except in extreme circumstances and with the written approval of the IRENA. If substitution is unavoidable it will be with a person who, in the opinion of the IRENA project manager, is at least as experienced as the person being replaced, and subject to the approval of IRENA. No increase in costs will be considered as a result of any substitution.) 3.3 Qualifications of Key Personnel. Provide the CVs for key personnel (Team Leader, Managerial and general staff) that will be provided to support the implementation of this project. CVs should demonstrate qualifications in areas relevant to the Scope of Services. Page 36 of 38

37 Section 7: Financial Proposal Form The Proposer is required to prepare the Financial Proposal in a separate envelope from the rest of the RFP response as indicated in RFP Clause 14 of the Instruction to Proposers. The Financial Proposal must provide a detailed cost breakdown. The format shown on the following pages is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal. The format includes specific expenditures, which may or may not be required or applicable but are indicated to serve as examples. A. Cost Breakdown per Deliverables The format shown below is required in preparing the Financial Proposal. The Proposers are requested to provide the overall cost breakdown for all deliverables based on the following format. IRENA shall use the cost breakdown for the price reasonability assessment purposes as well as the calculation of price in the event that both parties have agreed to add new deliverables to the scope of Services. The format shown below is suggested for use as a guide in preparing the Financial Proposal. ITEM COST (USD) Phase I Detailed concept and implementation plan Phase II Development of a platform prototype (Alpha version) Phase III Development of full version of the platform (Beta version) Phase IV Warranty and assistance during the operation and maintenance of the platform post implementation six months Grand Total Page 37 of 38

38 Please also provide the following information: Daily and weekly fees for the following key staff. The fee structure shall remain fixed / unchanged for one year from the handover of the project and at the completion of the six month warranty period. Note: these rates must match the same that are indicated in the financial offer. Category Daily rate U$ Weekly rate U$ 1 Business Analyst 2 Software Developer / 3 Graphic Designer 4 Project Manager 5 Other Please fill in the above structure as the financial proposal. No other format will be accepted. Signature of Authorized person: Stamp of bidder: Page 38 of 38