Call for Expression of Interest

Geothermal Legal Consultancy in Ethiopia

Deadline for receipt of EOIs: April 3, 2015 at 5:00pm Eastern Daylight Time

 1.       Introduction

The Government of Ethiopia (GoE) seeks to aggressively develop the country’s 7,000 MW geothermal resource.  GoE has set a target generating capacity of 2,500 MW from geothermal resources by 2030.  In order to support the GoE’s objectives, the United States Government (USG), through the Power Africa Initiative, has been collaborating with the private sector and other development finance institutions (DFIs) to accelerate the development of Ethiopia’s geothermal resources.

One of the key challenges to developing the geothermal resources of Ethiopia is to create the legal and regulatory framework to support independent geothermal power generation.  Currently, geothermal exploration and production is managed under the country’s mining law.  However, as the GoE seeks to accelerate development of geothermal independent power producers (IPPs), the Power Africa Initiative will provide support in developing a harmonized geothermal legal and regulatory framework.

The team selected to carry out this assignment, in coordination with GoE, USAID/Ethiopia, and Power Africa, will undertake the task of drafting a geothermal law to regulate future development of the geothermal resources in Ethiopia.

This law, based on international best practices in geothermal development and designed to fit within Ethiopia’s institutional framework, should consider, among others:

• Geothermal project leasing, siting, and permitting;
• Waste and hazardous materials management;
• Health and safety protections;
• Environmental protection;
• Infrastructure development;
• Grid interconnection, feed-in-tariffs/tariff regime, and power purchase agreements;
• Unitization rules and regulations;
• Waste heat;
• Structure and function of agencies;
• Concession/licensing process;
• Dispute resolution;
• Groundwater resources;
• Steamfield development;
• Sovereign guarantees;
• Equipment tendering process;
• Land use/subsurface rights;
• Direct-use geothermal applications; and
• Data acquisition and sharing standards.

2. Selection process

The selection procedure will be supervised by the U.S. – East Africa Geothermal Partnership and will be a Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS) among not more than three shortlisted teams. Up to three teams shall be shortlisted and shall be invited to submit a technical and financial proposal.

3. Contract type

The work of the legal team will be carried out under a fixed-cost contract, under which the services are performed for an all-inclusive fixed price paid against specific deliverables.

4. Scope and schedule of services
 

4.1. Scope of Work
The two main tasks of this assignment are:

1. Development of a law to govern development of geothermal resources in Ethiopia; and
2. Convene working groups in Ethiopia to finalize and implement the geothermal law.

4.2 Work to be carried out
Development of the geothermal law shall be conducted through a consultative process and with input from key stakeholders, as well as a review of relevant documents.  Work carried out by the consultant team will include, but may not be limited to:

1. Review of relevant documents and policies on geothermal development in Ethiopia;
2. Consultation and interviews with key stakeholders and institutions;
3. Convening working groups of key stakeholders and institutions; and
4. Development of a geothermal law.

Deliverables will include, but may not be limited to:

1. Working group reports including input from key stakeholders;
2. Draft versions of a geothermal law;
3. Implementation plan for adopting the geothermal law; and
4. Final version of a geothermal law.

4.3. Schedule of services
The planned commencement of this contract is April 2015 and the estimated time for completion of services is nine (9) months with delivery of the final report in December 2015.

This contract will require international travel up to 30% of the time for the consultant team.  Multiple short-term (up to three weeks) visits to Ethiopia may be required to carry out this work, although it is not a full-time overseas posting.

5.  Information required from interested parties
EAGP invites eligible, experienced and qualified experts and companies to express interest in being shortlisted to submit proposals for the contract.  Up to three firms shall be shortlisted and shall be invited to submit a technical and financial proposal.

Interested firms should submit an expression of interest outlining the experiences of the firm (or association of firms) in the subject area, technical competence including relevant project experience, geographical experience, and CVs of the experts that will perform the assignment as well as any other relevant information.

6. Contact information and due date

Additional information and clarifications may be requested from the following email address:  [email protected].  Responses to inquires will be posted on the EAGP website at http://www.usea.org/node/1409  Questions should not be submitted later than April 1, 2015.

Expressions of interest and the associated documentation in English must be delivered by 5:00pm Eastern time on April 3, 2015 to EAGP by email:  [email protected].  All email attachments should be in pdf-format with no more than four separate files.  One combined file is preferred.