REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – Catalogue and Analysis of South and Southeast Asia Natural Gas Plans & Policies | USEA

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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL – Catalogue and Analysis of South and Southeast Asia Natural Gas Plans & Policies

Funding Agency:

U.S. Agency for International Development

Implementing Agency:

United States Energy Association

RFP Closing Date:

April 19th, 2021

Questions Due Date:

April 5th, 2021

Through funding provided to the U.S. Energy Association’s (USEA) cooperative agreement with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), USEA serves as an implementer partner of the U.S.-Asia Gas Partnership (AGP). The U.S.-Asia Gas Partnership (AGP) is a public-private partnership between government and industry representatives to optimize the development of secure, reliable, and economic sources of natural gas across the Indo-Pacific.

USEA is seeking a consultant to produce a report that compiles, summarizes, and provides an analysis of existing plans for natural gas development, relevant policies and regulations from each of the AGP countries.

Proposals are due by 17:00 hours EST of the closing date. Please forward your proposal in soft copy with a read receipt to Ms. Sarah Blanford, Deputy Program Director, Energy Utility Partnership Program, at [email protected].

As this is a USAID-funded program, the RFP follows USAID Procurement Regulations and Laws. All bidder details will be kept confidential.

RFP_AGP Catalogue and Analysis of South and Southeast Asia Natural Gas Plans and Policies.pdf

Question & Answers related to RFP for “Catalogue and Analysis of South and Southeast Asia Natural Gas Plans & Policies”.pdf

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Background and Scope

Introduction:

The U.S. Energy Association (USEA), headquartered in Washington, DC, is an association of public and private energy-related organizations, corporations, and government agencies.

Through a cooperative agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI), the United States Energy Association implements an Energy Utility Partnership Program (EUPP) available to all USAID-assisted countries and USAID Missions. EUPP assists developing countries to increase environmentally sustainable energy production and use and improve the operational efficiency and increased financial viability of their utilities and related institutions. The goal of the EUPP is to increase access in USAID-assisted countries to environmentally sound energy services.

Under the EUPP mechanism, USEA implements activities for the USAID U.S.-Asia Gas Partnership (AGP). AGP is a public-private partnership between government and industry representatives to optimize the development of secure, reliable, and economic sources of natural gas across the Indo-Pacific.

One of the fastest growing economic regions in the world, the Indo-Pacific accounts for more than half of global energy consumption, with 85 percent derived from fossil fuels. At the same time, increasingly competitive renewables are reshaping the global gas industry as countries in the Indo-Pacific look to liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and highly efficient, natural gas-fired generation as a means of balancing grid variability. As regional energy demand continues to grow over the next 10 years, the share of LNG demand is expected to nearly double, creating infrastructure bottlenecks that will limit LNG imports. Meeting this demand growth will require $80 billion in LNG infrastructure investment in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and India combined.

AGP convenes a diverse set of stakeholders to optimize gas network infrastructure planning through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), in collaboration with the U.S. Energy Association (USEA) and the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), to develop domestic gas markets in Asia. AGP will support strategic planning to promote the development of resilient and least-cost power systems that will continue to meet demand over time.

The objective of the AGP is to share best practices in the development of secure, reliable, and economic sources of natural gas. Practical training and strategic advice targeted at ministries and regulators aims to drive more informed policy and decision-making. With a long-term vision to enable the creation of a regional gas market, the AGP will facilitate a shared understanding between government officials and the private sector about the technical, commercial, and economic factors that spur investment.

For more information on AGP, visit USEA’s website.

Scope of Work:

The investing world lacks a concise, one-stop-shopping encyclopedia on the status of the Asian countries’ plans for natural gas development, relevant policies, and regulations. Information is disjointed and can be difficult to find and rely upon.

To assist the private sector and investors, as well as the Asian countries seeking to improve their natural gas sectors, AGP seeks to produce a “Catalogue and Analysis of South and Southeast Asia Natural Gas Plans & Policies” – an up-to-date report that summarizes existing information from each of the AGP countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam). The report will consider the policy, economic, technical, and institutional traits among the foremost issues in natural gas market development that need to be known if the prospects of natural gas development are to be improved. Further, the report will aim to identify potential interventions on natural gas development within an understanding of the prevailing policy, technical, regulatory, and economic processes in the region.

The information will be compiled via desktop research and web conferencing and emails to relevant stakeholders. USEA and USAID will attempt to assist in making introductions and liaise with AGP country governments and private sector to provide the necessary source materials; however, the consultant should be prepared and experienced to collect this material independently if needed.

The report is anticipated to be a between 35 – 50 pages in length, excluding annexes.

The consultant will provide a formal presentation of the report findings during an AGP webinar, organized by USEA. Scheduling will be done jointly by the consultant and USEA to identify a mutually convenient date.

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that the report will assist in mobilizing investment in the natural gas sector the AGP-countries and increase capacity to develop competitive natural gas markets. Subsequently, it is hoped that recommendations will promote policy and regulatory reforms to spur market-based acquisition.

Schedule

The study is to be initiated June 14, 2021 and be completed by August 23, 2021.

Reporting

The consultant will report to USEA.

Statement of Work:

IMPLEMENTATON AND APPROACH

The purpose of this RFP is to solicit proposals from various candidate organizations or individuals, conduct a fair evaluation, and select the organization deemed most suitable to undertake the project.

Award Ceiling

USEA is constrained by a $40,000 budget for this project.

Subcontract Agreement Management and Oversight

A subcontract agreement between USEA and the Consultant shall be subject to all USAID Special Terms and Conditions, including all mandatory FAR Flow-Down clauses, where applicable, and the provisions included in 2CFR200 and 2CFR700. All bidders are strongly encouraged to review these provisions prior to submitting a proposal.

Standard Provisions for U.S. Nongovernmental Organizations: https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1868/303maa.pdf
2CFR200: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2014-title2-vol1/pdf/CFR-2014-title2-vol1-part200.pdf
2CFR700: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2015-title2-vol1/pdf/CFR-2015-title2-vol1-part700.pdf

Subcontract agreement management, oversight and payment will be carried out by USEA.

Implementation and Deliverables

Deliverables:

Based on the Scope of Work, the following deliverables and products shall be submitted:

Draft work plan
Draft report outline
Final report that will be shared with relevant stakeholders and posted on USEA’s website. Report to include, as it pertains to natural gas market development:
Compendium of gas market regulations, other relevant energy laws, policy, economic, technical, and institutional traits among the foremost issues in natural gas market development for each of the AGP countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam).
Analysis of recent reforms and current position of the AGP countries’ gas markets
Recommendations for country-specific interventions on natural gas development within an understanding of the prevailing policy, technical, regulatory, and economic processes in the country.
Summary of other relevant findings
Presentation of report findings during an AGP webinar with PowerPoint

Proposal Preparation:

The proposal must follow the structure outlined below, contain the following components, and be within page limitations. Failure to follow the outline and page limits prescribed or exclusion of any of the required items will impact the proposal’s scoring. Maximum proposal limit 50 pages (inclusive of cover page and annexes).

Cover letter
	Description	Notes	Maximum page length
	Must include bidder’s current Data Universal Numbering System (D-U-N-S) number Give status of System of Award Management (SAM) registration	Proposals without a D-U-N-S number will not be considered and need not apply.	2 pages
Technical proposal
Subject heading	Description	Notes	Maximum page limit
Demonstration of the issues	Demonstration of an understanding of the issues outlined in the SoW		1 page
Technical approach	Approach to implementing the SoW		4 pages
Schedule of tasks	Proposed schedule of tasks and deliverables to complete the SoW		2 pages
Team assignments & Bio sketches	For each member of the team: 1^st: Summary of work to be performed by/assignment of each individual proposed 2^nd: (Immediately following the assignment) Bio sketch that highlights the individual’s direct experience with the subject matter	The bidder can propose a consortium of multiple organizations and/or individuals; however, one organization must be identified as the lead organization who will enter into contract with USEA and be in compliance with the SAM and DUN registration noted in this RFP.	1 pages per person total ½ page for assignment per person, followed by ½ page for bio sketch

Financial proposal
Subject heading	Description	Notes	Maximum page limit
Summary of costs	Line-item budget with detailed justification of all costs associated with the project, including labor, direct and indirect costs (printing, administrative supplies, etc.)	Must be in USD Must be inclusive of taxes (if applicable)	2 pages
Labor fees	Anticipated labor costs, broken down by the number of man-hours and fully loaded daily rate for each individual proposed for this project	Must include names and titles of the individuals Must be in US Must be inclusive of taxes (if applicable) All salary information will be kept confidential.	2 pages
Annex
	Description	Notes	Maximum page limit
Annex 1	Proof of System of Award Management (SAM) registration	Please note that SAM registration is a 10-step process and can take several weeks to complete. Please refer to this guide for more information. If a bidder has not completed the SAM registration process by the proposal submission due date, USEA will accept a proposal if it includes a PDF copy of an email from “[email protected]” to the bidder stating that the bidder “successfully submitted the entity registration for NAME OF COMPANY in the U.S. Government’s System for Award Management (SAM)”. Proposals without proof of SAM registration or an email from [email protected] stating acceptance of SAM application, will not be considered and need not apply.

Annex 2

Curricula Vitae

Summary of relevant experience of each proposed team member for (not beyond) the past 10 years. Relevant experience should be listed chronologically (starting with the most recent).

2 pages per person

Annex 3

USAID Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet

Completed USAID Contractor Employee Biographical Data Sheet forms for each employee proposed for this project https://www.usaid.gov/forms/aid-1420-17

1 page per person

Annex 4

Organization experience

Summary of the company’s or companies’ background and experience with relevant projects

5 pages

Timeframe and Submission

Evaluation Criteria:

Selection of an offer for a subcontract award will be based on an evaluation of proposals against qualifications, subject matter expertise, technical approach, and budget justification. Proposals shall first be evaluated from a technical standpoint (qualifications, subject matter expertise and technical approach) without regard to proposed budget justification. For those proposals determined to be technically acceptable, budget justification will be evaluated.

Evaluation Criteria:

25%: Experience with similar projects (for each individual on the team & the organization in general)

25%: Subject matter expertise (education and professional experience)

20% Technical approach

30%: Cost

QUESTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

All questions related to this RFP should be submitted via email with a read-receipt to Sarah Blanford at [email protected] no later than 5:00 pm EST on April 5, 2021. All questions and answers will be posted on USEA's website.

Interested parties are requested to submit final proposals no later than April 19, 2021 by 5:00 pm EST. Proposals should be sent via email with a read receipt to Sarah Blanford at [email protected].

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RFP Closed