Periodic Monitoring and Assessment Consultant

Consultant Environment

Overview

Assist with the monitoring and assessment of renewable energy projects.

You have:

• Master’s Degree in development studies, social sciences, international relations or other fields related to the scope of the assignment.
• Five years of relevant experience related to Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation of development projects.
• Proven understanding of monitoring and assessment methodologies and approach is essential.
• Relevant experience on evaluating and conducting assessment of development projects.
• Working experience in similar assignment in Vanuatu.
• Strong writing and editing skills in English and report producing capacity on Monitoring and Assessment.
• Excellent English, report writing, presentation and communication skills.

Contract

This is a National Consultant contract. More about National Consultant contracts.

Background

The Department of Energy (DoE) under the Ministry of Climate of Change (MoCC), Vanuatu with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) are currently implementing a Global Environment Facility (GEF 6) funded project referred to as the Barrier Removal for Achieving National Energy Road Map Target of Vanuatu (BRANTV) Project for the Vanuatu Government to address the National Energy Road Map (NERM) rollout. The project is managed by the Project Management Unit (PMU) which sits under the DoE.

The overall project objective is to enable the achievement of the energy access, sustainable energy, and green growth targets of Vanuatu, as represented in the country’s NERM. Central to the approach is BRANTV’s implementation of Vanuatu’s Rural Off-Grid and Energy Efficient (EE) Promotion Program which includes demonstrations on: pico-/micro hydropower mini-grid system; pico-/micro hydro PV hybrid mini-grid system, community-scale solar PV systems, family compound-scale PV Nano solar systems; and applications of EE cook stoves, and productive, livelihood-enhancing uses of renewable energy (RE) and EE.

The Project Management Unit (PMU) in its Annual Work Plan 2022 has priority areas for implementation to achieve yearly targets. The main focus is on implementations of technical and economically viable demonstrations of Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency. Other related activities are also of priority to promote capacity building and awareness, gender assessment, enforcement of standards, policies, and regulations of RE and EE systems and collaborations between productive sectors for sustainable management of the energy systems in the rural areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

Scope of Work

In light of this, the Consultant is required to assist with:

• Developing an M&A Plan of the project demos
• Conduct period monitoring on all key aspects of each BRANTV all type of RE demos, including actual cost breakdown of investment, operation of equipment, technical problems, amount billed, collection of fees, saving of fees for maintenance and parts, and productive uses.
• Support the BRANTV PMU to structure the management model of the community scale PV solar systems, develop procedures to collect fees and develop reporting template on fees collection and faults reported.
• Conduct periodic monitoring of key aspects of the project energy efficient cook stove dissemination program. Monitoring shall identify which aspects of energy efficient cook stove promotion are most effective. It shall also determine uptake (number and proportion of persons purchasing cook stoves in various villages in which they are promoted), level of usage among purchasing families, problems, feedback from those who purchase the stove and those who choose not to on how they made their decision, and level of satisfaction among those that purchase an energy efficient cook stove
• Completed assessment of other applicable low carbon technologies (besides those of the project demos) that can be feasibly implemented in the on-grid and off-grid areas to supplement the planned rural electrification projects in Vanuatu.
• Identification of and assessment of the future potential of RE and EE applications not already being pursued by BRANTV or other energy projects in Vanuatu. An analysis of potential economic viability and technical suitability of such RE and EE applications to the situation in Vanuatu will be carried out. Recommendations on next steps for pursuing such technologies will be formulated and proposed, as relevant. Technologies may include, but will not be limited to, high rotation biomass combustion power generation, geothermal at various scales, various forms of ocean energy, solar thermal, and building energy efficiency technologies.
• Coordinate project related meetings such as workshops and trainings with communities of the demo sites, Technical Working Group and stakeholders

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

The Consultant is expected to achieve the following outputs:

1. Submit an Inception report to outline the methodology of conducting M&A and deliver on the objectives of the assignment (Due date: 11 November 2022)
2. Submit a draft M&A report of each Community Solar and Loltong Pico Hydro RE demo sites (31st March 2023)
3. Hold a validation workshop (15th April 2023)
4. Submit a draft M&A report of Energy efficient cook stoves and copra dryer and other remaining Demos (15th May 2023)
5. Submit final M&A reports of RE and EE Monitoring and Assessment covering all the Demos and incorporating the comments and provide recommendations. (30th May 2023)

Institutional and Logistics Arrangements

The M&E Consultant will work in close collaboration with the PMU team, the Electrification and Energy Security team. The consultant will report directly report to Director, DOE in overall and to the BRANTV Project Manager in day-to-day matters. The PMU and DoE will provide support to ensure deliverables are achieved. The Consultant should ensure timely identification of potential risks and signal of delays in deliverables.

The PMU Department of Energy will have the following responsibilities: (i) Provide relevant documents; (ii) Discuss and agree on the methodologies of the assignment; and (iii) Monitor and evaluate the progress of the assignment. The contract and payments will be performance-based and regularly assessed by the PMU. All travel expenses to and from the target area should be included in the financial proposal.

The present ToR may be subject to modification, without changing the overall objective and the scope of work, on the basis of mutual consultations. Department of Energy will hold the copyright of the assignment deliverables.

Competencies

• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Comprehensiveness knowledge of building energy efficiency;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.
• Proficiency in computer packages; good working knowledge of word processing and spreadsheet programs, particularly MS Word, MS Power Point and MS Excel and on-line communication/conference and training platforms such as Zoom, Google meet, WhatApp, etc.
• Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of national institutions.
• Excellent written communication skills, with analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of quality policy analysis

Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with colleagues

Demonstrate ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;

Participate effectively in team-based, information-sharing environment, collaborating and cooperating with others;

Required Skills and Experience

The consultant should possess the following expertise and qualifications:

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master’s Degree in development studies, social sciences, international relations or other fields related to the scope of the assignment.;

Experience:

• Five years of relevant experience related to Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation of development projects
• Proven understanding monitoring and assessment methodologies and approach is essential
• Relevant experience on evaluating and conducting assessment of development projects and
• Working experience in similar assignment in Vanuatu
• Strong writing and editing skills in English and report producing capacity on Monitoring and Assessment

Language requirements

• Excellent English, report writing, presentation and communication skills.

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided in Annex II.
• Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: National consultants must quote prices in United States Dollars (USD).

Note: Successful individual will be required to provide proof of medical insurance coverage before commencement of contract for the duration of the assignment.

Incomplete and joint proposals may not be considered. Consultants with whom there is further interest will be contacted. The successful consultant shall opt to sign an Individual Contract or a Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA) through its company/employer with UNDP.

Annexes

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions
• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to pts.fj@undp.org

Please submit your online application in the UNDP job site : UNDP Jobs for this assignment under Climate& Disaster Resilience group of vacancies.

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Potential interview questions

Added 3 years ago - Updated 1 year ago - Source: jobs.undp.org