Republic of Moldova

National Consultant on Content Development for Solid Biomass Market Website

Vacancy Number: Pr15/01145

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	01 Nov 2015, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	16 Nov 2015
Reference to the project:	Moldova Energy and Biomass Project
Expected Duration of Assignment:	16 November 2015 – 31 May 2016
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 01 November 2015. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: mihail.maciuca@undp.org. UNDP will respond by standard electronic mail and will send written copies of the response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all applicants.
Supporting Documents: Terms of Reference Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Personal History Form (P11) UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

The first phase (2011-2014) of the Moldova Energy and Biomass Project (MEBP) with a budget of 14.56 million EUR project, funded by the European Union and UNDP and implemented by UNDP, contributed to a more secure, competitive and sustainable energy production in the Republic of Moldova through targeted support to the most viable and readily available local source of renewable energy, which is biomass from agricultural wastes.

In 2015 the Project entered its second phase in the framework of the Eastern Partnership Integration and Cooperation (EaPIC) programme, based on its continued high relevance and the clearly identified need to further support the consolidation of the emerging biomass market in the country. The extension timeframe spans until the end of 2017 with additional EU-funding of 9.41million EUR.

As outlined under the Situation Analysis the local biomass fuel market developed rapidly over the last 4 years. Some positive signals can be easily spotted on the market, incl. the increasing number of entrepreneurs, the steadily growing number of consumers ready to switch to biomass for household heating, the growing number of institutions ready to adopt other sources of energy for heating, etc. Nevertheless, a major bottleneck remains the access to reliable information on both consumer and producer side. If not addressed, the risk of slowing down the positive dynamics of sector development is high.

As part of the EaPIC top-up the project therefore intends to focus on increasing access to information by developing an integrated (Business-to-Business B2B and Business-to-Consumers B2C) electronic platform ready to deliver reliable, multidimensional information about biomass being used as fuel. Being the first dedicated resource of this type, it is expected that the platform will have a central role in facilitating the set-up of a local market for alternative sources of energy respectively in the sales of biomass fuel, biomass boilers and equipment. It will provide support for the undecided segment of the population in taking an informed decision of switching from fossil fuels to a valid and locally available alternative. The platform will provide information for:

1)  Matching demand and supply, connecting biofuel consumers and producers. This phase will include a biomass producer registry providing detailed information about products and prices to facilitate matchmaking between suppliers of biomass fuel and potential buyers.

2)  Households/businesses interested in installing boilers, providing information on available technologies, their characteristics and performance, and producers and retailers available on the market. This is complemented by information on available incentive schemes (e.g. subsidy and grant schemes or preferential loan products from commercial banks, etc.).

3)  Information for fuel producers, boiler assemblers/producers and equipment producers, including information on latest technologies and inventions, international market development and trends, including through connections with international and regional knowledge and trading platforms in the sector.

4)  Policy and decision makers and market stakeholders in form of market analysis. This will include data on biofuel prices, quality, and quantity and their development, based on a systematic and regular market monitoring. Market trends for boilers and fuel production equipment will be another important part.

Basically, a web portal deployed to respond to the needs of different stakeholders will be created with the project’s technical and financial support. More specifically,

-               A modular approach will be followed, ensuring that each of the modules described above responds to the needs of the target group and that post-project ownership and maintenance is ensured. The platform and its modules will be developed with project support and will be gradually transferred to a national partner. A number of local institutions having a market development mandate have already expressed interest in continuing this effort. The selection of the partner(s) hosting the platform or selected modules will be done in close consultation with all market stakeholders.

-               Based on needs and feasibility assessments, interactive tools for producers to sell and for consumers to buy biomass fuel, boilers, auxiliary equipment, etc. may be introduced as part of the portal.

Scope of work

The Consultant will work under the direct supervision of the Business Officer – Business and Capacity Development and overall supervision of MEBP Project Manager. MEBP will put at the contractor’s disposal all available materials and necessary information for the achievement of tasks and will facilitate the meetings, as needed. The consultant will be responsible for elaboration and structuring of technical part of information according to web-content structure. However he/she will have to work in close liaison with website communication specialist employed to act as chief-editor of the website.

The consultant will have full access to MEBP project’s resources and will use all available means to deliver high quality of website content. Consultant’s work will consist of desk research, analysis, technical analysis of engineering, farming, economic and marketing data, phone and personal interviews of various market players to collect information, identify and represent best practices in the field of solid biomass. All information will have to be up-to-date and represent on-going market developments in terms of players, tendencies, technical requirement, financial instruments, etc.

More specifically the Consultant on Content Development for Solid Biomass Market Website will be required to perform the following tasks: 

• Review existing solid biomass market and legislation
• Update the lists for different market players (farmers, biomass fuel producers, boilers, LPAs, etc)
• Review all financial instruments available on the local market including donor and commercial lending
• Provide the technical content for chapters included in Attachment 1 that touch upon engineering, farming, economic, marketing and business data for solid biomass market
• Develop narrative, economic calculations, contact database, other relevant data included but not limited to Attachment 1
• Put together all the requested information in a proper language and electronic format for further editing
• Coordinate of all outputs with project staff
• Take a proactive approach in the project and do not limit to the above statements but come up with innovative ideas or proposals  to develop a client-oriented, dynamic website if such needs are identified
• Maintain and adjust content 6 months after project launch

For detailed information, please refer to Annex 1 – Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Academic Qualifications:

• University degree in the field of Economics, Agricultural or Energy Engineering, Economics, Business Administration or other related-fields;

Experience:

• At least  5  years  of  hands-on experience at the  national  level  in developing and/or consulting projects on solid biomass, engineering, renewable energy, agriculture or related fields is required
• Experience in economic, agricultural or engineering sector analysis/researches and reporting
• Previous experience in website development would be an advantage

Competencies:

• Good knowledge of Moldovan eco-agriculture, biomass renewable technologies and local biomass market
• Knowledge of international best practice in biomass market would be an asset
• Good analytical skills
• Excellent computer skills (MS Word, Excel, etc),
• Proven commitment to the core values of the United Nations, in particular, respecting differences of culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, language, age, HIV status, disability, and sexual orientation, or other status
• Excellent command of written and spoken Romanian, Russian and English.

Documents to be included

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications: 

1. Proposal:

• Explaining why they are the most suitable for the work (up to 2 pages);
• Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work (up to 2 pages); 

2. Financial proposal; 

3. Personal CV (P11 form) including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal shall specify a total lump sum amount, and payment terms around specific and measurable (qualitative and quantitative) deliverables (i.e. whether payments fall in installments or upon completion of the entire contract). Payments are based upon output, i.e. upon delivery of the services specified in the TOR.  In order to assist the requesting unit in the comparison of financial proposals, the financial proposal will include a breakdown of this lump sum amount (including travel and number of anticipated working days).

Travel

All envisaged travel costs must be included in the financial proposal. This includes all travel to join duty station/repatriation travel.  In general, UNDP should not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the case of unforeseeable travel, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

All in-country transportation related to this assignment will be coordinated with and covered by MEBP.

 

Disclaimer In case of discrepancies between the text published on the website and the contents of the supporting documents, the provisions, instructions and conditions included in the supporting documents (published as Adobe Portable Document Format files) shall prevail. In case of discrepancies between the English version and the Romanian and/or Russian versions of text, documents or other content published on this webpage, the English version shall prevail.

Notice UNDP, as a matter of practice, does not charge any application, processing or training fee at any stage of the recruitment process. If you have any questions as to vacancy announcements you may have received, please refer to this website. UNDP is currently aware of fictitious vacancy announcements that are being circulated through the internet, the purpose of which is to get people to register for a training and send in a fee. If you believe that you have received such a notice, please forward it, and any other related information you have received, to scamalert@undp.org. Since logos, emblems, names and addresses can be easily copied or reproduced, you are advised to take particular care in applying for vacancies, including undertaking all appropriate measures to protect against the unauthorised use of any personal information you may have provided as a result of the scam.