Republic of Moldova

National Consultant on Energy Efficiency Project Design

Vacancy Number: Pr16/01261

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	07 Apr 2016, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	12 Apr 2016
Reference to the project:	United Nations Development Programme Moldova
Expected Duration of Assignment:	40 working days
Submission Instructions: Proposal should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online", no later than April 7, 2016. Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail: aurelia.untila@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

Republic of Moldova is a lower middle income country in transition located in the south-eastern part of Europe, with 95% of energy consumption being covered from imports. While the energy intensity is 3 times higher than the EU average, the residential sector is the main energy consumer (44%), followed by transport (18%) and industry (13%). Since 1995, the country is party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has joined the Kyoto Protocol in 2003. In line with the provisions of UNFCCC, the Republic of Moldova is part of the group of Non-Annex 1 countries. According to the Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) submitted ahead of the Paris Summit, Moldova intends to achieve an economy-wide unconditional target of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 64-67 % below its 1990 level in 2030. The reduction commitment could be further increased up to 78% below 1990 level – if low cost financial resources will be secured, and the country will benefit from clean technology transfer and technical cooperation.

In addition, Moldova is implementing an ambitious roadmap under the EU-Moldova Association Agreement. In the Climate Change area, with UNDP’s support within the framework of a joint UNDP collaboration between UNDP and the European Union (i.e. the “Low Emission Capacity Building Programme”), the following milestones are close to finalization and government’s approval: Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS), the institutional framework for the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring, Reporting and Verification System and the development of four (4) Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA).

Although the country struggles to transition towards a low emission development path, Moldova follows the global trend of continuously growing urbanization. Chisinau, Moldova’s capital and also the largest city whose inhabitants make up over 22% of the total country population, is the largest energy user, emitter of GHGs, and consumer of resources in the country. Multi-story apartment blocks account for 157.2 million m2 or 60% of the housing stock; one out of three (or 50 million m2) is in need of capital renovation, while 3.8 million m2 is in an emergency state and has to be demolished. Regardless of the technical conditions, over 70% of multi-story apartment buildings have very low thermal performance (especially buildings constructed in 1950 -1980s): thermal losses account for up to 50% of heat consumption.

Therefore, one of the top priorities for the country’s energy security is to address energy consumption and refurbish the stock of public and residential buildings. UNDP is supporting the government in this regard, through o number of interventions addressing energy efficiency in public and residential buildings. There is largely untapped energy efficiency market in the municipal sector, and the potential for efficiency gains is substantial in residential buildings (estimated at 60%), however progress on these is hampered by institutional, legal, technical and financing barriers.

In 2010, the UNFCCC’s Conference of the Parties (COP), agreed to establish the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as a central global investment vehicle for climate change finance. GCF is expected to play a key role in channeling new and predictable financial resources to developing countries and to catalyze climate finance – both public and private, and at the national, regional and international levels. The Fund is intended to operate at a larger scale than other comparable funds to promote the paradigm shift towards low-emission and climate-resilient development pathways. Access to GCF resources is managed through national, regional and international entities accredited to the Fund; UNDP has been approved by the GCF Board in March 2015 to be one of the first accredited implementing entities of the fund.

The objective of this assignment is to support the development of a full funding proposal for GCF and associated UNDP-GCF project document in Energy Efficiency in building sector, aimed at scaling-up investment in energy efficient buildings in Moldova by building on results of UNDP’s prior work in this sector (e.g. facilitating ESCO (Energy Service Company) type of investments and NAMAs).

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a financial operating entity of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) which is established in compliance with Article 11 of the Convention to contribute significantly to the collective efforts of the international community to combat climate change. The Republic of Moldova is accredited for submission of project proposals to the Green Climate Fund, with the Ministry of Environment acting as the National Designated Authority (NDA).

Scope of work

The National Consultant will work with the International Consultant/Team Leader and will support him in the development of a complete GCF Funding Proposal and UNDP-GCF Project Document on de-risking investment in EE retrofits.

The task of the National Consultant will be to ensure and facilitate the access to the required background document, national programmatic document, essential in the process of designing the UNDP-GCF project on de-risking investment in EE retrofits and development of the relevant Project Document to be submitted for approval by the GCF Board, in line with respective GCF Guidance.

To this end, the National Consultant will be responsible for supporting the International Consultant to plan and effectively undertake the required surveys and preparatory field work, establishing dialogue and a working relationship with stakeholders (funding partners, national counterparts and local communities), and the timely delivery of the agreed documents.

The work of the team of National and International Consultant will not start from scratch but will build on the existing draft Moldova Green Climate Fund Concept Note and will explore potential integration with one of the existing draft NAMAs in energy sector.

For detailed information, please refer to the Terms of Reference.

Requirements for experience

Competencies:

• Demonstrated capacity of team work, excellent planning and organizational skills
• Strong research, communications and writing skills
• Good PC commands, knowledge of information technologies
• Sensitivity and respect for sustainable development, human rights and gender equality
• Ability to deal with people with tact and diplomacy
• Ability to achieve results and deadlines in a timely manner, maintaining a high standard throughout
• 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
• UNDP Moldova is committed to workforce diversity. Women, persons with disabilities, Roma and other ethnic or religious minorities, persons living with HIV, as well as refugees and other non-citizens legally entitled to work in the Republic of Moldova, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Qualifications:

The Consultant should possess the following qualifications:

Education

• Master’s degree or equivalent in economics, finance, energy and/or environmental economics, or related discipline

Experience

• At least 10 years of working experience in the field of energy efficiency, preferably in the building sector
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible professional experience in the energy, environment, urban development or other relevant fields
• Proven experience with investment and technical assistance projects and programs in the area of energy efficiency in building sector for the international development agencies and/or IFIs
• Good technical knowledge of energy efficiency in buildings
• Good technical knowledge of GHG emission accounting and monitoring, reporting and verification schemes in building sector

Language

• Very good English and Romanian verbal and writing competencies.

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 including information on previous similar assignments;
2. Financial proposal;
3. Personal CV or P11 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, per diems, 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 does 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 UNDP Moldova and the Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Local travels in Moldova are envisaged under this assignment.

 

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