National Consultants to monitor the usage of installed Biomass Heating systems in MEBP beneficiary communities

Vacancy Number: Pr16/01280

Location:Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline: 27 Apr 2016, 23:59 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:Individual Contract
Starting date: 10 May 2016
Reference to the project: Moldova Energy and Biomass Project
Expected Duration of Assignment:May 2016 - November 2017
Submission Instructions:

Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 27 April 2016.

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
Procurement Notice
Personal History Form (P11)
UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract



Background

The Moldova Energy and Biomass Project aims to contribute 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, namely biomass from agricultural wastes.

As of December 2014 the project entered into its second phase which is to last until end 2017. The second phase of the project had received additional funding of 9.46 million EUR allocated by the European Union in the framework of the Eastern Partnership Integration and Cooperation (EaPIC) programme, with the objective to leverage the successful activities and extend them to so far not covered or underrepresented regions, specifically Transnistria, Gagauzia and Taraclia, and to support further consolidation of the biomass market in the country based on the experience and lessons learned in the first phase.

Among others, the second phase will also focus on the development of local biomass market and general market consolidation of the biomass-related businesses through continued support to solid biofuel producers and support to local biomass boiler production and extension of Public Private Partnerships for establishing sustainable biomass based heating services.

The project will continue to support installation of biomass heating systems in communities aiming to install at least 80 additional biomass-based municipal heating systems with specific focus on Transnistria, ATU Gagauzia, Taraclia district including small towns following the participatory community development approach. Installation of combined solar/biomass technologies will also be piloted in public buildings in order to provide integrated energy saving and energy-efficiency solutions.

Scope of work

The general objective of the consultancy is to support MEBP in its efforts to provide targeted technical assistance and to build capacities among Local Public Authorities and operators in the biomass-based boiler rooms via continuous monitoring of the public institutions connected to biomass-based heating systems, in order to enhance skills and knowledge regarding development, evaluation and implementation of sustainable community biomass heating projects and to provide on-site technical assistance.

The main role of the National Short Term Community Monitoring Consultants is to transfer knowledge, build capacities and provide targeted on-site assistance to local public authorities responsible for sound management of the biomass-based systems and boiler operators responsible for effective operation of the technologies and timely communication about any deviances to the MEBP specialist with focus on the following outcomes for the target groups:

  1. Municipal leaders, members of local councils, public servants from mayors’ offices, managers of public buildings (directors of the schools, kindergartens, health care institutions etc.) from target communities have enhanced their knowledge and expertise in the area of sound management of biomass based installations for heating and solar systems for provision of hot water at community level including public procurement of solid-biomass, maintenance of the biomass systems including conservation for the summer period,  etc.
  2. The operators of the biomass-based municipal heating systems are equipped with skills, knowledge and understanding regarding biomass based heating systems, thus enabling them to ensure optimal functioning and maintenance of the boiler and solar systems installed in the public buildings from beneficiary communities. All the technical problems related to the functionality of the biomass systems are timely communicated to the MEBP Engineer and where possible locally solved by the technical consultant.

In order to achieve the stated objective, the selected team of two national experts will assume full responsibility for the entire process related to developing the monitoring mechanism, identifying the knowledge and technical needs of each public institution, timely communication to MEBP specialist (Project Engineer, Community Mobilization and Capacity building Specialist, follow up-activities to solve the identified problems and ensure the sustainability of the biomass systems (incl. logistics).

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

Requirements for experience

 Consultant 1:

Academic Qualifications:

  • University or higher degree in Social Sciences, Public Administration, Economics, Engineering, or other related area.

Years of experience:

  • At least 5 years of experience in community development assistance including capacity building in the public sector or related work for a donor organization, governmental institutions, NGO or private sector / consulting;
  • Previous experience in working in community based development projects or energy/environmental projects is a strong asset;

 Competencies:

  • Technical understanding and practical experience in implementing decentralized energy supply or infrastructure projects;
  • High level of responsibility and organization capacities, creative approach to solving issues;
  • Excellent communication and reporting skills;
  • Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks;
  • Computer proficiency, including knowledge of MS Office products;
  • An excellent command of written and spoken Romanian and Russian is required; knowledge of English is an asset;
  • 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

Consultant 2:

Academic Qualifications:

  • University Degree or higher education in one or a combination of the following fields: Technical Sciences, Engineering, Mechanics, Electricity and/or Agriculture and Rural Development;

Years of experience:

  • At least 5 years of experience in engineering, installation, servicing or troubleshooting boiler plants or heating installations;
  • Previous experience in developing training materials in the field of renewable energy, energy efficiency and/or agricultural sector is a strong advantage;

 Competencies:

  • Technical understanding and practical experience in implementing decentralized energy supply or infrastructure projects;
  • Excellent understanding of boiler plants and heating systems configuration/set-up basics;
  • High level of responsibility and organization capacities, creative approach to solving issues;
  • Ability to meet deadlines and prioritize multiple tasks.
  • An excellent command of written and spoken Romanian and Russian is required, knowledge of English is an asset;
  • 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

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;
  • Provide a brief methodology on how they will approach and conduct the work;
  1. Financial proposal;
  1. Personal CV including past experience in similar projects and at least 3 references.

Financial proposal

The financial proposal will specify the daily fee, travel expenses and per diems quoted in separate line items, and payments are made to the Individual Consultant based on the number of days worked.

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-country transportation shall be provided by UNDP.

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.


 

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