Tender – Consultancy services for evaluation and development, GRMF

Lake Assal, Djibouti (source: Fishercd, commons Wikimedia)

The African Union Commission (AUC) has announced a tender for “Consultancy Services for the Evaluation and Further Development of The Geothermal Risk Mitigation Facility (GRMF) Regional Geothermal Coordinating Unit (RGCU).”

Expressions of Interest (EOI) for this tender will be accepted until 15 August 2023. EOIs must be submitted to the following address:

The Chairperson, African Union Commission, Building C, Third (3) Floor, Roosevelt Street. P. O. Box 3243, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The goal of the consultancy is to strengthen the RGCU in its role as mediator between regulators and developers, and to support policy advice on geothermal energy and the relevant regulatory framework within countries of the GRMF portfolio. The main expected result is accelerated implementation of the GRMF portfolio.

Specifically, the consultant shall execute the assignment in two (2) parts:

Part 1

• Evaluate the results of several rounds of calls for proposals across the region and analyse individual reasons for drilling projects to not have yet commenced;
• Evaluate the current legal, regulatory, financial, economic and institutional conditions for large-scale development of geothermal resources in the countries of the GRMF portfolio;
• Assess the investment conditions and identify remaining barriers for investments in the respective national contexts;
• Assess the donor structures for geothermal energy with the target to create and strengthen cooperation between the development partners in the sector.

Part 2

Based on this evaluation, the consultant shall work in the field and provide concrete support to the RGCU in its role as a mediator by:

• Finding solutions for the improvement of the institutional and regulatory framework;
• Developing advisory strategies for the policy dialogue with the official bodies (lobbying for geothermal energy);
• Providing capacity building on project financing, tariff calculation and project management;
• Facilitating negotiations between regulators and developers of individual projects of the GRMF.

Through the years, the GRMF has awarded grants for various geothermal projects in East Africa including drilling in Baringo-Silali in Kenya and surface studies for the Arta geothermal prospect in Djibouti.

The GRMF has provided funding for geothermal surface studies and drilling programmes in several countries in East Africa, and has also offered funding opportunities for projects related to geothermal direct use. More recently, the GRMF published a list of approved EOIs for the direct use funding programme.

Source: SA-Tenders