Introduction:

Based in Seoul, the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) is an intergovernmental organization founded to support and promote a model of economic growth known as "green growth", which targets key aspects of economic performance such a poverty reduction, job creation, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. GGGI works with countries around the world, building their capacity and working collaboratively on green growth policies that can impact the lives of millions. The organization partners with countries, multilateral institutions, government bodies, and private sector to help build economies that grow strongly and are more efficient and sustainable in the use of natural resources, less carbon intensive, and more resilient to climate change.

Fiji became a member of GGGI in 2014 and the GGGI office in Fiji was established in 2015 in Suva and is based within the Ministry of Economy. As part of the GGGI – Fiji Work Program for 2018, GGGI is providing support for the implementation of rural electrification projects in Fiji. This work forms part of this support.

Over 90% of the population in Fiji have access to electricity through the utility grid or through off-grid electricity generation systems. However, many of the off-grid systems are diesel-powered and only supply electricity for a limited number of hours per day. Solar Home Systems also provide electricity to many off-grid areas but their power capacity is limited. To improve access and reliability of rural electricity supply, as well as align with the Fijian Government’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to achieve close to 100% renewable electricity by 2030, the Fijian Government is implementing a Rural Electrification Project (through the Fiji Rural Electrification Fund - FREF) to implement off-grid solar-powered systems. In order to accurately design the solar PV systems, energy demand, social and other baseline data is needed from the targeted villages, as well as indicators for future monitoring of the overall outcomes and sustainability of the solar rural electrification projects.

Objectives/Purpose of the Assignment:

The purpose of the assignment is to support the collection of energy-use and other relevant baseline data from villages targeted for rural electrification under the Rural Electrification Project and the FREF. The work will include developing standard questionnaires for baseline data collection and a set of recommendations and indicators for future monitoring of progress and outcomes of Fiji Government solar rural electrification projects to allow for a continuous improvement in the technical and management systems.

Scope of Work:

• Kick-off meeting with relevant Fijian Government stakeholders, particularly FREF members and partners and GGGI, Sunergise/Clay Energy and the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) to discuss purpose and objectives of assignment and align expectations
• Review of existing surveys for the purpose of designing the most appropriate pre-implementation (baseline) and post-implementation (monitoring) surveys required for the Fiji solar rural electrification projects (apart from energy needs, willingness and ability to pay, etc. the surveys should cover gender aspects, potential/probable future system expansion and use of electricity for income-generation, environmental aspects and potential health and education positive and negative impacts). Fiji Government (Department of Energy) will provide the standard survey used to date, Sunergise/FLMMA will provide any surveys already used and GGGI will provide example surveys from recent work carried out in Vanuatu
• Design of draft pre-implementation and post-implementation survey (i.e. standardized templates for collecting baseline and project data for rural electrification solar projects covering the aspects mentioned above) for villages in Fiji. The pre-implementation survey should also include questions to identify processes to engage the community in implementation and monitoring (e.g. feedback on service provision) of the project leading to recommendation of activities to be undertaken during and after the project implementation (some of these could also form part of the sustainability recommendations (see below). The post-implementation survey should include sustainability indicators based on data that can be realistically collected on a regular basis.
• Consultation with the FREF members and partners and GGGI, Sunergise/Clay Energy and FLMMA to finalize the surveys to make sure they are fit for the purpose required and preparation of final surveys
• Development of a survey plan with timeline, roles and approach to be taken (e.g. all HH in each village or sample from each village) and agree with the FREF partners and GGGI, Sunergise/Clay Energy and FLMMA
• Development of training materials (presentations) and training of the FLMMA/GGGI/Department of Energy (DOE)/Sunergise/Clay Energy staff on the content of the survey and how to carry it out
• Accompanying and supporting the FLMMA/DOE/Sunergise/Clay Energy team to carry out the pre-implementation survey at one village (then the rest of the villages will be done by FLMMA/Sunergise/Clay Energy). Identification of any issues arising from the first village survey and correction before the rest of the surveys are completed
• Checking of data collected from 9 other villages by the GGGI/DOE/Sunergise/Clay Energy/FLMMA team. GGGI/Sunergise/Clay Energy/FLMMA will initially compile the data with assistance from the consultant. The consultant will be responsible for checking the data for consistency, coherence, errors, etc. (2 days)
• Analyze the results of the surveys from the 10 villages

Note: The consultant will be provided with data already collected by Sunergise/Clay Energy/FREF pre and post-project implementation at Vio Village where a solar system has already been installed and has been functioning for 3 months.

• Prepare a report detailing the analysis of the data from Vio village and the pre-implementation survey data analysis from the 10 new villages. The report should include recommendations on planning for future solar rural electrification, including:
• energy requirements/estimated future energy demand at the 10 villages
• ability and willingness of customer to pay
• likely changes over time in demand for electricity

The report should also include:

• recommendations for project assessment indicators i.e. social, environmental, economic, and technical indicators and measurable sustainability indicators which are incorporated into the post-implementation survey to see how far these have been implemented and to what extent they are successful in measuring sustainability
• identify processes and tools for engagement of the community in implementation and monitoring of the solar projects (awareness raising tools, ICT or other, data management tools, data sharing, etc.)
• Recommendations for sustainability actions (by all actors – villages, project implementers, FREF members and partners, etc.)

A draft report would be submitted, the reviewed by the project partners and comments submitted to the consultant. Then a final version of the report would be prepared.

• Present the results of the work/analysis to all relevant Fijian Government stakeholders, particularly FREF members and partners and GGGI, Sunergise/Clay Energy and FLMMA

Output/Reporting Requirements/Deliverables:

Deliverable 1: A kick-off meeting summary [5% of total contract payment] -  1 week from contract signing;

Deliverable 2: a) A pre-implementation and post-implementation survey (templates and guidelines for using templates) and b) a survey implementation plan and training of relevant staff and training materials. [2.a) is 10% of total contract payment, 2.b) is 15% of total contract payment] – 2 weeks from contract signing;

Deliverable 3: Compiled, checked and cleaned set of all data collected (10 villages) [20% of total contract payment] – 6 weeks from contract signing;

Deliverable 4: a) Draft Report on the analysis carried out with recommendations as per scope of work above. The analysis should cover all aspects mentioned in scope of work, including sustainability indictors (project governance, economic, social, technical) for post-implementation survey, recommendations for sustainability actions for future solar projects, as well as highlighting data management/sharing mechanism for such projects and b) develop a Final Report after received comments from relevant parties on draft report and c) a Presentation covering all aspects on the final report [4.a) is 10% of total contract payment, 4.b) is 35% of total contract payment, 4.c) is 5% of total contract payment] – 10 weeks from contract signing.

 If the Individual Consultant is required by GGGI to travel on official business  upon prior written approval by GGGI, such travel shall be at the expense of GGGI in accordance with GGGI’s travel policy and guidelines. 

Qualifications/Experience/Expertise

• At least a Bachelors university degree in engineering, economics, renewable energy, natural resources management or similar
• Minimum 8 years of work experience in solar rural electrification sectors in developing countries
• Demonstrated experience in technical services on renewable energy/rural electrification for governments and institutional clients
• Experience in designing, implementing and/or monitoring rural electrification projects
• Experience in working with a variety of stakeholders, including Government agencies, NGOs, civil society, communities
• Specific experience in end-user energy demand survey design and execution would be an advantage
• Experience in rural electrification and off-grid solar in Fiji or countries in the Pacific region is an asset.