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National consultant to provide assistance to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development (MoIRD) by supporting and operationalizing the activity of the Donors Energy Coordination Council.

Vacancy Number: Pr22/02412

Location:	Chisinau, Moldova
Application Deadline:	05 Apr 2022, 13:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	12 Apr 2022, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	19 Apr 2022, 17:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	26 Apr 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	04 May 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Application Extended deadline:	11 May 2022, 16:00 (GMT+2:00)
Type of Contract:	Individual Contract
Starting date:	11 Apr 2022
Reference to the project:	Advisory Services for Programme Development
Expected Duration of Assignment:	April-December 2022
Submission Instructions: Proposals should be submitted online by pressing the "Apply Online" button, no later than 5th April 2022, 13:00 (Moldova local time / GMT+2). Requests for clarification only must be sent by standard electronic communication to the following e-mail maria.tarigradean@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: Individual Consultant Procurement Notice Offeror's Letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability Terms of Reference UNDP General Conditions of Individual Contract

Background

Moldova is part of the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) and in the Eastern Partnership framework, which aims at strengthening individual and regional relationships between the EU and countries in its neighbourhood. Moldova is also part of the Energy Community Treaty since 2010 and has signed the Association Agreement with EU in June 2014, including the DCFTA which entered into force in 2016. As a follow-up, Moldova is required to ensure transposition of the EU acquis Communautaire, which underpins the EU energy legislation on electricity, gas, oil, renewables, efficacity and environment. The country is planning to fully synchronize its electricity network with the ENTSO-E to connect to European electricity market.

The energy sector is one of the top priorities for the Government and it is addressed in Government’s Plans and a number of policy documents, laws and regulations. The most important are the following: the draft National Development Strategy 2030, the National Energy Strategy 2030, Law on energy, Law on electricity, Law on promoting use of energy from renewable sources, Law on natural gas, Law on energy efficiency, Law on the energy performance of buildings, Law on the labelling of products with energy impact, Law on eco-design requirements for energy-related products, etc., as well as a list of secondary legislation, meant necessary to ensure for the implementation of the primary legislation.

In accordance to the existing strategic planning documents, one of main priorities of the Government is to diversify the energy mix with more renewable energy, which is also fully in line with commitments under the EU Clean Energy for all Europeans package. Achieving this goal will require significant investment in the medium and long term, but also the country’s ability to attract and absorb the funds. The development of renewables, such as wind and solar, will also depend on improving the balancing capabilities of the Moldovan power system and its integration with neighboring countries.

Starting with October 2021, Moldova faced significant crisis in the gas sector, which outlined the need to undertake more actions towards improving energy security of the Republic of Moldova, both in the natural gas and electricity sectors.

To enhance security of gas supply, Moldovan authorities are seeking various ways to diversify gas and electricity supply, to strengthen its energy security and enabling a transparent, fully open and well-functioning energy market.

Given the emerging needs and increased support in the energy sector, as response to the energy crisis, Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development (MoIRD) has recently established Donors Energy Coordination Council. This is a platform that brings together development partners (WB, USAID, UNDP, EIB, EBRD, EUDel, EnC, GIZ, RO/FR/SE Embassies) and has the role to coordinate the external assistance provided to Moldova in the energy area. Council has the aim to amplify the value of the support provided and to streamline and synchronize the allocation of resources for technical assistance and investment in the energy sector. Additionally, this platform will coordinate among development partners to ensure there is no duplication of efforts and no overburdening of authorities with poorly coordinated deployment of expertise.

The overall objective of the projects is to assist the Government of Moldova to tackle the current energy crisis and energy poverty in addressing prioritized systemic elements in the energy sector to cope with potential future energy crisis.

Specific objectives are to support the Government of Moldova to: 

1. put in place the legal and regulatory framework in the energy sector with mainstreamed social and climate considerations in line with the EU requirements;
2. strengthen the capacities of the energy-related actors and enhancing institutional coordination mechanisms to address and avert risks entailed in recent and potential future energy crisis;
3. increased awareness and communication among the population to adopt the best energy saving practices and measures and to encourage the use of renewables;
4. operationalize nation-wide energy programmes and demonstrate solutions to increase energy affordability in residential and public buildings, targeting specifically the most vulnerable and affected groups of population. 

Scope of work

The objective of the assignment is to provide assistance to the MoIRD to ensure a stable national policy dialogue on energy.

Under the guidance of MoIRD/Energy Policy Department (chair), the consultant is expected to ensure the works of the Energy Sector Coordination Council (ESCC) as the main platform for reaching multi partner consensus on core energy activities/ issues ( planning, implementation, M&E, etc.).

The consultant is expected to conduct the following tasks (but not limited to):

• to develop the Activity Regulation of the ESCC in line with the provision of the Governmental decision #377.2018^[1];
• to develop and contribute to the implementation of the annual Action Plan and priority agenda of the ESCC;
• to favor the establishment of a sector performance evaluation system, through indicators proposed and used in the energy strategic documents, SDGs, etc.
• to ensure and facilitate the daily communication between MoIRD and members of the ESCC;
• to organize periodical meetings of the ESCC, including, but not limited to logistic aspects, secretariat activities, translations, preparation of the subjects to be discussed and relevant background documents, etc.;
• to keep the track of the energy related ongoing and planned projects and ensure close coordination between them in order to avoid the overlapping (project Matrix);
• to support the MoIDR in development of the projects pipeline for the energy sector and resource mobilization;
• to ensure close coordination with similar Councils in other ministries/public institutions to ensure coherence and complementarities between projects and developments under other sectors that have energy related activities (e.g. social protection, environment/climate, etc.)
• to keep track of relevant legislative and policy changes in energy sector and update ESCC’s members;
• to contribute to the monitoring and evaluation activities in the energy sector (e.g. reporting on strategic energy documents implementation, etc.)
• to support the discussions on clear delineation of roles/responsibilities, support provided by donors within energy sector;
• to perform ad-hock tasks requested my MoIRD.

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

Requirements for experience

1. Academic Qualifications:

• Minimum BA degree in energy management, energy engineering, environment/climate science, legal or public administration or other related fields is required.

2. Professional experience:

• At least 3 years of relevant professional experience in energy, climate, public administration or other areas relevant to the assignment;
• At least 3 years of demonstrated experience in cooperation with the national energy authorities and/or development partners in the technical assistance, strategic planning and project implementation in the energy/climate/public administration related areas;
• Experience in events organization, administrative support, etc.

3. Competencies:

• Strong analytical and report writing skills demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, ability to work in a team, demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Ability to work under pressure and stressful situations, and to meet tight deadlines demonstrated by previous assignments;
• Good communication and time management skills;

4. Language requirements:

• Proficiency in English and Romanian. Knowledge of Russian will be 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 another 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. Please mention in your CV if you belong to the group(s) under-represented in the UN Moldova and/or the area of assignment.

Documents to be included

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

1. CV, including information about past experience in similar projects/assignments and contact details for at least 3 referees for a reference check;
2. Financial proposal - in USD, specifying a total lump sum amount and the number of anticipated working days, incorporated in the Offeror’s Letter to UNDP confirming interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) assignment;
3. Brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment.

Financial proposal

Lump-sum contracts

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 all related costs e.g., fees, taxes, travel, phone calls etc.) and the number of anticipated working days. The consultant shall bear costs for all supplies needed for data collection and data processing including possession of his own personal computer.

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 to 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.