Foreign economic-aid-related services

Tender description

DFID is seeking to appoint a Research Programme Delivery Consortium (RPDC) to oversee a programme of applied research and innovation that will accelerate access to affordable, clean energy services for poor households and enterprises. This research and innovation programme will deliver new technologies and robust evidence on the critical barriers hampering systemic change and scaling up energy access, working with Southern researchers and entrepreneurs, to drive locally relevant innovation and delivery. This will have a transformative impact on deploying renewable energy solutions in developing countries, especially in Africa. The Transforming Energy Access for Households and Improved Livelihoods Programme (TEA) that will support early stage testing and scale up of innovative technology applications and business models for this purpose. The applied research and innovation under TEA will seek to address the challenges of: a) what technologies and applications can most effectively accelerate the deployment and use of decentralised modern energy services, including through distributed generation, storage, smarter systems, and more efficient appliances? b) what are the main enabling mechanisms for delivering reliable decentralised modern energy services at scale and how can business models and innovative financing address these market gaps? c) what clean energy partnerships can be forged to stimulate greater collaboration on research and development of clean energy solutions, and strengthen the market and evidence base for their deployment at scale? d) what are the skills and expertise required to accelerate the development and deployment of smarter decentralised energy systems, and what are the most effective approaches to building this capacity? TEA will be structured around 4 themes: I. Stimulating Technology Innovation by UK enterprises II. Accelerating Enterprise-led Innovation in Technologies and Business Models III. Supporting Clean Energy Partnerships IV. Developing Local Skills and Expertise The TEA Research Programme Delivery Consortium (RPDC) will conduct the scoping studies, and design and manage the agreed follow on activities as well as coordinating the overall reporting on the TEA work streams and research uptake. The overall aim is to ensure that evidence and research results from TEA are efficiently translated into use and influence future investments. DFID has a budget of 3 000 000 GBP for the RPDC and will let a contract of 4.5 years with the option to extend by up-to a further 24 months. DFID invites all interested parties to submit expressions of interest by responding to the Pre Qualifier Questionnaire from which selected tenderers will be invited to proposal and subsequent negotiation rounds.