Climate Change Pull Facility (CIPF) - Evaluation Partner

Tender description

The UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero is planning to set up a new facility - the Climate Innovation Pull Facility. Through pull finance, this facility will support innovation, scale up, and market building for climate change mitigation solutions in developing country contexts, focusing on innovative clean energy technologies and business models in a small number of specific applications/sectors where the evidence shows support is most needed. The planned facility has an initial value of £183m and may be extended up to £500m subject to approvals). It is part of the Department’s International Climate Finance portfolio and funded with Official Development Assistance (ODA). The Department is planning to procure two contracts: i) A Facility Manager (subject to a separate procurement and associated notices) ii) An Independent Evaluation Partner (the focus of this notice) Lot 1: Please note that this PIN is issued to inform the market of an upcoming market engagement event and is not a formal PIN marking the start of a procurement procedure. More information about the next steps and forward timeline will be provided at the Market Engagement Event and in future notices. All information shared in this notice and at the event is indicative and subject to full and final approvals by the Department. The UK Department of Energy Security and Net Zero is planning to procure an independent Evaluation Partner for – the Climate Innovation Pull Facility (CIPF). In public innovation financing, "pull mechanisms" create incentives for innovators and other actors by creating viable market demand. They seek to reduce viability gaps and induce innovation by signalling demand for solutions to specific problems. Mechanisms often cited include Advanced Market Commitments, Results or Outcomes Based Financing, Prizes/Challenges, innovation bulk procurements, Contracts for Difference, among others. By contrast, much innovation support has to date utilised "push mechanisms" directly subsidising up-front R&D costs. The CIPF will support the development of 6-10 innovation projects, each worth between £10m and £50m, aligned to Ayrton Fund themes: industrial decarbonisation, sustainable cooling, smart energy systems and storage and clean transport. Further details of Ayrton Fund thematic challenges are set out on https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ayrton-fund This procurement focuses on the Independent Evaluator which is separate to the procurement for the Facility Manager. The Evaluator will conduct baseline, process, interim, and end-of-term evaluation of the programme’s achievement of its intended impact, as defined by the Theory of Change and corresponding Logframe. At the project level, we anticipate a small number of deep-dive impact evaluations into a selection or combination of projects. The Evaluator will also assess programme preparedness for monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) at a programme and project level, by evaluating and providing feedback on the MEL products and processes the Facility Manager has developed. The latter may form part of a broader process evaluation conducted to address questions the Authority or Facility Manager may have, e.g., relating to governance, impact, or project selection. The procurement will be run as an open competitive procedure and will be governed by the Procurement Act 2023. The Department will be hosting a Market Engagement Event on 15 January 2025 at 11:00 GMT lasting 1-hour, to share early thinking on the evaluator deliverables and procurement procedure, with opportunity for feedback on the planned scope and approach. This is separate to the final market engagement event for the Facility Manager, also in January 2025. Please register to attend the EME here: https://forms.office.com/e/wPEGYAS4kC Further market engagement sessions for this procurement may be held prior to the release of the contract notice planned for June 2025. Initial contract value of £2m / 5.5 years with options to extend by £2m and up to 3 additional years. A draft Scope of Requirements will be uploaded by the Authority to the Jaggaer Opportunity Listing page by 20 December 2024. Please follow this link to the Opportunity Listing: https://beisgroup.ukp.app.jaggaer.com/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail?opportunityId=59261 Feedback opportunities: After the Market Engagement Event, the Authority will share a link to an online Feedback Questionnaire. This will be an opportunity for suppliers to provide their written views on the specification, procurement procedure and the commercial approach.