Job Description

Country:

Federal Government of Somalia

Name of Project:

National Child Project under the GEF Africa Mini-Grids Program (AMP)

Assignment Title:

Project Engineer - Africa Mini-Grids Program (AMP), Ministry of Energy and Water Resources

Type of Appointment:

Individual Consultant (National, full-time)

Place of Assignment:

Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, Mogadishu, Somalia, with travel to AMP pilot sites and Federal Member States as required

1. Background

The Federal Government of Somalia, through the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources (MoEWR), is implementing the national child project under the GEF-financed Africa Mini-Grids Program (AMP), with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The AMP in Somalia seeks to support access to clean energy by increasing the financial viability and promoting scaled-up commercial investment in, low-carbon mini-grids in Somalia.

Somalia’s electricity sector is largely served by privately owned Electricity Service Providers (ESPs), many of which operate diesel-based mini-grids. The absence of a national grid in many areas, high diesel dependence, limited access to finance, and high end-user tariffs constrain inclusive access to affordable, reliable, and clean electricity. The AMP project responds to these challenges by supporting renewable energy hybridization, digital monitoring, regulatory strengthening, private sector engagement, innovative finance, and productive use of energy in rural and peri-urban communities.

The Somalia AMP project is organized around four mutually reinforcing areas of work:

·         Policy, regulatory and institutional support, including operationalization of mini-grid policies, licensing, tariff tools and capacity building for public institutions;

·         Business model innovation and private sector engagement, including implementation of mini-grid pilots and support to ESPs and industry actors;

·         Innovative finance, including results-based and performance-based payment approaches that mobilize private sector co-financing and domestic financial sector participation; and

·         Digitalization, monitoring, evaluation, quality assurance and knowledge management, including data collection, remote monitoring and reporting through AMP digital tools.

Under the AMP mini-grid pilot plan, the project will support solar hybrid mini-grid pilots through a Performance-Based Payment (PBP) model. The pilots are designed to demonstrate gradual expansion of ESP services into underserved rural and peri-urban communities, including expansion of distribution networks, connection of new customers, increased renewable energy generation, productive use of energy, and integration of smart or prepaid metering with the AMP digital monitoring platform.

The MoEWR therefore intends to recruit an Individual Consultant to serve as Project Engineer for the AMP Somalia project. The consultant will be recruited by the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources and housed at the Ministry to provide day-to-day technical, coordination, monitoring and implementation support for the AMP project, working closely with MoEWR, the National Electricity Authority (NEA), UNDP AMP Project teams, Federal Member State counterparts, ESPs, communities, and other relevant stakeholders.

2. Objective of the Assignment

The overall objective of the assignment is to strengthen MoEWR’s technical and coordination capacity for effective implementation of the AMP Somalia project, with particular focus on the mini-grid pilots, renewable energy hybridization, regulatory compliance, digital monitoring, performance-based payments and stakeholder coordination.

Specifically, the consultant will:

·         Act as the day-to-day technical and for AMP Pilot activities within MoEWR, ensuring effective liaison between MoEWR, NEA, UNDP AMP, Federal Member States, ESPs and other stakeholders;

·         Support the planning, implementation, monitoring and verification of the AMP mini-grid pilots in line with the approved mini-grid pilot plan and ESP Terms of Reference;

·         Provide technical advice to MoEWR and NEA on solar hybrid mini-grid systems, distribution network expansion, metering, tariff and licensing requirements, quality of service, and productive use of energy;

·         Monitor and support compliance with national regulatory requirements, UNDP Social and Environmental Standards (SES), Environmental and Social  Management Plans (ESMPs), gender equality and social inclusion commitments, and occupational health and safety requirements;

·         Support data collection, digital monitoring, reporting, knowledge management, and documentation of lessons learned to enable replication and scale-up of mini-grid models in Somalia.

3. Scope of the Assignment

The Project Engineer will provide technical, and monitoring support to MoEWR for the implementation of the AMP Somalia project. Duties and responsibilities will include, but not be limited to, the following:

3.1 Planning and stakeholder engagement

·         Serve as MoEWR’s day-to-day for AMP technical pilot works and provide updates to UNDP, NEA, Federal Member States, ESPs, community representatives, financial institutions and other partners;

·         Support the Energy Development in the preparation, implementation and periodic update of AMP work plans, procurement plans, mission plans, activity budgets, and implementation schedules;

·         Support MoEWR for the Coordination and participate in consultations with Federal Member States, local authorities, community representatives, women and youth groups, ESPs, productive-use enterprises and other relevant stakeholders in pilot locations;

·         Support the organization of technical meetings, validation workshops, site consultations, capacity-building sessions, Project Board inputs, and other AMP coordination events;

·         Maintain an up-to-date stakeholder contact list, meeting minutes, action trackers and follow-up matrix for AMP activities.

3.2 Technical implementation supervision and quality assurance

·         Review and provide comments on ESP designs, feasibility studies, implementation plans, single-line diagrams, solar PV and battery energy storage system specifications, distribution network layouts, metering plans, quality-of-service commitments, BoQs and technical schedules;

·         Monitor the implementation progress of selected ESPs and contractors against approved work plans, technical standards, contractual requirements and PBP milestones;

·         Carry out regular site visits and inspections to verify progress, quality of works, materials delivered, installation practices, testing, commissioning and handover readiness;

·         Ensure that equipment and materials installed under the pilots comply with approved specifications, minimum technical requirements, relevant standards and good engineering practice;

·         Identify implementation risks, technical deviations or non-conformities and prepare Non-Conformance Reports (NCRs), corrective action recommendations and follow-up documentation as required;

·         Witness preliminary tests, commissioning phases, system acceptance tests, meter integration tests, performance tests, and service quality checks in coordination with MoEWR, NEA, UNDP and independent verifiers;

·         Support the Energy Department in review and verification of payment requests, progress certificates and supporting evidence to ensure that performance-based payments are made only against verified and eligible results.

3.3 Regulatory, tariff, licensing and institutional support

·         Support MoEWR and NEA in ensuring that participating ESPs comply with licensing, permitting, tariff approval, reporting and other applicable electricity sector requirements;

·         Provide technical inputs to NEA and MoEWR on mini-grid tariff review, quality-of-service benchmarks, renewable energy integration, customer connection standards and regulatory monitoring needs;

·         Support implementation of relevant mini-grid policies, regulations, standards and institutional frameworks at federal and state levels, including coordination with Federal Member State energy authorities;

·         Contribute to capacity-building activities for MoEWR, NEA and state-level counterparts on solar hybrid mini-grids, tariff tools, licensing, monitoring and enforcement.

3.4 Performance-based payment, M&E and digital monitoring

·         Support the definition, tracking and verification of PBP milestones, including new household-equivalent connections, productive-use connections, public institution connections, renewable generation capacity, metering, system commissioning, service quality and other agreed performance indicators;

·         Support data collection and reporting for the AMP results framework, GEF reporting, UNDP reporting, project board updates and ministry reporting requirements;

·         Coordinate with ESPs to ensure timely sharing of operational data, metering data and performance data through the AMP digital monitoring platform, including the Prospect-based platform or other approved systems;

·         Maintain accurate records of site visits, verification evidence, photographs, GPS coordinates, customer connection records, training attendance sheets, sex-disaggregated data, and other supporting documentation;

·         Prepare analytical notes on project progress, bottlenecks, risks, lessons learned and opportunities for replication and scale-up.

3.5 Environmental and social safeguards, gender and community engagement

·         Support MoEWR and ESPs in implementing project-level environmental and social requirements, including the ESMF, ESMPs, stakeholder engagement, grievance redress, occupational health and safety, and incident reporting;

·         Ensure that field activities are implemented in a safe and socially responsible manner and that contractors and ESPs comply with applicable safety standards and safeguards requirements;

·         Support the integration of gender equality and social inclusion measures into consultations, customer outreach, productive-use activities, training and reporting, with attention to women, youth and vulnerable groups;

·         Promote meaningful participation of women and local communities in pilot implementation and monitoring, including consultation with women-led enterprises and productive-use actors;

·         Document community concerns, grievances, stakeholder feedback and agreed actions, and follow up with MoEWR, ESPs and partners until issues are resolved.

3.6 Capacity building, knowledge management and other support

·         Identify technical and institutional capacity gaps among MoEWR, NEA, Federal Member State counterparts, ESPs and other AMP stakeholders, and support the design and delivery of targeted capacity-building activities;

·         Provide on-the-job technical support and knowledge transfer to ESP on mini-grid implementation, monitoring, data management, quality assurance and reporting;

·         Support documentation of best practices, case studies, lessons learned and knowledge products emerging from the AMP mini-grid pilots and related activities;

·         Coordinate with relevant networks, academic institutions, TVET providers and private sector actors to strengthen local capacity for design, operation and maintenance of solar hybrid mini-grids;

·         Perform any other AMP-related duties assigned by Director of Energy, MoEWR, consistent with the objectives and scope of this assignment.

Experiences and Qualifications

·         Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Power Engineering, Renewable Energy, and Energy Systems. A Master’s degree or additional professional certification in renewable energy, mini-grids, project management or electrical power systems is an added advantage;

·         At least five (7) years of relevant professional experience in renewable energy, electricity access, mini-grids, solar PV, battery energy storage systems, distribution networks or related energy infrastructure;

·         Demonstrated knowledge of solar PV and BESS installations, hybrid mini-grid design, distribution network expansion, metering systems, commissioning and operation and maintenance;

·         Experience working with ESPs, EPC contractors, government institutions, regulators, communities and development partners in the energy sector;

·         Experience in project implementation, technical supervision, quality assurance, site inspection, reporting, contract follow-up and verification of works or services;

·         Knowledge of Somalia’s electricity sector, including private ESP operations, licensing, tariff issues, renewable energy opportunities and institutional arrangements;

·         Experience with World Bank, UNDP, AfDB, GEF or similar development partner-funded energy projects is an asset;

·         Familiarity with environmental and social safeguards, occupational health and safety, stakeholder engagement, grievance mechanisms, gender equality and social inclusion is an asset;

·         Experience with data collection, digital monitoring, smart/prepaid metering, remote monitoring platforms or utility management systems is an advantage;

·         Excellent written and spoken English, including ability to prepare clear technical reports, minutes, presentations and briefing notes;

·         Must be Fluent in Somali language is important for the overall stakeholder engagement and coordination.

·         Strong coordination, communication, problem-solving, integrity, teamwork and interpersonal skills, with readiness to work in a multicultural and fast-paced environment and to travel to project sites when required.

Skills Required

Attachment

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