MODIFICATION
B -- Morocco: Essaouira Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Technical Assistance
- Notice Date
- 3/24/2011
- Notice Type
- Modification/Amendment
- NAICS
- 541690
— Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services
- Contracting Office
- United States Trade and Development Agency, USTDA, USTDA, 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, C/O US TDA 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, Virginia, 22209-3901
- ZIP Code
- 22209-3901
- Solicitation Number
- 2011-21010A
- Archive Date
- 4/23/2011
- Point of Contact
- Nina Patel, Phone: (703) 875-4357
- E-Mail Address
-
npatel@ustda.gov
(npatel@ustda.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- POC Nina Patel, USTDA 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600 Arlington, VA 22209-3901 Tel: (703) 875-4357 Fax: (703) 875-4009 ***Please do not contact contracts office*** Proposal Submission Place: Mr. Said Mouline Directeur General Agence Nationale pour le Developpement des Energies Renouvelables et de l'Efficacite Energetique (ADEREE) Ministere de l'Energie et des Mines Rabat, Maroc Tel: +212 5 37-68-84-07 The Grantee invites submission of qualifications and proposal data (collectively referred to as the "Proposal") from interested U.S. firms that are qualified on the basis of experience and capability to develop Technical Assistance for the Morocco: Essaouira Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant. Morocco has limited indigenous fossil fuel resources and consequently relies on imports, particularly coal and oil, to meet more than 97% of the country's energy needs. This reliance makes Morocco vulnerable to volatile changes in the price of oil, natural gas and other forms of energy. In 2008, the country expended over $8 billion to meet its energy needs through imports, with additional government subsidies totaling $1.5 billion to regulate consumer prices of these petroleum products. At the same time, energy demand is rising by approximately 7% per year while capacity is growing at only half that rate. Accordingly, the Government of Morocco (GOM) has recognized the vital need to develop long-term, sustainable sources of energy by exploiting the country's vast indigenous, renewable energy resources. The GOM has launched a national renewable energy and energy efficiency plan that aims to achieve installed generation capacity of 2 GW each from solar, wind and hydro resources by 2020; representing a potential renewable energy input of 42% of total energy capacity. The GOM is highly committed to the development of renewable sources of energy and is moving to implement several projects and initiatives. This ambitious program is supported by several regulatory and financial initiatives, and by the recent creation of public sector entities, such as ADEERE. ADEERE was established in January 2010 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy, Mines, Water and Environment. ADEERE's mission is to oversee small-scale renewable energy projects and pilot programs; conduct research of the development of renewable energy; and coordinate project implementation with other sector stakeholders to support long-term sustainable development of Morocco's energy policies. The Technical Assistance will support ADEERE's objectives through providing a detailed assessment for the implementation of a 5 MW solar PV pilot power plant in Essaouira. The pilot project is expected to showcase the applicability of solar PV technology on a utility scale and will serve as a model for duplication throughout Morocco in similar sized cities with limited grid access. The Technical Assistance will identify the specific needs of a solar PV power facility including preferred and alternative site evaluation; technological and financial assessments; engineering; permitting analysis, and project implementation planning. The U.S. firm selected will be paid in U.S. dollars from a $631,000 grant to the Grantee from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). A detailed Request for Proposals (RFP), which includes requirements for the Proposal, the Terms of Reference, and a background definitional mission report are available from USTDA, at 1000 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1600, Arlington, VA 22209-3901. To request the RFP in PDF format, please go to: https://www.ustda.gov/businessopps/rfpform.asp. Requests for a mailed hardcopy version of the RFP may also be faxed to the IRC, USTDA at 703-875-4009. In the fax, please include your firm's name, contact person, address, and telephone number. Some firms have found that RFP materials sent by U.S. mail do not reach them in time for preparation of an adequate response. Firms that want USTDA to use an overnight delivery service should include the name of the delivery service and your firm's account number in the request for the RFP. Firms that want to send a courier to USTDA to retrieve the RFP should allow one hour after faxing the request to USTDA before scheduling a pick-up. Please note that no telephone requests for the RFP will be honored. Please check your internal fax verification receipt. Because of the large number of RFP requests, USTDA cannot respond to requests for fax verification. Requests for RFPs received before 4:00 PM will be mailed the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM will be mailed the following day. Please check with your courier and/or mail room before calling USTDA. Only U.S. firms and individuals may bid on this USTDA financed activity. Interested firms, their subcontractors and employees of all participants must qualify under USTDA's nationality requirements as of the due date for submission of qualifications and proposals and, if selected to carry out the USTDA-financed activity, must continue to meet such requirements throughout the duration of the USTDA-financed activity. All goods and services to be provided by the selected firm shall have their nationality, source and origin in the U.S. or host country. The U.S. firm may use subcontractors from the host country for up to 20 percent of the USTDA grant amount. Details of USTDA's nationality requirements and mandatory contract clauses are also included in the RFP. Interested U.S. firms should submit their Proposal in English directly to the Grantee by 4:00 PM, April 8, 2011 at the above address. Evaluation criteria for the Proposal are included in the RFP. Price will not be a factor in contractor selection, and therefore, cost proposals should NOT be submitted. The Grantee reserves the right to reject any and/or all Proposals. The Grantee also reserves the right to contract with the selected firm for subsequent work related to the project. The Grantee is not bound to pay for any costs associated with the preparation and submission of Proposals. Added: <input type="hidden" name="dnf_class_values[procurement_notice][description][1][added_on]" value="2011-03-18 15:03:26">Mar 18, 2011 3:03 pm Modified: <input type="hidden" name="dnf_class_values[procurement_notice][description][1][modified_on]" value="2011-03-24 15:09:02">Mar 24, 2011 3:09 pm Track Changes Reference is made to the February 18, 2011 announcement, reference number 2010- 21010A, inviting submission of qualifications and proposal data for the Morocco: Essaouira Solar Photovoltaic Power Plant Technical Assistance. The following clarifications have been provided by the Grantee and/or USTDA in response to questions received: 1. Q: "It is not clear from the description of Task 1 who will provide site specific solar resource data, i.e. direct normal insolation (DNI) and diffuse radiation data on hourly basis. Are ambient conditions, i.e. temperature, pressure, and relative humidity data available? What is the source for the data?" A: ADEREE has global solar radiation and temperature of the region of Essaouira. However, as mentioned in the annex of the TOR, the contractor should work with the National Meteorology Department to get other data: pressure, relative humidity, direct and diffuse radiation data on hourly basis. Otherwise, the contractor should use simulation software if hourly data are not available (mainly the DNI). 2. Q: "Does the National Meteorology Department (DMN) have solar insolation data for a typical year? Will this resource be adequate to estimate performance of PV systems?" A: The National Meteorology Department (DMN) has simulated (not measured) solar insolation data for a typical year for the region of Essaouira. This data should be adequate to estimate performance of PV systems, but DNI data should be necessary to estimate performance of other PV systems (Task 4). 3. Q: "Will ONE provide the basis to develop electricity consumption, generation and demand projections? Does ONE have their internal load growth and new generation projections available for review?" A: ADEREE, within Task 1, should conduct [this work] with the contractor, meeting with ONE to get electricity consumption, generation and demand projections. ONE have their internal load growth and could give to the contractor their new generation projections for review. 4. Q: "Are there sites that have been flagged as potential sites or will the Contractor need to choose all of the potential sites?" A: There are no sites that have been flagged as potential sites so far. The Contractor, with the help of ADEREE, ONE and local authorities, should find out and choose one of the potential sites. 5. Q: "In Section 4 [of the RFP] a mechanical engineer is listed as a member of key staff. We feel that a civil engineer would be a more useful key staff member. May we include a civil engineer instead of a mechanical engineer without harming our evaluation rating?" A: We [ADEREE] agree that a civil engineer would be a more useful key staff member than mechanical engineer. 6. Q: "In the deliverable for Task 5, what is meant by application requirements?" A: It means that the contractor should verify that all the requirements, technical tools, equipment and or workforce necessary to carry out installation, operation and maintenance activities are locally available regarding site location and area characteristics. 7. Q: "In Task 6, it is noted that the design/specifications should include "systems utility balance." Can you clarify what is being requested?" A: It means an estimation of the PV energy cover rate of energy regarding electricity demand at the preferred site 8. Q: "In Task 6, it is noted that the design/specifications should include "system performance and specifications." Can you clarify what is being requested?" A: Essentially the estimation of the energy output and performance during the year (simulation for 12 months) regarding climatic data and energy balance with the national/local grid or local electricity consumption. 9. Q: "The RFP notes that a statement confirming the availability of the proposed project manager and key staff over the duration of the project must be included. Is it sufficient to note in the text of the proposal that all staff and the manager will be available? Or is a separate letter from the Offeror and all subcontractors affirming availability required?" A: A separate, brief letter confirming availability from each proposed team member is required. 10. Q: "Section 3.5 of the proposal reads "as many as possible but not more than six relevant and verifiable project references..." Is this accurate or should it read ‘less than six'"? A: This is accurate. Six project references should be included if possible, or as many as possible up to six (but not more). 11. Q: "Task 2 notes that the Contractor is to assess the availability and/or suitability for access roads to all parts of the site. By this, are you noting that the Contractor should consider whether it is possible and appropriate to install access roads on the footprint of the solar project? Roads leading to the project? Something else?" A: The Contractor must assess whether access roads exist and are available for use both to and within the proposed site(s). 12. Q: "Task 5 notes that "the design criteria documents shall apply to the Pilot Project, and shall be adaptable as model documents for future plants." For clarification, this means that the documents should be specific to the Pilot Project but written in such a way that they can be tweaked and used for other projects?" A: Yes, this Pilot Project is intended to be replicable. The design documents should therefore be specific to the Pilot Project but adaptable for use at different sites. 13. Q: "The deliverable for Task 5 notes that the design specifications and operation and maintenance procedures should be based on permitting and regulatory requirements. There may be specifications and procedures that go beyond these requirements. Should such specifications and procedures be included, as well?" A: Where possible, the design specifications and operation and maintenance procedures should be as complete as possible, so additional specifications and procedures may be included. 14. Q: "Task 6 lists both ‘major equipment list' and ‘instrument index.' Can you describe how these differ?" A: The major equipment list will contain specific information such as sizing, whereas the instrument index will simply list what was included in the deliverable for this Task. 15. Q: "Task 9 notes that the Contractor will assess mechanisms to enable private sector participation. Could you clarify whether you are referring to participation in the Pilot Project or in the Moroccan solar industry? A: This Task refers to private sector participation in the Moroccan solar industry. 16. Q: "In Task 12 the Contractor is asked to develop an RFP for the installation of the pilot project. Has the financing mechanism under which the pilot project will be installed been determined? For example, the project could be built under a BOT (build, operate and transfer) scheme, a BOO (build, own, operate) scheme, a BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) scheme, or some other financial structure. If the mechanism has not been determined, do you want the Contractor to suggest a mechanism?" A: The financing structure has not been determined and the contractor will prepare a recommendation for the Grantee (Task 9). 17. Q: "In Task 12 there is a bulleted list of items for inclusion in the RFP. Is this information that you would like the RFP to specify, that you would like RFP to ask the bidder to provide, or a mixture of the two?" A: The bulleted points are meant to be areas that a prospective bidder will need to respond to in order to successfully compete for implementation of this Pilot Project. 18. Q: "Do you know if the construction contractor will or has to be a Morocco based entity?" A: Per USTDA Nationality Requirements (Annex III of the RFP), the contractor for this technical assistance project must be a U.S. company. However, they are permitted to subcontract up to 20% of the value of this grant to local (i.e. Moroccan) firms. It is up to the Offeror to decide who and how they would like to propose as their contracting team. 19. Q: "Has a contractor has been selected?" A: A contractor has not been selected, either for the present technical assistance activity or the implementation phase of the proejct. Based on the proposals received through this RFP process, the project sponsor will select the best qualified Offeror to conduct this technical assistance activity. 20. Q: "Can you confirm what percent of the $631,000 grant by the USTDA will be of the total consulting costs or estimated?" A: This grant is a fixed-price grant. It is up to the Offeror to determine if the sum is sufficient for their purposes to perform the technical assistance project. 21. Q: "What is the best form to send the final copy? In other words - is UPS or FedEx reliable?" A: USTDA makes no recommendation on a particular carrier. However, it is recommended to allow at least one week for delivery to the indicated address. 22. Q: "What is the typical delivery timeline for an overnight courier?" A: The Offeror will need to determine this answer through their selected courier. N.B. A few questions are outstanding and will be answered in a subsequent RFP amendment.
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