Introduction
The West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL) is a West African regional institution dedicated to improving scientific and applied knowledge to combat climate change and build effective resilience of West African population. WASCAL comprises 11 ECOWAS countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo) and the Federal Republic of Germany, the main funder.
WASCAL carries out its missions through capacity building, scientific research and technological innovation, development of climate services, support to adequate policies and strategies, sustainable techniques, and practices to address climate change with the ultimate objective of improving people’s living conditions.
In terms of capacity building, WASCAL provides support for the implementation of 16 Master’s (6 programmes) and Doctoral (10 programmes) level training programmes on various topics related to climate change issues in its 11 member countries’ universities. In the domain of research and innovation, WASCAL is developing important projects and initiatives in five priority areas: i) Land use and Cover/Land Degradation/Climate Change Nexus, 2) Risks and Vulnerability to Climate Extremes, 3) Rural-urban and Cross Border Migration in West Africa, 4) Sustainable Agriculture/Climate Smart Landscapes Nexus, 5) Renewable Energy and Green Hydrogen. Regarding the last priority area, WASCAL is a major partner of the Federal Republic of Germany in the implementation of the ” Go Green Go Africa ” initiative.
Through this partnership, WASCAL is implementing several renewable energy technology innovation projects in West African countries and is also leading the green hydrogen development initiative. The H2 Atlas project on green hydrogen in West Africa, the implementation of pilot projects, the development of the ECOWAS Green Hydrogen Policy and Strategy fully illustrate WASCAL’s commitment to building a decarbonised economy in West Africa. WASCAL intends to highlight its leading role in West Africa in the field of climate change and related disciplines by moving towards carbon neutrality in its operations and infrastructure. To this end, WASCAL has received financial support from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) for the construction of renewable energy infrastructures at its Headquarters in Accra as well as at its offices across West Africa.
This call for tender aims at recruiting a firm or a consortium of firms for the design and implementation of energy infrastructure for WASCAL’s headquarters in Accra, Ghana.
1. Description of the infrastructure
WASCAL wants to install a combination of innovative energy systems at its headquarters in Accra:
- A solar system to supply WASCAL headquarters building with a variety of the most efficient solar modules of different technologies. Consideration will be given to the use of transparent solar PV modules for glazing the building and the substitution of electrical appliances with more efficient ones,
- A dashboard showing system performance and environmental impact displayed at the headquarters,
- A data acquisition and storage system installed in the servers of the WASCAL Competence Centre in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
- An electric or hydrogen vehicle with a 100% solar powered charging unit to serve as a demonstrator in the region and for the visibility of WASCAL,
- An agroPV system for agricultural production applications. Options for the integration of composting and/or wastewater recycling systems in a demonstration farm will be investigated.
2. Scope of services
The company or consortium of companies selected will have the following main assignments:
- Design the appropriate technical systems for WASCAL under the guidance of the Regional Renewable Energy Coordinator, this will of course require travel to the WASCAL headquarters in Accra. The duration of this phase should not exceed one month,
- Produce a financial proposal in accordance with the technical specifications and quantities of the equipment and approved by WASCAL.
- Proceed with the acquisition of the equipment, its transport and installation at WASCAL’s headquarters in Accra,
- Conducting technical tests and verifications to ensure the proper functioning of the systems.
- Ensure technical monitoring of the installations over a period of a minimum of one year.
- Provide training to staff appointed by WASCAL on the use, operation, maintenance and repair of installed equipment and systems.
3. Selection criteria
This call for tenders is open to any firm or group of firms within ECOWAS and outside. However, consortia involving one or more ECOWAS companies will be appreciated. The firm or group of firms will be selected based on its expertise and experience in the design and implementation of each of the infrastructures described above (1. Description of the infrastructures), and the proposed roadmap from the design to the implementation of the installations. Tenderers to this call should:
- Provide proof of legal existence, in case of a consortium all members should prove their legal existence.
- Provide evidence of their significant and relevant experience in relation to the systems described, particularly the design and implementation of solar systems connected to the electrical installations of buildings, solar systems for agricultural applications, charging units for electric and/or hydrogen powered vehicles, data acquisition and storage, etc.
- Propose a realistic and efficient roadmap from design to commissioning of equipment and systems.
- Provide evidence of the availability of qualified technical personnel in the various fields covered by the infrastructures to be built.
- Experience of conducting studies and works in one or more ECOWAS countries is an asset.
Tenderers’ proposals will be scored out of 100 points and only the candidate with the highest score will be selected, in case of withdrawal, the candidate with the second highest score will be considered. The scoring grid is as follows:
- Experience of the firm or consortium: 50 points
- Relevant technical staff: 30 points
- Roadmap: 20 points
4. Submission
All submissions must be sent only by email to tender@wascal.org no later than 25 November 2022 at 24:00 GMT.