Location: Ghana
Duration of contract: Three (3) Months
Deadline for submission of application: 24th June 2025
BACKGROUND
- Context
The German government, through the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR – former BMBF), is funding the construction and operationalization of the pilot Hybrid Waste to Energy (W2E) power plant in Atwima Nwabiagya South Municipality of the Ashanti Region of Ghana for a period running from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2025.
The W2E project aims to transfer proven waste treatment technologies currently used in Germany to Ghana by training high-level local experts in advanced waste management. It also aims to support the integration of renewable energy into Ghana’s electricity generation mix, thereby contributing to the country’s climate change mitigation strategy.
The implementation of this project is driven by a strong collaborative spirit between German institutions led by the University of Rostock, a West African regional institution (WASCAL), Ghanaian local research and training institutions (KNUST, UENR, KsTU, CEESD, CSIR) and active community engagement through the Atwima Nwabiagya Municipality.
This pilot project also intended to develop an innovative business model in line with waste-to-energy technologies to enable its replication in other regions of Ghana and West African countries. The plant is then supposed to generate revenue from provision of goods and services including a power purchase agreement that should enable to sell the electricity generated from the solar and biogas sections.
The final act of the project would be to transfer the plant to a specialized private company who will have to operate it according to the planned business model. A roadmap was adopted in September 2024 for this purpose by all the partners.
The purpose of this tender is to recruit a firm that will have to conduct a thorough technical and financial assessment of the plant in order to make all relevant information available to the stakeholders and to support the selection process of the private company or consortium that will be in charge of the plant after the end of the financing phase in December 2025.
- Description of the Plant installation
The W2E plant is composed of several sections, including Solar PV, Bunker and sorting, Waste Recycling and product development, Biogas, laboratory, Composting and Pyrolysis units.
They are also the existing infrastructures of the plant like the Warehouse, Offices and conference room, weighing bridge, parking equipped with (02) EV charging stations, a wheel loader and a forklift.
Regarding organisation, the plant manager is assisted by a team of 16 staff members, including a mechanical engineer, a lab technician, an electrical technician, daily workers, and security personnel.
The estimated capacity of the different sections of the plant is:
- Bunker and sorting section: 50 tonnes per day of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) through a segregation line and 30 tonnes as MSW storage capacity under the bunker
- Recycling, pretreatment and product development: 1 tonne per day of recycled products (plastic granule, briquette from RDF, mixed plastic baling)
- Biogas: 1000 m3 of digester and 100 kW capacity of Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system
- Composting: The Compost shed has the storage capacity of 50 tons
- Pyrolysis: 100kW of capacity
- Solar PV: 200kWp installed capacity
I. OBJECTIVES OF THE CONSULTATION
The purpose of this consultation is to recruit a firm or team of consultants for technical assistance to WASCAL in the framework of the W2E sustainability plan.
The technical support to the WASCAL team will cover the following three areas:
- conduct a technical audit of the Gyankobaa waste-to-energy plant.
- conduct a financial audit of the Gyankobaa waste-to-energy plant.
- Provide technical support in the selection process of the Private Company for the operation of the plant.
- Task 1: Conduct technical audit of the Gyankobaa waste-to-energy plant
Regarding this first component of the consultation, the firm or the team of consultants will execute the following tasks:
- Carry out documentary research, review and technical analysis of the plant’s operating documents and existing equipment data sheets.
- Assess the compliance of the plant with designed specifications and operational standards.
- Perform a technical analysis and testing of each section’s actual production capacity, effectiveness and efficiency.
- Write a technical report on the baseline situation and make recommendations for upgrading the plant for transferability
- Conduct site inspections to assess environmental compliance regarding the plant operations and evaluate the existing safety system (HSE)
- Analyze the manual for operation of each section of the plant including safety and security protocols in accordance with international standards and Ghana regulation
Note: after full technical assessment of the plant, the project will take correctives measures and the consultant will be called for update of the assessment about one month later.
- Task 2: Conduct a financial audit of the Gyankobaa waste-to-energy plant
Regarding this second component of the consultation, the firm or the team of consultants will execute the following tasks:
- Assess the value of all sections of the plant including the cost of the land, in both free tax regime and all tax regime based on available documentation and estimation according to Ghana law
- Estimate on the basis of the technical audit, the additional investment required to ensure full operationality of all the sections of the plant;
- Carry out an economic analysis of the site’s profitability model, develop a business plan including additional investment needed by the selected private operator
- Propose a profitable and sustainable management model for the site
- Task 3: Provide technical support in the selection process of the Private Company for the operation of the plant
Regarding this third component of the consultation, the firm or the team of consultants will execute the following tasks:
- development of the ToRs and the Call for Application for selection of the private operator, including all technical and financial information needed by applicants and investment requirement,
- develop selection criteria and grading scale for evaluation of the applications by the selection committee;
- provide advice to the committee when requested, in the selection process of the private operator
II. COMPOSITION OF THE CONSULTANT TEAM
To carry out this mission, the FIRM must propose at least five experts in the following areas:
- (01) Energy Expert, Team Leader
The energy expert will act cumulatively as the team leader for this Consultation assignment. The energy expert must have the following skills and qualifications:
- Degrees: PhD in Physics, Power Engineering and Renewable Energy and related fields.
- Years of experience: The energy expert should have at least 15 years of general experience, including at least 5 years in production and installation of large-scale energy systems.
- Specific experience: Specific experience in waste management, bioenergy and technology, electricity production, transport, distribution and sales, and energy systems auditing. Experience in consulting with international organisations and having participated in the installation of a project on biomass in electricity would be an asset.
- Languages: The team leader must be fluent in English.
- (01) Expert in waste management, treatment and recovery
The expert in waste management, treatment and recovery must have the following skills and qualifications:
- Degrees: At least a Master’s degree in Environment, Waste Management and Recovery, Environmental Economics or any other degree deemed equivalent.
- Years of experience: The Expert in waste management, treatment, and recovery must have at least 10 years of general experience, including at least 5 years in waste management, treatment and recovery.
- Specific experience: Specific experience in the process of sorting, collection, treatment and recovery of waste, in particular the production of compost and/or gas and electricity.
- Languages: The expert in waste management, treatment and recovery must speak English.
- (01) Laboratory Expert
The energy expert must have the following skills and qualifications:
- Degrees: At least a Master’s degree in chemistry, biochemistry, environment or biology.
- Years of experience: The Expert must have at least 10 years of general experience, including at least 5 years in a biological analysis laboratory, especially in microorganisms and fermentation. He should also be proficient in the physical and chemical characterization of biomass for energy.
- Specific experience: Specific experience in the field of laboratory analysis of biomass, emissions and gas analysis. Participating in a laboratory setup would be an asset.
- Languages: The Expert must speak English.
- (01) Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) Expert
The health, safety and environmental expert must have the following skills and qualifications:
- Degrees: At least a Master’s degree in Health and Safety, Environmental Science, Engineering, or a related field.
- Years of experience: The health, safety and environmental expert must have at least 10 years in industrial safety, construction, power plant (gas, solar or diesel power plant), or similar high-risk sectors.
- Specific experience: Specific experience in risk assessments and safety planning, incident investigation and root cause analysis, and conducting health and safety assessment for a facility in operation.
- Languages: The health, safety and environmental expert must speak English.
- (01) Financial modelling Expert
- Degrees: At least a Master’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, Economics
- Years of experience: The Expert must have at least 10 years of general experience, including at least 5 years in financial modelling and analysis.
- Specific experience: Specific experience in the field of Waste management and energy sectors. Having already participated in economic feasibility studies for a similar project will be an asset.
- Languages: The Expert must speak English.
III. PROPOSED DURATION
The consultation will be conducted within a period of maximum 3 months (July to September), starting on 1st July 2025. A detailed roadmap should be submitted by the applicant complying with the indicated duration in accordance with the sustainability plan.
IV. DELIVERABLE AND TIME DISTRIBUTION
The activities under this contract shall be completed within 3 months from the effectiveness of the contract. An indicative work time diagram is shown in the table below:
| Deliverables | July 2025 | August 2025 | September 2025 |
| Report of the technical audit | x | ||
| Report of the financial audit | x | ||
| ToRs for the recruitment of the Company and Call of Application | X |
The financial proposal in Euro (€) shall be comprehensive, comprising all costs (including a detailed work-time-expert-diagram indicating daily rates for individual team members according to their level of expertise).
V. COORDINATION AND REPORTING
The contractor will report to WASCAL RE Team. All draft and final deliverables are subject to approval by WASCAL RE Team. The contractor will coordinate on a day-to-day basis closely with the local team on site including the plant manager during all their activities. The main communication language will be English. The documents will be provided by the contractor fully edited, designed (incl. graphs) and ready to be published in English.
VI. SUBMISSION OF THE OFFER AND EVALUATION PROCESS
All applications must be submitted by 24th June 2025 at the latest, via email to tender@wascal.org with cc to morbiga.a@wascal.org
The application should include detailed technical and financial offer in one pdf file. The technical offer should include among others, information and background of the firm, CVs of the required experts, along with a comprehensive methodology for conducting all the tasks of the mission and an agenda. The financial offer should be presented according to the three main tasks as described above.
Requests for clarification can be sent to aryee.a@wascal.org with bulgo.j@wascal.org in copy.
Note:
The selected contractor must demonstrate integrity, honesty, and confidentiality in the performance of the consulting assignment. In addition, he agrees to sign a non-disclosure agreement with WASCAL for reasons of fairness in the competition among applicants.
The maximum budget allocated for this consultancy is 30 000€.