Consultant: Competitive Mechanisms for Energy Access
Consultant: Competitive Mechanisms for Energy Access
- United Arab Emirates
IRENA is undertaking a series of analyses on delivery models for the distributed renewable energy sector, with the goal of scaling up investments to achieve universal energy access. The first phase of this series is the analysis business and financing models in the DRE sector. The next phase, which is the focus of this consultancy, designing competition-based mechanisms for deploying distributed renewable energy (DRE) technologies. This study aims to present the different options for competition-based mechanisms (e.g. results/outcomes-based/performance-based financing, minimum subsidy tenders, market scale-up challenge funds, etc.), detail the design elements of such mechanism and present the pros and cons/trade-offs of each option, and provide recommendations regarding the broader policy needs beyond the competitive mechanism to achieve the desired outcomes and address specific challenge.
Tasks and responsibilities
To support this work, the consultant will collaborate with the IRENA Secretariat to undertake the following tasks:
- Conduct a comprehensive review of the use of competition-based or tendering mechanisms in the DRE sector, highlighting country-level and program-level examples. The review will focus on implementation strategies, projects completed, beneficiaries, and other key outcomes.
- Identify the key stakeholders involved in competition-based mechanisms for DRE deployment, including implementing agencies, government bodies, private developers, financiers, investors, and regulators, and analyse their roles in ensuring the success of these competition-based mechanisms.
- Identify and define the design elements of competition-based deployment mechanisms for distributed renewable energy (DRE), drawing on frameworks such as IRENA's auctions framework for large-scale projects or similar approaches relevant to the DRE sector.
- Analyse the trade-offs for each element using country examples to the extent possible.
- Provide guidance on policy measures necessary to complement competitive mechanisms in achieving key goals and addressing specific challenges, including but not limited to:
- Achieving cost effective deployment of DRE solutions – to ensure that pricing for DRE solutions is affordable for end-users while maintaining financial viability for service providers.
- Accelerating implementation – to fast-track the deployment of DRE technologies by creating a transparent process that reduces barriers to entry and provides a clear pipeline of support.
- Maximising impact – to maximise the socioeconomic benefits (such as access to reliable and affordable clean energy, job creation, productive uses of energy, healthcare, education, gender, skills) in DRE technology implementation by targeting areas with the highest need and potential impact.
- Enhancing local developer participation – to foster greater and more diverse involvement in DRE project implementation by actively supporting local entrepreneurs and developers, while also encouraging collaboration with international developers to leverage expertise and promote inclusive growth.
- The consultant is responsible for data processing and analysis and ensuring that publication datasets and case studies are made available in a user-friendly format.
The consultant is also expected to:
- Suggest external reviewers for the report who are experts in the field and address the comments from internal and external peer reviews.
- Review the draft publication analysing the DRE business and financing models currently in development.
- Support IRENA in organising dissemination activities related to the study’s findings.
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