ThaiNGO

Request for Proposal:

Enhancing Thailand’s Energy Planning through Integrated Resource Planning

RFP No.: MSP-2022-03-LP001

The Asia Foundation (TAF) Thailand Office seeks the services of a qualified and reputable firm to support the USAID and Australia Mekong Safeguards Program in the energy sustainable planning activity for Thailand. The activity involves highly specialized technical capacity in energy planning and modeling, with extensive international and/or best practices for developing roadmaps/pathways for carbon neutrality and net-zero emission for Thailand through integrated resource planning (IRP). Interested applicants must read this Request for Proposal (RFP) carefully to prepare necessary documents. This RFP contains three parts:

• PART 1: Services Procured

• PART 2: Qualifications and Application Process

• PART 3: Evaluation Method and Criteria

USAID and Australia Mekong Safeguards Program (Mekong Safeguards), implemented by TAF, is a five-year, $10.6 million project working with major banks, governments, and developers in Thailand, Vietnam, Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), Cambodia, Myanmar, and China on large energy and transportation infrastructure investments to strengthen environmental and social standards and practices in Southeast Asia’s Lower Mekong Region. The program is an exciting opportunity to support new and improved ways governments, financiers, developers, and civil society organizations can invest and build sustainable energy and transportation.

PART 1: SERVICES PROCURED

Introduction

IRP is an approach to power planning that meets future service demands by optimizing supply and demand-side management resources.¹ Typically, cost minimization (subject to reliability constraints) is the optimization objective. Planning agencies and utilities around the world have used IRP to guide power system development for several decades.² In recent years, the U.S., Germany, and South Korea have applied IRP to plan net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emission pathways for power system planning.

The Government of Thailand is preparing the Thailand National Energy Plan (NEP), a strategy that envisions the future of Thailand’s energy system through the 2040s. The NEP comprises key sectoral plans and policies, including policies for energy efficiency, renewable energy, gas and oil, and electricity. In the case of electricity, the national Power Development Plan (PDP) is being updated and will serve as a cornerstone of the NEP. The PDP update continues a consistent history of national electricity planning in

Thailand. It will build on the most recent PDP (published in 2018 and revised in 2020) and will cover power system development until 2037.

Work on the NEP and PDP is occurring against a backdrop of unprecedented challenges for national energy planners. Not only are demands for energy continuing to grow—for example, national electricity demand increased 16 percent from 2013 to 2020³—but accelerating impacts from climate change are shifting the global consensus about the need for deep decarbonization. Since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C,⁴ numerous studies have demonstrated that coordinated, worldwide action on deep decarbonization is necessary to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.

At the 26th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (UNFCCC COP26) held in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from October 31 to November 13, 2021, the Prime Minister of Thailand announced that the country aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and net-zero GHG emissions by or before 2065.⁵ Setting strong decarbonization goals would put Thailand in a position of leadership on climate in the ASEAN region, which has historically seen a gap between modest national ambition on climate change mitigation and high climate vulnerability. Long-term, net-zero GHG emission pathways are being planned in other ASEAN countries—for example, Indonesia⁶—meaning there is an opportunity for Thailand to influence regional partners through significant action on decarbonization.

The Ministry of Energy of Thailand (MOEN), which is responsible for developing the NEP and PDP, wants these planning efforts to align with long-term carbon neutrality objectives. However, this raises a number of novel technical and analytical problems. Reaching carbon neutrality will require deploying new technologies in the energy sector (e.g., advanced energy storage and electric vehicles) and increasing the penetration of existing low-carbon technologies (e.g., solar power) to uncharted levels. Demand-side measures such as efficiency, fuel switching, and load shifting may become increasingly important, leading to substantial differences in the timing and makeup of energy requirements. In some cases, energy use may be impossible or impractical to decarbonize fully, implying a need for negative-GHG emission options.

MOEN has expressed a strong interest in receiving technical support from Mekong Safeguards⁷ on developing pathways to carbon neutrality in Thailand’s energy sector. Mekong Safeguards is in the process of revising and submitting the activity proposal to the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) for affirmation anticipated in February 2022. The tentative timeline of support is eight months. To ensure the technical assistance’s accomplishment, Mekong Safeguards seeks a consultancy firm with a strong background in power sector planning and energy modeling to work with program consultants on this effort.

Objectives:

• Support MOEN on developing pathways to Thailand’s climate neutral and net-zero GHG emission targets by using/applying the concept of IRP for supporting PDP and NEP development by:

  • reviewing and comparing international best practices for carbon neutral planning as lessons learned from international experience.

  • developing a power system optimization model by co-optimizing generation, storage, and transmission capacity.

  • developing an integrated energy system model by integrating a selected PDP option with other energy plans (e.g., energy efficiency, renewable energy, oil, and gas plans).

• Support capacity building for Thailand’s energy planners (government agencies and utilities) on using the power system optimization model and integrated energy modeling software related to PDP and NEP.

Scope of work:

Under Mekong Safeguards’ supervision, the consultancy firm shall be responsible for, but not limited to, the following tasks, subject to the discussion and approval of Mekong Safeguards:

Tasks:

• Provide a data request list, conduct data gap analysis, and support Mekong Safeguards on data collection for developing a power system optimization model. If data are not available, the consultancy firm needs to propose necessary assumptions to Mekong Safeguards / MOEN.

• Conduct a desk review on international best practices for carbon neutral planning and on selected lessons learned that will be possible and appropriate for applying in Thailand’s pathways to climate neutral and net-zero GHG emission targets.

• Review and compare international best practices for carbon neutral planning as lessons learned from international experiences, and summarize key characteristics of the power system and power planning practices, comparing them to the Thai case.

• Develop a power system optimization model by co-optimizing generation, storage, and transmission capacity for achieving Thailand climate neutral and net-zero GHG emission targets.

• Develop an integrated energy model representing Thailand’s energy system by integrating the selected PDP option with other energy plans, which are energy efficiency, renewable energy, and oil and gas plans for achieving Thailand climate neutral and net-zero GHG emission targets.

• Write two memos to provide information and capture activities, including results:

  • Memo documenting selected international best practices for carbon neutral planning for Thailand.

  • Memo describing assumptions, methodologies, key findings, results of the power optimization modeling, and recommendations for improving PDP and NEP.

• Travel to Thailand and participate in meetings and events with key stakeholders.⁸

• Regularly participate in virtual meetings with Mekong Safeguards / key stakeholders at least two times a month.

• Provide additional ad hoc technical assistance and support on activities and analysis as needed and agreed by Mekong Safeguards and the consultancy firm.

Deliverables:

Duration:

• Eight months (tentatively from April 2022 to December 2022).

PART 2: QUALIFICATIONS AND APPLICATION PROCESS

Preferred qualifications:

• More than ten years of experience in energy modeling and related work, especially in the Southeast Asia region.

• Experience in developing energy models for PDPs and/or energy plans, or carbon neutrality and net GHG zero emission, with at least three projects in the last five years.

• Extensive knowledge and experience in generation and transmission system planning as well as co-optimizing generation, storage, and transmission capacity.

Limitations

To be considered as qualified consultancy firm, applicants are required to adhere to the following criteria:

• Company registration shall not be from Prohibited Countries¹¹.

• All deliverables/outputs produced under this assignment will be subject to Marking and Branding Requirements as specified by Mekong Safeguards.

How to apply:

• Prior to the proposal due date, consultancy firms may submit questions or request further information concerning this RFP to Mekong.Safeguards@asiafoundation.org. In the email subject title, please include “Inquiry on RFP No.: MSP-2022-03-LP001.” The deadline to submit questions is March 11, 2022 5:00pm Bangkok time (amended).

• Qualified consultancy firms must submit proposals (including both technical and financial proposals) in the electronic format only to Mekong.Safeguards@asiafoundation.org by March 15, 2022 5:00 pm Bangkok time (amended). The email subject title shall include “Submission of RFP No.: MSP-2022-03-LP001.”

• Due to deadline amendment, any submitted applicant materials may be re-submitted prior to the amended deadline.

• Proposals for submission (required):

• Technical proposal consisting of the following:

• • A maximum of five pages describing the proposed approach to the assignment, including analytical approaches and software tools to be used in conducting the studies or analyses.

  • One page providing an organization chart and indicating key personnel and staff roles and any subcontract (if applicable).

  • A Gantt chart showing the timeline of proposed tasks and deliverables.

  • One page describing past experiences with similar assignments.

  • Proof of experience in developing an energy model, PDP, and/or energy plan for at least three projects in the last five years.

  • CVs of staff proposed to work on the project, including any subcontract (if applicable).

  • Publications or technical analyses related to this scope of work, produced by the firm or its staff or consultants proposed for this scope of work.

  • Company/organization profile.

• Financial proposal, including the following:

• • Total proposed price.

  • Breakdown of cost by deliverables.

• Additional documents to be included along with the submitted proposals, where applicable:

• Company/organization registration.*

• List of shareholders.*

• VAT certificate.*

• Proof of good financial standing (in the form of company annual reports or similar documentation):

• • Bank statements for the last three years (required).

  • Balance sheets for the last three years (optional).

* Required for companies registered in Thailand. For international companies, similar documents are acceptable.

PART 3: EVALUATION METHOD AND CRITERIA

• The award of the contract shall be made to the qualified consultancy firm whose offer has been evaluated and determined as (a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and (b) having received the highest score out of a set of weighted technical criteria (70 percent) and financial criteria (30 percent).

• Technical criteria for evaluation (maximum 70 points):

• Criteria 1: Adequacy of methodology and work plan: conformity with the RFP, technical approach and methodology, work plan, organization and staffing (maximum 30 points).

• Criteria 2: Qualifications and competence of staff (maximum 15 points).

• Criteria 3: Previous experience working with USAID programs and/or Southeast Asian governments (maximum 25 points).

• Technical evaluation will also include an interview (virtual) for the qualified consultancy firm(s) to present the approach and qualifications at the date/time designated by TAF.

• Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70 percent of the total technical points) would be considered for the financial evaluation. The financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated to the lowest-priced proposal. The lowest-priced proposal will receive a maximum of 30 points. For example, proposal A has the lowest price and thus will receive 30 points. Proposal B is twice the cost of proposal A, translating to half the points of proposal A (or 15 points).

• The total points will be a combination of points from technical criteria and financial evaluation. The proposals will be ranked according to the total points.

• If two or more proposals have the same scores in the final ranking of proposals, the proposal with the higher technical score will be ranked higher.

• The highest-ranked proposal will be awarded the contract.

Issuance of this RFP does not constitute an award commitment on the part of TAF, nor does it commit Mekong Safeguard, TAF, USAID, Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

(DFAT) or any of its funding Partners to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of applications. Further, Mekong Safeguards reserves the right to reject any or all applications received. Applications are submitted at the risk of the Applicant. All preparation and submission costs are at the Applicant’s expense.

Award of the contract resulting from this RFP will be based upon the most responsive organization/ company whose offer will be the most advantageous for Mekong Safeguards in terms of cost, functionality and other factors as specified in this RFP.  The Asia Foundation will issue a Service Agreement/Contract following its internal policies and procedures and applicable donor regulations. Payments will be made as per the agreed schedule which will be negotiated and finalized before signing the agreement/contract.

TAF reserves the right to:  

1. Reject any or all offers and discontinue this RFP process without obligation or liability to any potential bidder;  

2. Accept other than the lowest priced offer;  

3. Conduct discussions with the organization/ company for the purpose of obtaining “best and final offers.” To obtain best and final offers from bidders, TAF may do one or more of the following: Enter pre-selection negotiations, schedule oral presentations, and request revised proposals.