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Job Title: Renewable Energy Power Expert
About the Job
Nexant seeks a Renewable Energy Power Expert to serve as a long-term
resident in Abuja, Nigeria for the Power Africa Transactions &
Reforms Program (PATRP), the contractor enabling partner for the US
Government’s Power Africa Initiative in sub-Saharan Africa. This $64
million, 5 year technical assistance project is designed to bring more
electricity to sub-Saharan African via a deal / transaction-centered
approach. The Power Africa initiative seeks to shift the typical
international development paradigm to a transaction‐centered approach
that provides host country governments in sub-Saharan Africa, the
private sector, and international donor agencies with a focal point to
galvanize collaboration around priority electricity generation,
transmission, and distribution transactions--with a focus on those that
involve private sector participation and finance--helping to bring them
to financial close and on‐line in an expedited time frame.
Nigeria is a priority country for Power Africa. While renewable
energy is a very important part of that country’s energy mix, it has not
been emphasized. Renewable energy has considerable potential in
Nigeria, and in particular could bridge the major energy gaps in rural
areas. The scale of opportunities is only just becoming apparent as new
grid technologies, such as concentrated solar power, are emerging as in
competitors with conventional power generation. Changes in technology
also mean that solar, wind, and other forms of renewable power, with the
appropriate type of financing, could bring transformational change to
household energy needs. The country needs to formulate a comprehensive
framework to create a realistic, credible, and clearly defined long-term
strategy to grow its renewable energy capabilities, including
developing an integrated renewable energy plan and associated
investment, reinforcing its existing initiatives by developing both an
integrated renewable energy plan and a systematic major increase in
investment in research, market development, and regulation of renewable
energy. The country’s regulatory authority also needs capacity building
assistance to improve its organizational structures, policies, and
procedures--including its oversight and regulatory capacity--over the
renewable energy space.
Duties and Responsibilities
Renewable Energy Resources
- Provide assistance with resource estimation, including examining and ranking primary locations of renewable energy
- Establish and/or manage a system for data management and analysis
- Advise on the management of national renewable energy resources
using databases, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), decision tools,
and data analysis
- Recommend improvements to and costs of additional renewable energy infrastructure
- Examine local markets and uses for renewable energy, including the tariff that can be obtained
Technical Issues
- Review existing grid connected renewable energy integration
strategy/program, planning methodology for renewable energy projects
etc.
- Perform preliminary due diligence on intermittent and base load
renewable power plants under consideration, including their technical,
environmental, community/social strengths, weaknesses and commercial
viability
- Assess and discuss critical design, interconnection, integration issues with grid connected variable renewable power plants
Tenders
- Review and appraise current policy, regulation, planned capacity,
and the enabling environment to attract more IPPs and private sector
investment into the renewable energy power sector
- Develop policies and procedures to promote fair and open competition in awarding of licenses and transparency in contracting
- Assist the government conduct fair and open bidding processes,
including determining sale terms and conditions and proper evaluation of
bid adequacy
- Conduct preliminary due diligence as per Power Africa procedures on
any priority transactions included in the pipeline of future renewable
energy power projects contemplated by the government, and develop a
screening framework, in collaboration with the government and other
Transaction Advisors, which can be used to evaluate, rank, and
prioritize the transactions
Renewable Energy Policy, Laws, & Regulations
- Assist in developing national renewable energy policies and laws
- Advise on international best practices with respect to legal,
policy, and regulatory regimes governing the renewable energy sector
- Provide assistance in regulatory management and oversight
Health, Safety, & Environment (HSE)
- Provide environmental management expertise and built capacity in
host country institutions to effectively deal with environmental issues
- Assist and provide advice on environmental analyses, which included
the following—(i) environmental and social impact assessments, (ii)
onshore and offshore environmental analysis, (iii) consultations with
local stakeholders, (iv) air and noise monitoring, (v) assessment of
best environmental management practices, and (vi) mitigation and
monitoring plans
- Advise on Equator Principles compliance audits to assess environmental and social risk in project finance transactions
- Develop, implement, and monitor environmental regulations
- Develop a process to conduct safety inspections
- Provide advice on sector oversight, including the preparation of remediation, restoration, and abandonment plans
Capacity Building
- Develop and administer capacity building programs—transfer of
technical, financial, and commercial expertise— to plan and implement
activities associated with renewable energy via seminars, workshops, and
tutoring
- Organize roundtables, workshops, site visits, and other forms of
training for technical and policy staff to support engagement
objectives, and established information and professional networks and
partnerships among these parties
- Provide recommendations to improve government access to individuals
with technical skills in the sector, and advised government staff to
improve access to training and educational opportunities.
- Identify capacity constraints and staff needs of relevant units
- Promote effective public participation and stakeholder engagement
- Strengthen the governance capacity and capability of key government
organizations to plan, integrate, and to sustainably provide services
- Through meetings, interviews, and review of the resumes of those
involved in the renewable power sector, and discussions with other
development partners involved in the renewables sector, identify
strengths and weaknesses of the various government institutions involved
in developing the renewables sector to identify needs and opportunities
for training and development of the technical staff of the government’s
institutions
- Build technical capacity of staff in renewable energy development,
sector management, and oversight, including (i) sector research and
analysis, (ii) issue identification, (iii) policy formulation and
analysis, (iv) monitoring and evaluating, and (v) impact assessments
