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Technical Design of the Mabuduwan Solar PV Power System, Papua New Guinea

Background:

The Pacific Islands Green House Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy Project (PIGGAREP) is a regional climate change mitigation project that was approved for funding by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in September 2006.The project is for eleven Pacific Island Countries (PIC) – Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as the GEF Implementing Agency and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) as the Implementing Partner.

The global environment and development goal of PIGGAREP is the reduction of the growth rate of green house gas (GHG) emissions from the fossil fuel use in the PICs through the removal of the barriers to the widespread and cost effective use of feasible renewable energy (RE) technologies. The specific objective of the project is the promotion of the productive use of RE to reduce GHG emission by removing the major barriers to the widespread and cost-effective use of commercially viable RE technologies (RETs). PIGGAREP consists of various activities whose outputs will contribute to the removal of the major barriers to the widespread utilization of RETs. The project is expected to bring about in the PICs: (1) Increased number of successful commercial RE applications; (2) Expanded market for RET applications; (3) Enhanced institutional capacity to design, implement and monitor RE projects; (4) Availability and accessibility of financing to existing and new RE projects; (5) Strengthened legal and regulatory structures in the energy and environmental sectors; and (6) Increased awareness and knowledge on RE and RETs among key stakeholders.

Papua New Guinea is one of the participating PICs in the PIGGAREP and one of the activities in its 2008 Work Plan and Budget is for the feasibility study of Mabuduwan Solar PV Project in the South Fly District of Western Province, Papua New Guinea . The specific support will be to carry out a full technical design and project costing including environmental and socio-economic impact assessment for the Mabuduwan Solar PV power generation unit. The support will also include the training of a local engineer.

Instructions to Offerors:

• The Quotation must cover all the objectives, outputs and activities as specified in the TOR (Annex A);
• The Quotation must include costs for professional fees, travel and Per Diem;
• As part of PIGGAREP’s capacity building activities, quotation must include local travel and per diem costs of one officer from the PNG Sustainable Energy Limited (PNG SEL) who shall joint the international consultant(s) as the local coordinator and a trainee;
• US$ only must be used in the Quotation;
• The Quotation must include: i) an updated CV of the individual/s who will undertake the consultancy ii) a summary of recent work in the areas to be covered in this consultancy (including client and work produced); iii) information on availability; iv) total person days proposed for the work on the consultancy and daily rate in US$ and v) a preliminary methodology and work plan (maximum 3 pages);
• The consultancy preferably should commence in May 2008 and must be completed before end of July 2008;
• The offer must be in the English language only;
• The above-mentioned documents, information and requirements are mandatory and as such are required to form a complete tender. An offer will be rejected unless it is substantially responsive;
• If the Quotation is received prior to the formal submission date corrections/modifications can be made up to that date;
• The Quotation must be submitted in electronic format only (Word or PDF format, 1 MB max) by email to the e-mail address specified below;
• The consultancy must be undertaken with one (1) field visit to the Solar PV installation site at Mabuduwan, South Fly District, Papua New Guinea. The exact number of working days will be determined subsequently between the successful Contractor, PNG SEL and SPREP

The final working plan will be determined subsequently between the successful Contractor, PNG SEL and PIGGAREP.

Award of Contract and Evaluation Criteria:

Quotations will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. Price (20%)

2. Relevant Experience in planning, design and actual installation of solar PV projects in the range of 10-50kW including some consultancy and Solar PV training services (30%)
3. Experience with Papua New Guinea / or Pacific Island Countries energy and socio-economic environments (20%)
4. Methodology / Work Plan (30%)

All quotations must be addressed to:

                      The Director

                      SPREP                                            Telephone: (685) 21 929

                      PO Box 240                                     Fax:   (685) 20 231

                      Apia, Samoa                                   E-mail: SPREP@sprep.org

Deadline for the submission of quotations is 14 May 2008, Samoa time.

Contact Information:

ANNEX A

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Technical design of Mabuduwan Standalone Solar PV Power System

Introduction

Like many other Pacific island countries, access to modern electricity services is less than 10% in Papua New Guinea (PNG) according to a study done by World Bank. Sparsely distributed nature of settlement and remoteness makes delivery of utility services very challenging. Power generation is heavily dependent on diesel generators for both on and off grid, particularly in the rural areas. This makes rural electrification challenging and less attractive.

However, over the recent years, there has been significant interest from donors as well as several entities in PNG to provide reliable and cost effective electricity services to the rural and remote communities, thus, encourage and facilitate economic development and general improvement to the living standards of the people.

Background

Mabuduwan village is located about 60km north - west of Daru in the South Fly district of Western Province (refer map in Annex B). It is situated right on the coastline and has 200 family households with a population of around 2,000 people. The village has a big health centre and a primary school that serves the people within the local area.

At present there is no power utility service to service the health & education facilities including the village in general. Few individual families own small portable generators but are only used when fuel becomes available. Being very close to the Torres Strait islands of Australia, there is a lot of potential for increased economic activities.

In consideration of the prevailing logistic challenges and the high cost of fuel and operations associated with diesel power generation, PNGSEL intends to build a solar PV power system with a mini-grid (Low voltage power distribution network) for rural electrification in Mabuduwan village. The solar PV system with sufficient capacity will generate 3 phase low voltage (415V) power supply to connect all power users in the village. According to preliminary load estimations done, the available peak demand is around 30 kilowatts.

All customers will be connected and metered using PNGSEL “Raitpower” prepayment metering and power vending system. To facilitate the online Raitpower vending system, PNGSEL will install Satellite communication system. The communication system will also provide data, voice and internet services to the public.

PNGSEL has carried out a pre-feasibility study into the standalone solar PV power system at Mabuduwan and it warrantees detailed engineering studies. A feasibility study is required to establish the full technical design of the standalone solar PV system to adequately supply the required power. The technical aspect of the project has two components, the design of Solar PV power generation unit and the mini-grid (low voltage distribution infrastructure) design.

Objectiveof th

e Study

The general objective of the standalone solar PV design consultancy is to carry out and complete the feasibility study covering the technical design, financial analysis and environmental and socio-economic impacts of the Mabuduwan Solar PV Power Project. Based on the design and recommendations, PNG SEL will implement the project.

Methodology

The feasibility study will include a desk study of relevant information about the project location/area, and the stand alone, grid-connected and mini-grid projects used in the PICs. It will include a visit to the project site in Papua New Guinea and to discuss with PNGSEL the project. After the site visit and discussions with PNGSEL, the consultant will carry out the project designing and documentation. As part of the capacity building element of the PIGGAREP, the Consultant must work together with an officer of PNGSEL as its local counterpart to impart as much as possible the relevant skills of designing a solar PV system. All information and documentation collected and used through out the study and design phase will be made available to PNGSEL through its officer and to the PIGGAREP PMO.

Specific Tasks

The consultant shall undertake the following specific tasks:   

• Desk Study

• Site Visit and project discussion with PNG SEL

• Debriefing

• Training and skills transfer

• Final project design Report

1. Desk Study

The desk study shall include a study of the project area and similar Solar PV models elsewhere. The geography, climate & weather patterns and topography of the area will need to be studied to understand the prevailing environmental conditions to design the solar PV system to be sustainable under these conditions. The Mabuduwan pre-feasibility study report will be made available to the consultant.

2. Site Visit

The site visit to Mabuduwan will be compulsory to inspect the site and discuss the project in detail with PNG SEL. In Port Moresby the consultant will meet the local counterpart, an employee of PNGSEL and the CEO. After brief discussions, the consultant and the local counterpart will travel to Mabuduwan village to carry out site survey. This will take a minimum of 3 days including travel times to complete the site visit.

3. Debriefing

Upon return from the site visit, the Consultant shall carry out a debriefing meeting with PNG SEL. The consultant will present his views from the desk study and the actual site conditions. The consultant will also discuss the extent/scope, timing and the methodology to complete the feasibility study.

4. Capacity Building/Skills Transfer

During debriefing time, the consultant will present to PNGSEL on the proposal training objectives and schedule.  PNG SEL will discuss with the consultant on the training needs and a final program as mutually agreed will be drawn by the consultant to meet the skills training requirements of the project.

5. Final Report

The Analysis

The analysis conducted as part of this study shall include but not limited to the following:

 1. Technical

  The technical analysis shall include the following:

• Assess and determine the peak power demand of Mabuduwan village.

• Provide the natural and minimum technical conditions under which the technical design has been done. All parameters used for the design work should be shown.

• Determine the total solar PV power system capacity that will be installed to adequately supply the available demand at all times. Calculations should be provided to show how it was done.

• Design and determine the size of the solar array, size of the battery Bank, size of the Charge controller, size of inverter string, cable sizes and control and protection units. All calculations should be provided.

• Provide the minimum specifications of the Solar PV power generation system components including but not limited to solar modules, battery bank, charge controller and inverters, cables and balance of system including solar array mounting frame.

• Set out the general layout and arrangement of the solar PV generation unit to provide safe and reliable operation.

• Check list shall be developed and established to guide the process from Tendering to supply and actual solar PV system installation.

• Identify and list all the tools and equipment that will be required to install and operate the solar PV power generation unit.

• Assess and determine the skills requirements of technicians who will operate the system.

2. Financial

• Assess the current market prices of solar PV power system equipment and installation costs and establish the estimate costs for the designed capacity.

• Determine the equivalent diesel generation cost and compare the costs of solar and diesel including the operations and maintenance costs over a 20 year period.

• Assess the financial viability of the solar PV generation unit over a period of 20 years.

• Determine a user fee to be charged on the electricity consumers

3. Environment and Socio-economic impacts

• Assess and identify the environmental impacts and risks and provide strategies to mitigate the identified environmental risks

• Assess and identify the social and economic impacts and risks and provide strategies to mitigate the identified risks.

4. Capacity Building

• Assess the capacity building and training needs for the management of the project.

Outputs

The outputs of the feasibility study will be a comprehensive design report covering the technical, financial, environmental and socio-economic studies for sustainable operation of the Mabuduwan Solar Power system with appropriate recommendations.

ANNEX B

Map of PNG and Western Province showing location of Mabuduwan Village