Project description - All lots

The City Climate Finance Gap Fund (Gap Fund) is a collaborative initiative involving donors (GER BMWK / BMZ and LUX), the World Bank (WB), the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, along with partner organizations such as city networks and international multi-stakeholder partnerships. Its primary objective is to assist cities in middle- and low-income countries (as per the OECD-DAC List (https://www.oecd.org/content/oecd/en/topics/sub-issues/oda-standards.html)) in transitioning towards low-carbon and climate-resilient pathways.
The implementation of the Gap Fund is carried out by Technical Secretariats at the WB and EIB in cooperation with GIZ, with an implementation period spanning from 2020 to 2027. Both the EIB and WB host a multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) of EUR 48 million and EUR 57 million respectively. In 2023, donor contributions to the Gap Fund have doubled the initial fund"s capitalisation bringing it to 105 million EUR.
The Gap Fund provides support to cities in emerging and developing economies in the development and execution of climate strategies and investment projects, including energy, transport, waste, water, and nature-based solutions with a focus on both, adaptation and mitigation. Its assistance covers the early stages of the investment process, ranging from contextual understanding and strategy development to data collection, stakeholder engagement, investment prioritization, and project preparation. Additionally, a new area of support is being opened under the Gap Fund, focusing on capacity development for cities and intermediaries.
The Gap Fund activities are organized into three main tracks:
1. Support to urban strategy development (WB);
2. Support for low-carbon, climate-resilient project development (WB and EIB/GIZ);
3. Partnership coordination, knowledge and information sharing among project preparation facilities and standardisation of early project preparation approaches (advocacy, outreach and coordination - WB and EIB/GIZ).
The tendered service is related to Track 2.

The EIB-GIZ Gap Fund
The specific objective of the EIB/GIZ Gap Fund (outcome) is:
Cities access catalytic technical assistance and grant funding for early-stage preparation of 1.5 degree compatible climate-resilient and low-carbon urban infrastructure projects and prepared projects are successfully taken up by existing national, regional, and international PPFs.
The EIB/GIZ Gap Fund key performance indicators include assessing 900 expressions of interest (EoI) from cities jointly with the WB, implementing technical assistance for 130 urban investment projects, and linking 65% of these projects to further technical assistance or financing by November 2027.

The purpose is to conclude a framework agreement in 3 lots, for the provision of advisory to cities and municipalities worldwide in the preparation of climate mitigation or adaptation infrastructure projects. The aim is to commission one contractor under the framework agreement per lot:
81318195 energy sector (Lot 1) /
81318196 solid waste management sector (Lot 2) /
81318197 urban mobility sector (Lot 3).

It is possible to submit an offer for each of these lots. A complete and separate set of required tender documents must be submitted under the respective lot tender on the GIZ procurement platform.

TENDER DESCRIPTION FOR
81318195 - Lot 1 "energy sector":

The EIB/GIZ Technical Secretariat is seeking a contractor to provide sector specific expertise in the preparation and implementation of TA within sustainable energy including renewable energy and energy efficiency. In addition, the contractor will support the team in designing capacity development activities for the energy sector.

The contractor is responsible for providing strategic and technical support to the EIB-GIZ Gap Fund Technical Secretariat in the field of low carbon and sustainable energy.
The contractor shall provide advice in the following fields of expertise:
- Integrated energy management plans and strategies
- Renewable energy sources (including solar and biogas from organic waste)
- Energy efficiency audit and measures in public buildings (including building envelope, HVAC, lighting etc.)
- Energy efficiency audit and measures for street lighting
- Energy efficiency applied to municipal services such as waste management, water supply or wastewater treatment.
- Efficient district heating
- Energy policy and finance

The contractor shall perform the following tasks upon request in close collaboration with the EIB/GIZ Gap Fund Technical Secretariat.

A. Technical review of the prefeasibility documents:

The contractor shall assist the EIB/GIZ Gap Fund Technical Secretariat in reviewing, verifying and ensuring the technical quality of various documents of the TA preparation and implementation cycle (ToRs, inception reports, baseline assessment, options analysis reports, etc.). The technical review shall primarily focus on quality assurance and include, but not be limited to:
- Advise on draft documents with their feedback and comments, in particular ToRs and deliverables, but also on exceptional cases expressions of interest (EOIs) from municipalities to the Gap Fund.
- Detailed technical guidance on specific questions related to the early assessment and development of infrastructure investment projects.
- Detailed review of the various technological and operational solutions as well as the recommended option proposed, including advice on additional/alternate efficient and more resilient technological and operational solutions that could be used in order to make the project technically, operationally, economically, environmentally and socially more effective.
- Other critical technical review aspects, as required on material & equipment specification, cost, O&M, financial sustainability, project structuring, etc.
- Support GHG emission and beneficiary calculation.
- Advise on opportunities for bundling and scaling sector interventions, as well as financing pathways to be reviewed under the TA.

B. Review of the energy sector portfolio:

Provide necessary support to the EIB/GIZ Gap Fund Technical Secretariat to:

- Critically review the portfolio of ongoing projects and provide strategic guidance on the short-term actions to increase the climate impact of the energy sector.
- Based on the review, recommend targeted capacity development activities and training for municipalities, utilities, and communities.
- Provide sector-specific technical guidance to tools used by the EIB/GIZ Gap Fund Technical Secretariat during the EOI assessment and TA preparation phase, such as EoI questionnaire, sector package on energy etc.
- Advise on the integration of gender inclusion and equity to the upcoming technical assistance.
- Advise on Gap Fund publications focusing on sustainable energy systems, such as Gap Fund sector briefs.

GIZ may optionally commission contract amendments and/or increases based on the criteria in the tender documents to the successful bidder of this tender. For details, please see the terms of reference.

According to Article 160, Section 3 of the German Act Against Restraint of Competition (GWB), application for review is not permissible insofar as
1. the applicant has identified the claimed infringement of the procurement rules before submitting the application for review and has not submitted a complaint to the contracting authority within a period of 10 calendar days; the expiry of the period pursuant to Article 134, Section 2 remains unaffected,
2. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that are evident in the tender notice are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for the application or by the deadline for the submission of bids, specified in the tender notice.
3. complaints of infringements of procurement rules that first become evident in the tender documents are not submitted to the contracting authority at the latest by the expiry of the deadline for application or by the deadline for the submission of bids,
4. more than 15 calendar days have expired since receipt of notification from the contracting authority that it is unwilling to redress the complaint.
Sentence 1 does not apply in the case of an application to determine the invalidity of the contract in accordance with Article 135, Section 1 (2). Article 134, Section 1, Sentence 2 remains unaffected.

All communication takes place in English via communication tool in the project area of the procurement portal.

GIZ asks the applicant or bidder to submit, complete or correct documents, within the framework laid down by law.

The execution conditions result from the information given in the contract notice and the tender documents.