Summary
Date Posted: Wednesday, February 03, 2021 , Base Salary: Not Disclosed

JOB DETAILS:
Cities and Infrastructure for Growth Zambia
Position: IRP System Implementation Assistant – Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) development for the Ministry of Energy
Location: Lusaka, Zambia
Start Date: February 2021
Contract Duration: 13 months part-time (110 days)
About Cities and Infrastructure for Growth Zambia (CIGZambia)
CIGZambia is a facility that provides high-quality independent technical advice and assistance to Zambian government bodies and private sector organisations engaged in projects / programmes that help harness the potential of Zambia’s cities and towns to act as drivers for economic growth and job creation. CIGZambia is funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (‘FCDO’).
The overall programme objectives are:
• increasing urban productivity;
• improving inclusive access to urban economic infrastructure services;
• increasing investment into urban economic infrastructure services; and,
• enhancing national and regional integration between cities.
The development of an efficient, affordable and reliable energy supply ecosystem to support the development of the economy in Zambia’s cities is considered to be an essential component of achieving these objectives.
About the Role
This project aims to support the Ministry of Energy to develop an Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for Zambia. The IRP is a 30-year plan for a sustainable electricity investment strategy for generation and transmission infrastructure that will ensure universal access to clean, reliable and affordable electricity at the lowest total environmental, social, economic and financial cost consistent with local, national and regional development goals. The IRP will also include implications arising from demand-side management (DSM) and pricing.
The IRP will be developed across several project modules including: Demand Assessment, Transmission Planning, Distribution Planning, Least Cost Generation Planning, Renewable Resource Planning, Sector Financial Sustainability, Power Procurement Processes, Climate, Gender and Inclusion Analysis, Institutional Planning Framework and Demand Side Management and Energy Efficiency.
It should be noted that the climate impacts related to energy planning under different scenarios will form a significant component of the modelling that will be required as the IRP is developed.
The IRP will be developed over a 17-month period commencing in November 2020 and ending in March 2022. However, the design of the IRP system needs to be completed at an early stage of the process to enable procurement of software and associated equipment, and for capacity building for the experts in Ministry of Energy who will be managing the system during the IRP development process. The target date for completion of the full design and specification of the system(s) to be used, with associated approvals from users and stakeholders is 31st March 2021. Thereafter, the project will enter the implementation phase. .

Working under work under the direct supervision of the IRP System Implementation Lead, who reports to the IRP Project Lead for CIGZambia, the consultant will:
• Assist in the definition of the required inputs, outputs and functionality of the system(s) to be utilised for the IRP;
• Review specifications, reports/case studies and user feedback from energy planning systems that are used in other countries, particularly developing countries that may have similarities to Zambia;
• Provide a critical review of the performance, effectiveness and learning points from frameworks used to develop an IRP (or energy planning systems) in other countries, noting the key aspects that should be included in the development of the IRP for Zambia;
• Review reports/case studies related to system planning tools for generation, transmission, distribution, demand side management, social economic, financial and climate modelling;
• Evaluate the options and capabilities of the available software systems and models for generation, transmission, distribution, demand side management, climate impact, socio-economic impact and financial profile, taking into account the ease of integration of the different sub-systems;
• Support the decision-making process for proposing and recommending a system (or systems) based on capabilities, costs and ease of integration from the list of the proposed systems that have been evaluated;
• Work with the team rendering advice to CIGZambia and Ministry of Energy on the most cost-effective means for procurement of the recommended systems, software tools or models to implement the IRP project in Zambia, and give a clear summary of the financial implications and licensing requirements;
• Support development of a methodology and plan to conduct capacity development for the proposed systems and tools to support the IRP;
• Implement and monitor the capacity development plans during the IRP development phase;
• Working with the consultants, develop data exchange formats to enable seamless data exchange between different workstreams. This is to ensure consistency of data exchange between different workstreams;
• Develop and maintain a data base for use by different workstreams (for example master files for demand, generation and network data, scenario data etc. and nomenclature for naming of files);
• Support the various workstreams in implementation of the selected IRP development system as the primary source of information and data.
The consultant will work closely with other members of the CIGZambia team, including experts in the different functional areas described above, and with the designated IRP development team from Ministry of Energy.
The consultant will also prepare progress reports on a monthly basis on project implementation and provide update reports on request in relation to the project activities as will be assigned to him by the IRP System Implementation Lead, the IRP Project Leader, the CIGZambia Project Preparation and Finance Component Lead, or the IRP Project Manager. He/she may be required to contribute to the IRP reports (providing summary documents of the methodologies, findings and activities).
The consultant should possess strong technical skills and in depth understanding in system planning in an energy / environmental / resources environment having developed a similar framework, preferably in a developing country. The consultant should be conversant with international methodologies for system specification and design, and experienced in the evaluation of complex software systems and modelling tools. The consultant will be expected to possess proven skills in systems selections, communication and leadership skills operating in an engineering consulting environment.
Project Responsibilities
The consultant shall ensure the proper and timely implementation of the project. The consultant shall report to CIGZambia any delay in the project implementation and propose solutions where possible to reduce the delay.
The consultant will use his/her experience as well as international and local knowledge in the sector to support the development of the framework and systems for the IRP. He/she will also recommend plans for capacity building and technology transfer of the proposed system to Ministry of Energy.
Resourcing and Reporting
This is a part-time role for the duration of the project, which will comprise approximately 3 days per week. The consultant will report to the IRP System Implementation Lead.

Job Skills: Not Specified

Key Knowledge, Experience and Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree with relevant experience, Master’s or PhD Degree in Relevant Subject (Systems Modelling, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering or Relevant field) with at least five (5) years-experience in power sector planning;
• Experience or having oversight in developing an integrated plan for a Utility or municipality that accounts for generation, transmission, distribution, financial, climate and social economic aspects (or similar in a resources environment);
• Knowledge of the energy planning / IRP development process and associated systems, tools and modelling software covering generation, transmission, distribution, demand side management, finance and social economic factors;
• Experience in systems analysis and design, system selection and systems integration for an integrated resource plan (IRP);
• Demonstrable skills in written and verbal communication and proven report writing skills to high professional standards;
• Must have strong analytical and problem-solving skills.

Job Education Requirements: Bachelor’s degree

Job Experience Requirements: Not Specified

Work Hours: 8

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Job application procedure
Please send your CV to admin@cigzambia.org.  For CV to be considered, subject line in email must be completed as follows: IRP System Implementation Assistant – Candidate Last Name, First Name

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