Position: Senior Transmission Financing Specialist
Contract Type: Independent Consultant Agreement
Recruitment Type: International ICA and Southern African residents
Project: Southern Africa Energy Program (SAEP)
Activity: Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility (RTIFF) Phase 2
Project Location: Southern Africa (SADC)
Estimated Delivery Window: From March 2022 to September 2022
Estimated Level of Effort: 3 days a week (Approximately 85 days total)
Opportunity Closing Date: 23 February 2022
Deloitte Consulting Overseas Projects LLC seeks individuals who have a passion for making a difference in the lives of people in the Southern African region and demonstrate leadership, versatility and integrity in their work. We are seeking exceptional International Consultants and Southern African residential candidates for the USAID Southern Africa Energy Program (SAEP), a Power Africa initiative.
SAEP works to advance energy policy and regulatory reform, and accelerate investment to increase power generation and access to electricity throughout the region. According to World Bank data, less than 25% of the non-South African population living in the Southern African region have access to electric power. The limited reliable power affects the competitiveness of Southern African industry, agriculture, and the economic opportunity and health conditions for rural populations, women, and youth. Through strengthening the enabling environment and facilitating public and private transactions, SAEP leverages the momentum of private investment to help focus SAEP’s resources in ways that best support the reform of national and regional energy ecosystems. At the same time, SAEP produces the tangible results needed to create a sustainable cycle of additional reforms, increased investment and continued political will.
The objective of USAID’s Southern Africa Energy Program (SAEP) is to increase electricity availability and access in Southern Africa. This is to be done by facilitating transactions and strengthening the enabling environment for public and private sector investment in the power sector. SAEP will address five (5) key constraints to such investment: i) ineffective regulation, planning and procurement for energy; ii) low commercial viability of utilities; iii) limited regional harmonization and cross border electricity trade; iv) lack of demonstrated and scaled clean and renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and practices, and v) weak institutional and human resource capacity for energy sector management.
Position Description, Objectives and Project Overview:
Deloitte Consulting LLP seeks a short-term Senior Transmission Financing Specialist to support Outcome 3 of the USAID Southern Africa Energy Program (SAEP): improved regional harmonization and cross border electricity trade. Specifically, SAEP is working to improve planning, operational and trading capabilities of market participants and SAEP countries working within SAPP (Southern African Power Pool). This will improve the operations and increase the transmission capacity, reliability and redundancy of the SAPP interconnected transmission system. At the same time, it will optimize the Southern African power market and enhance the commercial viability of major regional infrastructure projects.
The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) is experiencing serious transmission constraints especially through its central corridor. Additionally, the interconnected SAPP transmission system is not N-1 compliant, is not reliable and does not have redundancy; and as a result, gravely constrains the exchange of power between SAPP members, impacting and constraining both the regional short-term/spot and longer-term/bilateral markets. SAPP has identified a number of regional transmission projects necessary to alleviate transmission congestion, improve accessibility to the SAPP network, create new transmission corridors, and improve overall system reliability.
Financing these projects, either on and off-balance sheet of the countries and/or utilities has been a challenge as most SAPP utilities are not in a financial position to do so due to various reasons (including weak balance sheets and non-cost recovery tariffs). In addition, the identified transmission projects may not necessarily be specific required by the respective countries or utilities but are needed mainly for regional imperatives as opposed to national requirements.
In its three-year strategic plan (2017-2019), SAPP agreed to explore the possibility of establishing a funding mechanism/guarantee facility to assist in the implementation of regional transmission projects in the SADC region. The World Bank, through the Program for Advancing Regional/Transformational Energy Projects (SAPP AREP Program) is financing the further development of this proposal from its current concept stage into an eventual establishment of the SAPP Transmission Infrastructure Funding Mechanism/Facility. Under this assignment, SAEP is the technical advisors to SAPP, reporting directly to the SAPP Executive Management, as the RTIFF is developed.
Roles and Responsibilities:
The Senior Transmission Financing Specialist will take full responsibility on behalf of SAEP for transmission finance advisory inputs under the Project, supported by a team of other technical experts (covering engineering, finance, and procurement). Under the general supervision and guidance of SAEP Outcome 3 Lead, the main duties, and responsibilities of the Senior Transmission Financing Specialist, but not limited to:
Provide technical assistance in relation to transmission financing, which will include providing technical reviews to all documentations developed by the SAPP RTIFF team (SAPP, Members and Consultant) and the RTIFF financial model;
Assist with providing advisory notes and guidance to SAPP in terms of the direction of the assignment, to ensure that the assignment objectives and goals are still being followed;
Attend all RTIFF Stakeholder meetings as part of the SAEP technical advisory team, as observers. This will include the Biweekly assignment progress meetings;
Provide reporting to the Outcome 3 Lead and Deputy based on all tasks performed under this scope of services; and
Provide discrete analysis as required to meet the RTIFF implementation obligations. This will include providing analysis and conducting detailed studies to help inform SAPP on specific issues needed, subject to reaching a mutually agreeable solution on a case-by-case basis for timing and level of effort.
Minimum Skills, Educational Qualifications and Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering specializing in Heavy Current. A Master’s degree will be an added advantage, specifically one that focuses on transmission project management and project financing for higher voltage transmission projects;
Minimum of 10 years’ experience in power transmission projects, which will include primary plant design through construction with a specific focus on financing.
Minimum 5 years’ experience in projects financed by the multilateral institutions, especially through the African Development Bank (AfDB) and World Bank;
In depth knowledge and expertise of AfDB’s and World Bank’s procurement rules, guidelines, and overall familiarity with their general procurement practice preferred;
In depth knowledge of the Transmission Line project life cycle from Inception to Financial Close (FC) with specific experience in the SADC region;
Well-versed in the African Power Sector with specific experience in the countries of Southern Africa;
High proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Excel, Project, PowerPoint, Word);
Fully proficiency in English with excellent writing and oral communication skills; strong research skills, teamwork, and interpersonal skills;
Demonstrated ability to collaborate with others, driving results across multiple work streams;
Strong individual initiative, including the ability to take ownership of work and work products, and to motivate others to produce strong work product and solve problems; and
Prior experience on a donor-funded energy sector project delivery. USAID-funded project preferred
NOTE: No relocation cost will be covered by Deloitte Consulting Overseas Projects LLC or the USAID Southern Africa Energy Program.
Application Instructions:
Please send a cover letter and a CV (PDF or word format) that includes contact information and three references to [email protected] by COB 23 February 2022. Please include the title of the position you are applying for in the subject line of the email. No telephone inquiries. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted. SAEP will conduct interviews with shortlisted candidates either over the phone or in person. SAEP may also ask for writing samples or have the candidates write a sample in person for us to verify your writing capabilities.
Deloitte Consulting Overseas Projects LLC is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in its selection and employment practices. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, or protected veteran status, genetic information, age, membership in an employee organization, or other non-merit factors.