NATIONAL WATER AND ELECTRICITY COMPANY (NAWEC)

ASSESSMENT OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY, LOAD MANAGEMENT AND RENEWABLE ENERGY OPTIONS

Terms of Reference

Background

The Gambia is a fragile country that is in the process of a major political and economic transition following a 22-year long autocratic rule that left the country impoverished, highly indebted, and a in a very fragile state. The Government of The Gambia (GoTG) has taken important steps to lay the foundations for democracy and set the country on a new development path. Responding to the need for climate change mitigation and adaptation, GoTG has developed the Gambia National Adaptation Plan of Action (NAPA), which provides a policy framework to address the impact of climate change at national and local levels. This Plan prioritizes the energy and water sectors as country priorities.

The energy sector, particularly the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) has implemented a number of measures to increase generation capacity, improve supply and efficiency, increase electricity access, and reduce transmission and distribution losses. Thereby contributing to debt reduction. However, NAWEC faces technical, organizational, and financial challenges and remains financially unviable, with high electricity costs, continuing financial losses, and high debt.

Management of the water sector is somewhat fragmented. The Ministry of Fisheries and Water Resources (MFWR) is responsible for the overall management of water resources as well as for rural water supply and sanitation services, while NAWEC is the public utility responsible for provision of water supply and sanitation services. While the Gambia is endowed with ample water resources, the economic value of these resources is not fully exploited.

Urban water supply, which is under NAWEC’s responsibility, is in crisis. In urban areas, about 69 percent of the population has access to safely managed water, but the quality of services is poor due to frequent service outages, with some neighborhoods not receiving water for days, weeks or even months at a time. Preoccupied by emergency measures to contain the water cuts, NAWEC has not been able to extend services in urban areas at a time when urbanization has been growing at a rate of 4.5 percent a year, and many areas still lack access to water.

World Bank Support to The Gambia

In 2018, The World Bank initiated the Gambia Electricity Restoration and Modernization Project. The Project Development Objectives (PDOs) are to improve the operational performance of NAWEC and improve the capacity of NAWEC to dispatch variable renewable electricity. This project is intended to support the country’s first utility‐scale solar PV plant, upgrades to the T&D infrastructure needed to absorb variable energy and imports, and extension of the distribution backbone throughout the country. The World Bank is now preparing to provide additional financing (AF) to this project.

The proposed AF will allow the project to meet the PDOs and increase the Project’s developmental impact. The AF will address three issues: (i) a funding gap for Component 2 of the original Project; (ii) scale up investments in metering and energy efficiency; and (iii) address the funding gap for sector turnaround activities, which in the case of the water sector, represent a quick response to the current water crisis through targeted interventions. These actions would include reforms related to NAWEC’s financial and commercial performance, measures to improve NAWEC’s ability to reduce losses related to non-revenue water (NRW), actions to improve the efficiency of water pumping systems, storage and water treatment processes; and strategic studies for water, sanitation and energy and capacity building for NAWEC’s water staff.

A key element of the AF is a comprehensive energy audit of the water operations of NAWEC  in the Banjul urban area to identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency, implement cost-effective renewable energy resources, and reduce operating costs, consistent with global best practice, and to increase NAWEC’s capacity for delivering water and sanitation services. The AF will also identify options for developing a sustainable financing mechanism for investments in energy efficiency and NRW reduction in the water operations of NAWEC throughout the country.

The NAWEC System in the Banjul Urban Area

The following information on the NAWEC System in the Banjul area is provided in Annex A. It includes:

• Map of the system
• List of borehole pumps
• List of stand-alone boreholes
• Coordinates of all boreholes
• List of tanks

NAWEC has not assessed the energy efficiency of its water operations, but it is recognized that these operations are inefficient due to the age of its pumping inventory and other equipment, inadequate maintenance, and limited attention to efficiency improvement. Also, NAWEC loses an estimated 33 to 50 percent of the water it produces, either through physical losses in the distribution network or through commercial losses due to faulty meters, poor billing practices, and illegal connections. In addition, NAWEC does not have enough bulk water meters and thus cannot accurately measure water production and distribution through its network, hence creating the need for district metered areas (DMAs). NAWEC does not have a functioning geographical information system (GIS) to manage its assets; a hydraulic model to monitor water flow; and hydraulic zones that could help it deliver water in an organized and systematic way.

Improving Energy Efficiency and Reducing Operating Costs

The energy consumption of the water operations of NAWEC in the Banjul urban area is very high. These costs contribute to its financial losses, unreliable service, and weakening institutional autonomy. Promoting energy efficiency is a key objective of the World Bank’s Additional Financing of the Project.

It is believed that, since much of the equipment in the NAWEC System was installed many decades ago, it is likely to be inefficient. Also, since the system has probably undergone many changes over the years, the pumping system configurations are not likely to be optimized. The World Bank’s experience with water supply, distribution and treatment systems has demonstrated that large savings in energy consumption and costs, as well as many co-benefits including reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, are achievable with a formal approach for energy management. Energy and cost savings measure identified in prior World Bank projects include:

• Pumps and pumping systems operations: (a) replace inefficient pumps; (b) install variable frequency drives; (c) utilize gravity-fed systems instead of pumping; (d) optimize pumping system operation; (e) improve maintenance.
• Water loss management technologies: (a) leak reduction (b) pressure management.
• Wastewater treatment: (a) improve efficiency of anaerobic digestion and aeration equipment; (b) use efficient activated sludge process; (c) reduce wastewater with reuse and recycling; (d) generation and use of biogas from wastewater treatment processes.
• Load Management: (a) schedule pumping operations during off-peak electricity periods; (b) use capacitors for power factor correction; (c) utilize storage capacity of reservoirs to reduce peak loads on the electricity system
• New technologies: (a) implement supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software; (b) install smart pumps; (c) automated meter reading
• Renewable energy options: (a) small-scale hydropower; (b) rooftop solar PF; (c) solar pumps; (d) floating solar PV plants on reservoirs.

Objective

The overall objective of this assignment is to conduct a detailed energy and water audit of the NAWEC water supply, distribution and treatment system in the Banjul urban area to identify, assess and recommend opportunities for improving energy efficiency and load management and implementing renewable energy options.

Scope of Work

The Consultant shall apply its know-how and expertise in energy and water audits, using international best practice, to:

• document in detail the NAWEC water supply, distribution, and treatment system in the Banjul urban area;
• create a robust baseline of water and energy use based on a survey of actual operating conditions;
• establish detailed data on electricity and water-use patterns,
• Identify the major energy-intensive equipment and systems;
• identify and assess potential for optimization of electricity use patterns,
• create a list of specific energy efficiency and water savings measures,
• define the opportunities for cost savings and reduced power curtailment (blackouts or brownouts) through load management by shifting large pumping operations from peak to off-peak electricity use periods;
• Identify opportunities for utilization of renewable energy, solar PV especially;
• identify and assess potential for generating power in wastewater treatments plants, gravity lines, the raw water canals, solar collectors on the roofs of filtration plants and other buildings (or any other possibility), and
• identify the investment requirements and project paybacks for the opportunities for improved efficiency and cost savings.

The Consultant shall conduct the following tasks:

Task 1 – Project Inception and Preliminary Assessment

This Task shall focus on identification of data availability and a preliminary identification of the opportunities for energy efficiency improvement, load management, and renewable energy deployment.

The Consultant shall conduct the equivalent of a “walk-through” assessment of the NAWEC water operations in the Banjul urban area. It is anticipated that the Consultant shall conduct a one to two-week site visit to the headquarters and major parts of the system and shall identify the available data from existing sources including, but not limited to:

• layout of the system and all of its major components (reservoirs, pumping stations, pipelines, treatment facilities, etc.)
• main pumping stations
• pipelines – length, capacity, age, etc.
• reservoirs – capacity, flows
• identification of major energy using equipment – capacity, age, operating hours, etc.
• electricity consumption – total and for major pumping stations and other major energy consuming equipment
• peak loads – total and for major pumping stations and other equipment
• electricity tariffs (if internally billed to the water operations by the electricity operations) – peak and off-peak tariffs, time of use tariffs, energy charges per kWh, demand charges per kW, power factor fees, etc. as appropriate
• electricity bills (or payments/transfers from the water operations to electricity operations) – total and for major components of the system
• Operation and maintenance procedures and costs
• Potential sites for generating hydropower from water flows and for establishing solar PV power plants on rooftops and reservoirs
• Opportunities for using solar PV pumps.

Based on this information, the Consultant shall conduct a situation analysis that will identify:

• Additional data that may be needed to develop a detailed baseline
• Needs for equipment replacement
• Preliminary identification of energy efficiency opportunities
• Preliminary assessment of load management options
• Identification of possible opportunities for renewable energy
• Detailed definition of measurements to be undertaken and instruments to be used.

The consultant shall prepare an Inception Report describing all of the above findings. The Consultant shall define (with modifications and refinements as appropriate) the scope of work and task descriptions for the subsequent Tasks in more details than those originally presented in the Consultant’s proposal for this assignment.

Task 2: Identify and Assess Energy Efficiency Opportunities

The consultant shall carry out an energy efficiency audit that will include collection and analysis of technical and financial data on the NAWEC system, including bulk water supply, filtration plants, water trunk mains, distribution pipelines, and sewage treatment plants. The technical data collection will include field measurements as defined in the proposal and refined during the Inception Task. The Consultant shall develop a detailed baseline of historical energy consumption and peak loads, equipment inventory including technical characteristics of pumps, energy use (kWh) and peak load (kW) for each major facility, electrical, mechanical and process systems, physical losses in the transmission and distribution networks, electricity use and bills/transfers, and operation and maintenance costs. The purpose of the baseline will be to identify the most energy intensive equipment and processes, their specific energy consumption (kWh/m³) and contribution to total costs, and potential areas of energy and water savings.

The assignment will include:

• Data collection (document and data reviews, field measurements, review of operational and maintenance practices, and other onsite assessments), information analysis, pump inventory, identification and evaluation of energy saving options.
• Development of operational information on the pressure and discharge at major nodes of the water mains and distribution pipelines.
• Assessment of the power supply system of the water intake facilities, pumping stations, and water treatment facilities to identify and recommend measures on how to improve the reliability of the system operation and maintain optimal pressure at control points.
• Breakdown of energy consumption and costs based on a thorough assessment of the existing systems. This assessment is intended to inform the identification and prioritization of interventions (both physical and institutional) to improve energy efficiency and reduce costs of utility operations.

Based on the above, the Consultant shall establish an accurate and reliable method for measuring results of the implementation of the efficiency options.

Examples of energy efficiency (EE) measures shall include but not be limited to:

• Pumps and pumping systems operations
  • Replace inefficient pumps
  • Install variable frequency drives
  • Operate pumping systems more efficiently
  • Improve maintenance of pumping systems
  • Install capacitors
• Water loss management
  • Leak reduction
  • Pressure management[1]
• Installing light emitting diodes (LEDs)
• Wastewater treatment
  • Improve efficiency of anaerobic digestion

and aeration equipment

• Use efficient activated sludge process (if appropriate)
• Reduce wastewater with reuse and recycling

• New technologies such as
  • Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)
  • Smart pumps
  • Pumping systems optimization
  • Automated meter reading

For the identified options, the Consultant shall assess the implementation mechanisms, energy and cost savings, investment costs, operational and maintenance costs, and estimated payback periods. The Consultant shall also estimate the potential greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions resulting from the implementation of the EE options.

Task 3: Analysis of Load Management Opportunties

This task shall include assessment of electricity usage profile for the water operations, specifically from the point of view of assessing the demand or load on the electrical system incurred during the peak-demand timings coincident with high electricity demand on the NAWEC electricity distribution system.

The consultant shall identify the peak electricity demand periods of NAWEC and estimate the benefits to the NAWEC Electricity system shifting pumping operations to off-peak periods. The Consultant shall identify options for load shifting to off-peak periods including increasing reservoir capacity, and other actions to facilitate the shifting of the water pumping timings. The consultant shall suggest demand management protocols to promote a permanent load shift through simple heuristics/rules for management of pumping hours, optimized use of holding capacities, etc.

In cooperation with NAWEC, The consultant shall also estimate the co-benefits to the NAWEC electric power system due to the reduction of the electricity peak loads, such as improved electrical systems efficiency, reduced power shortfalls and load curtailment/blackouts, reduced needs for new generation capacity and related investments, and reduced operational costs due to load shifting from peak to off-peak periods.

Task 4: Assessment of Potential for Renewable Energy

The consultant shall assess options for renewable energy generation in the water operations of NAWEC. These options shall include, but not be limited to:

• Solar photovoltaic (PV) generation – Installation of solar collectors on rooftops at water supply and treatment facilities or other water-related properties, including floating solar PV plants on reservoirs, to produce electricity and reduce electricity needed from the NAWEC electrical system.
• Solar PV applications for water pumping – Installation of solar pumps as replacements for existing electric pumps.
• Generation of electricity from small hydropower – To the extent that NAWEC is discharging water to a lower level, small hydro turbines could be used to generate electricity.
• Generation of biogas in wastewater treatment facilities for power generation or other uses.
• Other renewable energy options, as applicable.

For each option, the consultant shall define the technical options, feasibility of implementation, electricity generation potential, cost savings, other benefits and co-benefits (including GHG reduction), and costs of construction, operation and maintenance.

Task 5: Investment Needs and Financing Options

The consultant shall develop and document the methodology and approach for conducting pre-feasibility analysis to translate key findings into investment needs, benefit-cost assessment, and implementation plans – considering both institutional and infrastructure/equipment requirements to improve efficiency of water operations, implement load management/demand response options, and utilize renewable energy where appropriate. The methodology shall include, as appropriate, development of energy and water balance models, and hydraulic modeling of the water supply system with different scenarios of water consumption and operation of pumping stations. It will also include identification of investment needs for key infrastructure and equipment for improved efficiency (e.g., leakage and pressure control, pump replacements, and other modifications) as well as renewable generation technologies. The Consultant shall prepare a pre-feasibility report for the measures identified in Tasks 1 – 3.

The consultant shall review and summarize international experience with respect to the options for implementation and financing the required investments. One option that should be explored is the engagement of energy service providers (ESPs), such as energy service companies (ESCOs), to undertake some or all of the implementation activities using a performance based contracting approach. An ESCO can provide services spanning the entire energy services value chain, including auditing, design and engineering, equipment procurement, installation and commissioning, financing, O&M, and facility management. The Consultant shall assess the existing market in The Gambia for provision of energy services and define whether and how NAWEC can work with local or international ESCOs to: (i) Mobilize private sector innovation, entrepreneurship, and financing; (ii) Obtain access to the latest energy efficient products, technologies, and equipment; (iii) achieve high-quality installation and O&M; (iv) obtain performance guarantees, thereby reducing the project risks.

The Consultant shall document typical business models used by ESCOs, such as guaranteed savings, shared savings, outsourced energy management, etc. The Consultant shall provide an overview of the current status of the energy services market in The Gambia and any expected activities by the Government of Gambia to facilitate and promote ESCOs.

Task 6 – Dissemination and Training

The Consultant shall conduct the study in close cooperation with NAWEC, and its conclusions will then be presented and discussed with NAWEC staff and management during a dissemination workshop. The main purposes of this workshop will be to (i) present the results; (ii) validate the information and assumptions; (iii) obtain additional feedback from a wider cross-section of NAWEC staff, including from its electricity operations; and (iv) raise awareness of the options and benefits; and (v) design and initiate a capacity building process to be taken up and intensified by the planned World Bank lending project.

The Consultant shall develop a training program that would include the following:

• Training materials for water utility management and government officials on the benefits of energy management and energy efficiency improvement
• Training of water utility engineers on options for energy efficiency and load management and related financing and implementation issues
• Training of operating personnel on pumping technologies, energy auditing, and instrumentation and metering)Training of equipment and service providers who may be providing services to the water utility on detailed energy audits, assessment of the financial aspects of EE measures, implementation and commissioning, and measurement and verification (M&V)

Task 7 – recommendations for Scaling Up

The Consultant shall collaborate with NAWEC to develop a scaling up plan for extending the results of this study of the urban Banjul area to the other urban and rural areas of Gambia.

Reporting

The consultant shall provide the following reports:

• Inception report
• Energy Audit report
• Load Management Report
• Renewable Energy Options report
• Pre-Feasibility report
• Financing Options Report including assessment of potential for performance contracting using ESCOs or other financing mechanisms
• Training materials
• Draft Final Report
• Final Report

SPECIAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND SELECTION CRITERIA

Duration of Assignment

The estimated period of performance is eight (8) months. The contract is expected to commence on _______ and conclude on _______.

Payment Schedule

The Consultant is responsible for all project activities and logistics including, but not limited to, transport, lodging, supplies, translation/interpretation, telephones, computers, and so forth.

The assignment will be remunerated on a lump sum basis as per the norms and procedures of the World Bank. Payment will be linked to the following deliverables (specified in the Scope of Work), after being accepted by the World Bank to its satisfaction:

• Contract Signing: 10% of contract value
• Inception Report: 10% of contract value
• Draft Reports on Energy Audit, Load Management and Renewable Energy – 30% of contract value
• Pre-Feasibility Report – 10% of contract value
• Financing Options Report – 10% of contract value
• Draft Final Report – 15% of contract value
• Final Report – 15% of contract value

Required Firm Qualifications and Experience

The Consultant must demonstrate experience in:

• Conducting investment-grade energy audits for water supply, distribution and sanitation systems
• Flow measurements for bulk water supply and distribution networks and creation of water and energy balance
• Knowledge and understanding of water treatment facilities and related technology options
• Understanding of electricity distribution systems
• Experience in carrying out prefeasibility of engineering and costing with raw and/or treated water, assessment of renewable energy options.
• Experience in the region is an advantage.

ANNEX A

INFORMATION ON THE NAWEC SYSTEM

The following files provide information on the NAWEC System:

(Note – we need to place the map and the four excel files on a web site that can be accessed by the respondents to the RFP.)

• Map of the system
• List of borehole pumps
• List of stand-alone boreholes
• Coordinates of all boreholes
• List of tanks

[1]  Pressure management technologies such as Demand Driven Distribution (or equivalent) can considerably reduce surplus water pressure in pipes and lower the risk of water hammer, which is a primary cause of new holes. This multi-pump solution operates at proportional pressure and this ensures flow is supplied precisely as needed and at the pressure required.

Click on the link below for additional information.

REOI for Energy and Water Audit Final