E T Consultant – Energy

Description

Do you want to build a career that is truly worthwhile? The World Bank Group is one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries; a unique global partnership of five institutions dedicated to ending extreme poverty and promoting shared prosperity. With 189 member countries and more than 120 offices worldwide, we work with public and private sector partners, investing in groundbreaking projects and using data, research, and technology to develop solutions to the most urgent global challenges. For more information, visit www.worldbank.org.

The Infrastructure Practice Group

Access to basic infrastructure services is critical for creating economic opportunities for the poor. The Infrastructure Practice Group is charged with developing sustainable solutions to help close infrastructure gaps in developing and emerging economies.

The World Bank Group helps developing countries build smart infrastructure that supports inclusive and sustainable growth, expands markets, creates job opportunities, promotes competition, and contributes to a cleaner future. We help countries address their unique infrastructure needs by working with the public and private sectors. Infrastructure improves lives by connecting people to opportunity. For more information: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/infrastructure

Unit Overview

The Infrastructure Energy Global Programs[SMIC1]  (IEEES) units – IEES1 and IEES2 – manage donor-funded global energy programs such as the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and energy climate finance programs. The unit also provides general guidance to Energy and Extractive Global Practice (EEX GP) in the preparation and management of trust funds, including acting as focal point for the GP’s strategic fundraising efforts. Considered an integral part of the EEX GP, ESMAP is a global knowledge and technical assistance TF program, administered by the World Bank. It provides analytical and advisory services to low- and middle-income countries to increase their know-how and institutional capacity to achieve environmentally sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction and economic growth. ESMAP is currently developing its new Business Plan FY25-FY31 under which Energy Transition is one of the three Pillars – with Access and Foundation.

Under its on-going US$ 600 million Business Plan FY21-24, ESMAP has launched the Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) with multiple Partners focused on deploying renewable energy (RE) in a sustainable and bankable manner. SRMI aims at supporting governments to develop and implement sustainable RE programs to attract the private sector in optimized conditions while reducing reliance on public finances (limited to critical public investments). RE deployment at the necessary scale is hindered by critical challenges such as grid integration technical constraints, off-taker risk, and weak procurement and planning capacity. These barriers prevent countries from attracting the private investments needed for accelerating its deployment (see the new SRMI position Paper on “how to unlock pipelines of bankable RE projects in EMDC: http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099120623171525006/P1742020cf52b60e6096b80854984124388).

SRMI was developed under the leadership of the World Bank in partnership with AFD, IRENA, ADB, AfDB, GIZ, EBRD, SEforAll and ISA. SRMI combines (a) technical assistance to support countries (i) develop evidence-based RE targets based on sound planning, (ii) design and implement a sustainable RE program and (iii) have robust procurement processes; (b) public sector investments for critical investments such as (i) grid upgrades and battery storage for VRE integration, and (ii) solar/wind park public infrastructures (if any); and (c) risk mitigation instruments to propose tailored risk mitigation instruments to private investors to cover the residual risks.

ESMAP-SRMI is organized around five pillars:

1.Fundraising to support World Bank regional teams to access climate financing and bilateral donors’ financing, in particular Green Climate Fund (GCF) and Clean Technology Fund (CTF) financing. The team is structuring innovative risk mitigation instruments with donor/climate financing in partnership with MIGA and the World Bank guarantees team;
2.Operational Support with development of tools to be used by regional World Bank teams, such as knowledge products and financial modeling;
3.Implementation/Operationalization with the development of six working groups on (i) Variable RE (VRE) integration/planning, (ii) risk mitigation instruments for grid-connected RE, (iii) local currency debt development, (iv) Small Islands Development States (SIDS), (v) socio-economic development/gender, and (vi) geothermal. The SRMI team provides hands-on support to the World Bank regional teams, supporting over 20 teams in developing their auction framework;
4. Partnership engagement with the 8 Partners; and
5. Capacity Building for key public stakeholders in client countries with a first pilot in collaboration with GIZ in Sub-Saharan Africa for a cohort of 50 government officials.

Duties and Accountabilities:

The IEES1 unit seeks an ETC under a 2 year Extended Term Consultant (ETC) contract (that can be extended to 3) who will be responsible for providing project management, technical and analytical support to ESMAP Energy Transition Pillar, with a specific focus on the SRMI work with World Bank regional teams for risk mitigation structuring, tender development and risk allocation discussions. The senior specialist will be directly working with the SRMI team based in Paris – two staff leading the SRMI window, and regional experts based in DC and in the field.

As a member of the team, you will become a key representative of ESMAP and SRMI and will have an important level of responsibility and autonomy in advancing SRMI’s objectives around its five pillars (described above). You will report to the Practice Manager of IEES1, performing the following duties:

Lead support to countries where tenders are to be launched in the next 2 years
• Lead discussions with teams and clients on tendering processes and procurement scheme
• Lead structuring of credit enhancement mechanisms for renewable energy projects and in particular solar, onshore wind and battery storage
• Review transaction advisors work and lead with the Regional World Bank team their technical and legal work
Pipeline development
• For countries where the SRMI support is recent, support and lead discussions with the World Bank teams and client to advise on the potential options in terms of RE deployment, public vs private, procurement scheme for the project and structuring of the potential deal
• Co-lead the development of the Financial Innovation Window, in particular on the structure of the new instruments

Support with internal and external stakeholder outreach
• Assist in fundraising efforts with donors
• Assist in coordination and outreach to the SRMI partners
• Support preparation of SRMI event briefs and talking points

Selection Criteria

• Advanced degree (master’s) is required in a relevant field (e.g., Law, International Business, Public Policy, engineering, or related field).
• At least 8 years of experience of relevant experience in renewable energy is required, an experience with RE tenders and deals is necessary and having done so in developing countries is a plus.
Experience with deal structuring for privately-financed renewable energy projects and business development.
• Experience at an IPP or an EPC under business development role a plus.
• Experience with challenges, risks and bottlenecks faced by the private sector to deploy low-carbon projects.
• Active listening skills, excellent interpersonal skills, able to influence the audience and build positive relationships with clients, different partners and colleagues across units and departmental boundaries in a multi-cultural environment with disperse teams located in different countries.
• Experience working with large global teams, producing high-quality results and outputs with minimal supervision.
• Ability to work independently, taking initiative, and flexibility in quickly adjusting to changing work program requirements.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including an ability to communicate complex issues in simple terms and to engage in evidence-based dialogue with clients.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English. Knowledge of other languages is highly valued (Portuguese, French, Russian, and Spanish in particular).

World Bank Group Core Competencies

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