Advisor on Sustainable Energy Access (Interconnected Mini-Grid) at GIZ Nigeria

Job ID: 022

Background

• As a service provider in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development and international education work, we are dedicated to shaping a future worth living around the world. GIZ has over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of areas, including economic development and employment promotion, energy and the environment, and peace and security.
• The diverse expertise of our federal enterprise is in demand around the globe – from the German Government, European Union institutions, the United Nations, the private sector, and governments of other countries.
• We work with businesses, civil society actors and research institutions, fostering successful interaction between development policy and other policy fields and areas of activity. Our main commissioning party is the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
• The registered offices of GIZ are in Bonn and Eschborn. Our approximately 23,500 employees, almost 70 percent of whom are national personnel, work in a round 120 countries (July 2020) GIZ has worked in Nigeria since 1974.
• From 2004, GIZ has maintained a country office in the capital city Abuja. Currently 361 national and 66 international employees, 19 regional staff, 4 integrated specialists and 3 development workers are working in the country (June 2020).

The Project
Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP):

• The Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP) is co-funded by the European Union and the German Government and implemented jointly by the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
• It aims at enabling and fostering investments in a domestic market for Renewable Energy (RE) and Energy Efficiency (EE) and improving access to electricity in Nigeria. As part of the programme activities and in close collaboration with its public and private partners, the Component “Capacity Development” aims at standardizing skill acquisition of professionals, improve training delivery of partner institutions and ensure technical support to the operationalise the national certification of skills for the growth and advancement of clean energy in Nigeria.
• This includes activities with Federal Ministry of Power (FMP) & Federal Ministry of Works & Housing (FMWH). Partnerships have been established with the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), relevant Ministries, Departments & Agencies (MDA’s), Academia, Centres for Renewable Energy Research as well as the private sector.

Responsibilities

• As one of the unit’s advisors, under the supervision of the Head of Unit and in close collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Power and relevant Government MDAs, your job will be to support selected Discos in expansion of distributed renewable energies, further support selected private partners in the deployment of interconnected PV mini-grids thereby effectively providing access to reliable electricity services to 138,000 people in rural areas and providing access to improved institutional LPG-based cookstoves to 400 rural agro-processing and business cooperatives in rural areas.
• You will also be required to promote the Interconnected MiniGrid expansion and project pipeline in collaboration with the DisCos, Private Developers and Government partners.
• You may also be requested to support the local public sector in establishing an enabling framework (incl. data gathering and management as well as electrification planning) for private investment in the on-grid distributed renewable energy, offgrid renewable energy (mini-grid) and/or clean cooking sectors as well as support capacity building and training for multiple stakeholders.
• This may also entail providing advice to interested third-party private investors.

Tasks
Below is a non-exhaustive list of the tasks you will be expected to perform:

• Support the Head of Unit (HoU) – unit coordination and management, procurement, budgeting, high-level stakeholders’ engagement, planning, operations, and monitoring (incl. reporting) of the Unit’s activities.
  • Representing the Head of Unit and NESP at sectoral events, when and where required.
  • Support in monitoring and enforcing the unit’s alignment with organisational policies, procedures, and rules.
  • Managing and supervising the unit’s personnel, as assigned by the Head of Unit incl. support with onboarding and mentoring of new staff where applicable
  • Ensure smooth operations of all unit activities as delegated by HoU.
• Support in fostering a collaborative environment within and beyond the Unit, including knowledge sharing, cooperating, and implementing joint activities with other NESP Units (such as Enabling Environment and Energy Efficiency, and Electrification Planning and Data Management), and other GIZ programmes.
• Supporting the identification/ selection of partners, the establishment of collaborations with the latter, maintaining a regular correspondence with them and monitoring progress towards the achievement of common goals.
• Together with relevant Government MDAs, providing technical advice to NESP selected partners on:
  • Promoting the new decentralised electrification models – specifically Interconnected Mini-Grid (IMG) - together with the DisCos, private developers, financiers, and other identified actors, including managing the development of related pilot projects.
  • Developing and implementing policies, strategies and frameworks that attract investment in Renewable Energy (RE) especially with regards to decentralised and distributed energy solutions in rural, peri-urban, and urban areas.
  • Design parameters for RE structured procurement (or other RE support mechanism) and assess its technical feasibility
  • Facilitate coordination of technical interfaces between procurement, grid connection, transmission, and distribution
  • e. Provide technical inputs for macroeconomic regulatory impact assessment calculations and support development of a delivery mechanism and associated algorithms to appraise long term cost effectiveness as well as the “least cost to consumer” objective of RE generation capacity addition to the Nigerian power mix
  • Assist in preparation as well as in the execution of tender procedures.
  • Provide further advice on related technical renewable energy aspects if and where needed.
  • Provide further advice on transmission and distribution/retail activities if and where needed.
  • Supporting capacity building for partners leading to project scaling
  • Supporting Monitoring and Evaluation activities of on-going projects (such as solar mini grids) include management of the digital Monitoring Platform.
  • Support implementation and design of new workstreams e.g., Sustainable Mobility (Electric Vehicle), Productive Use of Energy (PUE), and Electric Cooking (e-Cooking).
  • Supporting other donor programmes e.g., WB-NEP, AfDB, NPSP, UEF, GEAPP, RMI etc., in understanding the concept of IMG and find possible collaboration.
• Managing operations (incl. administration and logistics) for the various activities of the Unit (incl. NESP staff, consultants and partners missions, events organization, procurement of events material).

Required qualifications, competencies and Experience
Qualifications:

• University Degree in the field of Mechanical / Industrial / Civil / Electrical Engineering, Law, Economics, Finance, Business and Administration and/or Environmental Sciences or any similar qualifications, preferably with a specialization on clean/renewable energy.

Professional Experience:

• At least 4 years of experience working for or supporting privately led rural energy access projects, interconnected (or under-grid) renewable projects, or their enabling framework in Nigeria, preferably for an international organization.
• Knowledge of the institutional set-up as well as the framework of the Nigerian energy sector on the Federal and State levels (incl. familiarity with Nigerian Energy Transition Plan - pathways and implementation strategies)
• Previous experience working with or collaborating with DisCos is an advantage.
• Advantage: Proven experience in creating financial access for electrification projects.
• Strong networking skills and ability to work in complex settings with Government, non-government, and private actors.

Desired Additional Qualifications, Competencies, and Experiences:

• Fluent written and oral knowledge of English. Knowledge of local languages would be an asset.
• Advanced knowledge on MS Office. Knowledge on renewable energy/power system design softwares like HOMER or GIS would be an asset.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly within Nigeria (including rural areas).