Renewables Penetration Study Expert – Capacity Building for ZESCO in Scaled Renewable Energy

Cities and Infrastructure for Growth Zambia

Position: Renewables Penetration Study Expert – Capacity Building for ZESCO in Scaled Renewable Energy

Location: Lusaka or Kafue Gorge Training Centre, Zambia

Start Date: 1 April, 2020

Contract Duration: 12 months part-time, including up to 50 days in Zambia and a further 100 days in home location.

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 Department for International Development (DFID).

The overall programme objectives are:

• increasing urban productivity
• improving inclusive access to urban economic infrastructure services
• increasing investment into urban economic infrastructure services
• enhancing national and regional integration between cities

About the Role

The consultant will bring expert knowledge to support and facilitate the System Operations and  Transmission Network Planning departments in ZESCO, as well as other stakeholders, including other departments of ZESCO and the Energy Regulation Board of Zambia (ERB) to review the renewable energy penetration studies (REPS) previously undertaken by others and to build capacity with a carefully selected group of ZESCO engineers (The REPS Team) to ensure that they have the understanding and capability to plan and undertake these types of studies themselves for a range of scenarios.

The initial objective of the required renewable energy penetration study would be to inform the drafting of the renewable energy grid code which will be led by another consultant with a dedicated working group (WG) but it will also form the basis of dispatch planning, long term network planning, renewable energy policy and network use of system charging work.

The consultant in this role will work alongside a team of other experts providing other capacity building and training to ZESCO in the field of grid scale renewables and the overall aim of the team is to ensure that the codes, standards, processes and procedures that apply to renewables are sufficient to enable them to plan and operate an efficient and safe system.

This element of the program will be highly technical in nature and will require a consultant with strong technical skills and experience in undertaking detailed modelling and studies using DigSilent Power Factory software. They need to have delivered similar support and penetration studies in other similar network settings, as well as proven project management, communication and leadership skills operating in an engineering consulting environment. It will be key that they can facilitate workshops, bringing a wide range of experience and capability together and to encourage learning and development and provide technical mentoring to an identified small group of engineers who will be undertaking the design and delivery of these renewable energy penetration studies.

Project Responsibilities

Document Review: The consultant will review the work that has been undertaken to date by others. It is understood that 3 studies have been undertaken by different consultancies and under different scenarios using slightly different scopes and methodologies. These will be made available, as will any other information on the existing Zambian network and generation capacities and capabilities. The consultant will use these as the basis for a gap analysis and to prepare for a kick-off workshop.

Kick-off Workshop: The consultant will prepare material for and run a kick-off workshop with the REPS team (a group of engineers from the ZESCO System Operations and Transmission Network Planning departments who have some prior experience in using DigSilent and that will be responsible for undertaking these types of studies in the future). The workshop will be used to formulate, with the REPS team, the criteria for determining a suitable penetration level, including the required objectives of the study. The objectives could be:

• to consider what capacity of intermittent renewables could connect now with no reinforcement or change to the existing infrastructure and systems, or
• to determine what the grid code needs to dictate about spinning reserve, ROCOF, infrequent and frequent infeed loss etc. or
• to undertake a Top Down review to determine what would be required to achieve a certain amount (i.e. 1GW) of intermittent renewable energy to connect by 2030, or
• to undertake a Bottom Up review to determine what capacity of intermittent renewables could connect without increasing the grid costs by more than $X

Following the workshop, the outcomes should be shared with a wider group of stakeholders in ZESCO and ERB to ensure that a wider group of individuals understand the process.

Workplan support and training course preparation: The consultant will set timescales and roles and responsibilities for the REPS team and supervise them in finalising the criteria for the studies.

At the same time, the consultant should be preparing case studies and examples for a second workshop which will include detailed DigSilent Power Factory training elements.

Study Methodology and Skills Workshop(s): The consultant will provide training and support to the REPS team to enable them to consider how they will undertake the required studies and where they would source the required data. This will involve providing DigSilent training on how to undertake particular elements of modelling and studies and may also involve additional analysis methods. The overall aim of the workshop(s) will be to prepare the REPS team to undertake the modelling and studies themselves over the following few weeks. This is a crucial element of the scope.

Following the workshop(s), the outcomes should be shared with a wider group of stakeholders in ZESCO and ERB to ensure that a wider group of individuals understand the process.

Continuing workplan support: The consultant will set timescales and roles and responsibilities for the REPS team and supervise them in finalising the methodology for the studies. They will also need to determine, at this stage, whether the Grid Code amendments being prepared by others to address the requirements for renewable generators will need to wait for the results of these studies or whether they can continue from draft form into published form.

Medium-term support: It is expected that once the criteria and methodology for the studies has been agreed that the consultant will support the REPS team whilst they undertake the studies themselves, providing input on any technical queries and modelling support that is required in preparation of the model and during the analysis and reporting stages.

Lessons Learnt Workshop: Following the modelling, analysis and reporting process, the consultant shall prepare and facilitate a workshop to report to the Grid Code Technical Committee and the Distribution Grid Code Review Panel and to disseminate lessons learnt and ensure that the REPS team and the wider ZESCO and ERB stakeholders are well prepared to undertake similar studies as the network in Zambia changes.

Resourcing and Reporting

For the periods of time between the workshops, the support to the REPS team will be provided in the form of formal meetings and also via email, video conferencing and screen-sharing with individuals or small groups. Time in Zambia has been allowed during this time.

The resourcing requirement will vary from 2 days / week during some support periods to full-time during the preparation of and delivery of the workshops.

The consultant would report to the Project Co-lead, Technical.

The consultant will work with others in the Scaled Renewable Energy project team to deliver this component of the programme and to support others in the delivery of other components as required. It is estimated that the full scope of this programme will be delivered over a period of 12 months starting in April 2020.

Key Knowledge, Experience and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Relevant Subject (Electrical Engineering);
• Expert knowledge and experience in the use of software tools used for transmission planning and modelling, in particular with DigSilent Powerfactory;
• Recent knowledge and extensive experience of performing Renewable Energy Penetration Studies for Renewable Energy, with particular reference to countries with a similar network and generation profile to Zambia;
• Experience in facilitating workshops, providing training and providing technical mentorship;
• Demonstrable skills in written and verbal communication and proven report writing skills to high professional standards.

Visa or Work Permit Requirements

This role will require more than 30 days in Zambia in a 12 month period, it will be necessary for the consultant to have permission to remain in Zambia. Therefore, as part of your application for this role please should provide information on if you already have the right to work in Zambia, or if a work permit would need to be procured on your behalf. (Work permits are necessary for any non- resident conducting more than 30 business days in Zambia).

Applications:

Please send your CV to [email protected]. For the CV to be considered, the subject line in email must be completed as follows: Renewable Energy Penetration Studies Expert – Candidate Last Name, First Name 

Deadline for Applications: Sunday 15 March 2020 @ Midnight