Institutionalization of the European Energy Award in Romania: Call for the Romanian eea organization (ROEEA)

Transcription

1 1 Institutionalization of the European Energy Award in Romania: Call for the Romanian eea organization (ROEEA) Terms of References and Evaluation Scheme Author: International Office European Energy Award GmbH (IOeea) Support: Reto Dettli, econcept AG Zurich, 04 May 2015

2 2 Content Terms of References... 3 Introduction... 3 Background regarding the European Energy Award... 3 Background regarding the Swiss - Romanian Cooperation Programme... 4 Objectives of the eea institutionalization... 4 Process of Implementation and Support by Swiss institution... 4 Tasks of the ROEEA... 5 International tasks... 5 National tasks... 5 Selection and Evaluation Criteria... 8 Selection Process... 8 Evaluation Scheme... 8 Financial Conditions Timeline of Application Timeline C:\Users\Cosmin Barbulescu\Desktop\PT VALI BACIU\ENGLEZA\Terms of References and Evaluation Scheme.doc

3 3 Terms of References Introduction Background regarding the European Energy Award The European Energy Award (eea) is a quality management and certification system for municipalities committed to sustainable municipal energy, climate and transport policies. From spatial planning to energy supply, from mobility to communication and cooperation the eea comprises all proven energy and climate protection measures municipalities can take. Thus, the eea: Implements successfully municipal energy and climate protection activities. Monitors and communicates successes of the communal energy and climate protection policy There are 8 participating countries in the European Energy Award system and members of the Forum European Energy Award: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco and Switzerland and 4 pilot countries (Romania, Morocco, Hungary and Ukraine). The eea is organised on three different levels: International level, national level, municipal level. eea advisors support the municipalities and eea auditors assess the municipality s performance. International level (Forum European Energy Award) The Forum European Energy Award brings together all national eea organisations and various eea Gold municipalities as members. The Forum offers a platform for the international exchange of ideas and for quality assurance and further development of the tool. National level (National/regional eea organisations) The national eea organisations sponsor the eea process at the national level. They support participating municipalities by organising meetings for exchanging ideas and providing advisor training, tools etc. The organisational structures of national eea organisations vary between countries. Municipal level (Municipalities, cities, regions) Municipalities, cities and regional associations of municipalities (agglomerations, districts etc.) are the key players of the eea. Municipalities are represented by their Energy Teams, which are responsible for implementing the eea process and energy and climate policy activities. European Energy Award advisors The eea advisors provide technical and organisational support to municipalities throughout the eea process. These advisors are specially qualified energy consultants accredited by national eea organisations. They are required to pursue ongoing professional development in the form of eea training events and exchanges of experiences. European Energy Award auditors The eea auditors carry out external audits of municipalities together with eea advisors. Where external audits are intended for certification under the European Energy Award Gold, they are conducted by two international auditors.

4 4 Background regarding the Swiss - Romanian Cooperation Programme In the Framework Agreement (FA) between the governments of Switzerland and Romania, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO ) has agreed to contribute up to CHF 37 million for (up to 10) projects which enhance the sustainable energy management in (up to 4) selected Romanian cities. As a guideline for the selection among interested cities and the identification of suitable projects, the Swiss concept of Energy Cities, equivalent to the "European Energy Award (eea)" was used. Four cities (Arad, Brasov, Suceava, Cluj-Napoca) made the first steps toward the "European Energy Award" and analyzed their actual state of energy and climate change policies according to the requirements of the eea certification system and defined relevant projects to be implemented within this process. The evaluation activities have been performed by accredited international eea advisors together with Romanian partners, so the know-how of the consulting services to municipalities in the context of the eea could be transferred to the local experts. The experiences with the implementation of the eea in the four selected pilot cities will be useful for the institutionalization of the European Energy Award (eea) in Romania. In order to accelerate the institutionalization of the eea in Romania under Focus Area 4 of the Framework Agreement between Romania and Switzerland, Switzerland (SECO) will support the institutionalization of the eea in Romania with a contribution of up to CHF 350'000 (Institutional partnership). Objectives of the eea institutionalization The objectives of the eea institutionalization can be described as follows: - Replicate experiences of the 4 pilot cities in managing their energy and climate change policies, using the eea instruments, to other interested Romanian cities. - Widely support the implementation of SEAPs and the Covenant of Mayors 1 in Romanian municipalities with a complete and accepted instrument (i.e. the "European Energy Award" eea). - Give national ownership to the eea activities by involving national/regional institutions to create the synergies with the national specificities, including the national legal framework in the field. - Networking among active municipalities, find nationwide synergies in implementing activities - Promote Romanian cities as front-runners for sustainable development (which may lead to additional support by other programs and initiatives, like e.g. Structural fund, etc.) - Facilitate international exchange of experience with European Cities with an active energy policy. - Enabling partnerships on urbanization and energy issues between Swiss and Romanian energy cities. - Capacity building for Romanian consultants and city administrations in terms of sustainable development in energy related issues. Process of Implementation and Support by Swiss institution The institutionalization of eea in Romania will be implemented in a three step approach: 1. Administrative institutionalization of the Romanian eea organization (ROEEA) 2. Pilot operational running of the eea in Romania 3. Operational running of the eea in Romania, in the long run. Step one and two will be financed in the period 2015 to 2017 by the Swiss contribution (maximum CHF) under the rules of the Framework Agreement between Romania and Switzerland. The 1 Sustainable Energy Action Plan of the EU program "Covenant of Mayors"

5 5 operational running of eea in Romania in the long term should be financed by the activities of the participating municipalities and the developed services. During the first three years ( ) the ROEEA will receive support from the Swiss Association of Energy Cities or another Swiss institution to be selected by the International Office European Energy Award IOeea in Zurich which is experienced in implementing and operating the eea programme in a new country. The nature of this support is described in more detail in the license agreement between IOeea and ROEEA. The task of the Swiss institution typically includes (to be defined individually): - coaching for the constitution of organisation structure for the national eea process (tasks of eea offices, trustees, etc.) - quality assurance of the eea process, in particular the authorization of country specific adaptations of the process and instruments, especially the assessment guidance (the Licensor provides a template for the assessment guidance) - attendance during the implementation of the eea process in 1-3 municipalities - attendance during the auditing and certification with the eea in 1-3 municipalities - participation in training sessions for advisors and auditors Tasks of the ROEEA The European Energy Award (eea) activities - to be performed by the ROEEA - are listed in the following. To fulfil these tasks, ROEEA is requested to provide at least two full time energy experts which will be formed as eea specialists and auditors. These experts should be knowledgeable, among others, in energy efficiency (EE) and renewable energy (RE). At least one should already be an employee of the organization and the CV has to be submitted in the application. International tasks The international tasks are: - Participation in the European Energy Award community (calibration days, general assembly, exchange of experiences, etc.) - Reporting to IOeea (annual status report: activities, number and benchmark of participating Romanian municipalities) - Annual payment of license and membership fees to IOeea (Annex 1). National tasks To manage all eea activities in Romania and to ensure quality within the eea programme an independent certification body must be installed. An explicit distinction between consulting and awarding institutions is crucial (as shown in Figure 1).

6 6 Figure 1 General structure of a national eea programme. An explicit distinction between consulting and awarding institution is crucial. Consulting level - Translation of the relevant eea instruments into Romanian (eea management tool) - Produce and/or adapt the eea instruments (particularly assessment guidance; CO2 balance tools) to country specific framework conditions, e.g.: legal and administrative framework conditions, structure of energy supply, specific energy mix - The national eea organization follows closely the activities of its consultants. - Defining the role, competences and qualification of consultants - Accrediting private consultants, based on defined procedures, for the consulting work in municipalities - Organizing training- and exchange of experience programs for the consultants - Ensuring the quality of the consulting services provided by private companies by training and seminars for exchange of experiences, coaching, etc. - Organizing exchange of experience events for municipalities - Providing information to municipalities, consultants, auditors and other important eea stakeholders (newsletter, website, etc.) - Consultancy services to the management of the Sustainable Energy Action Fund (SEAF) Awarding level Establishing and operating an independent certification system to award municipalities with the European Energy Award. - Defining the role, competences and qualification of auditors as well as the certification process itself

7 7 - Accrediting independent auditors, based on defined procedures, for audits in municipalities. - Coaching and organizing calibration days for auditors - Providing all necessary instruments and documents for the certification process - Establishing an independent awarding institution which further verifies the audit results ( label commission ). It should be composed of all relevant Romanian stakeholders for the purpose of raising public awareness for the eea as well as for the efforts of the awarded municipalities and to lend additional credence to the eea system in public perception. The composition of the label commission needs to be defined individually in each country. - eea Audit: by accredited eea auditors including certification audit, re-certification audit and intermediary audit 2, according to the licence agreement (section 6.5 on page of Annex 2). Implementation tasks - Business plan: The national/regional eea organisation takes care of a long-term financing (e.g. business plan) and defines appropriate membership fees for municipalities in order to establish a self-sustaining system. - Political backing: the national/regional eea organisation will seek the backing of public authorities who define energy related policies at national or regional level. - Acquisition: Motivation of municipalities to participate in the eea programme through acquisition activities, e.g. presentations and meetings in municipalities, discussions on the phone, participation in relevant events. - Administration: Handling of certification dossiers, billing (e.g. collecting membership fees from the member cities) and accounting. - Coordination: Supporting the Romanian authorities in implementing the eea related activities, including the Intermediate Body for the Focus Area 4 of the Framework Agreement (Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration) in implementing the eea related activities enclosed within the Sustainable Energy Action Fund (eea mainstreaming objective). Other tasks related to eea (not to be performed by ROEEA) eea consultancy services will be performed by the accredited eea consultants: - Presentation of the eea in communities, with support from ROEEA - Initial energy review, target setting (energy and carbon emission) and development of an action plan - Annual success control in municipalities (status of implementation of action plan, further inputs) - Preparation and organization of the (re-)certification audit - Preparation of the certification dossier - Consulting services for the implementation of defined measures eea consultancy services are typically paid by the municipalities. 2 In order to better motivate and reward also the cities which are still quite distant from attaining the required 50% achievement level for an eea certification, intermediate levels could be introduced on a national scale in Romania. Austria has for instance 5 overall levels corresponding to 25%, 37.5%, 50% (eea), 62.5% and 75% (eea gold) achievement of possible measures.

8 8 Selection and Evaluation Criteria The selection process is opened to any non-profit oriented entity (e.g. NGO's, Associations, public entities) that is willing and able to implement the eea concept in Romania and that fulfills a series of condition that are revealed by the selection criteria. Selection Process The selection process encloses 2 stages: First stage Within the first stage, the interested entities submit their candidature files to the General Directorate Public Administration within Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, which is the Intermediate Body (IB) for Focus Area 4 of the Framework Agreement. The IB will perform a material (administrative) assessment of the submitted files. More precisely, the IB will perform an administrative check, verifying the completeness of the submitted documentation. At this stage, the IB may ask the applicants further documents/information in order to complete the submitted files. After this step, the IB will submit to the Swiss Party (Forum eea) those files that are compliant. General Conditions for application files: 1. The application and all correspondence must be written in English. 2. Attached documents (e.g. legal documents) that aim to corroborate the application document s content must be written in English as well (unofficial translation documents is accepted). 3. The applications must be submitted with the "Template for Application" (Annex 3) a)electronical (pdf) at dpfbl@a.mdrap.ro and at vali.baciu@a.mdrap.ro. b) documents with original signature to Apolodor street, number 17, Latura Nord,District 5 ; Bucharest 4. The maximum of pages noted in the template may not be exceeded. 5. All the information will be provided in writing. No information given by telephone can be considered for evaluation purposes. Second stage Within the second stage, the Swiss Party (Forum eea) will apply the evaluation scheme that is presented below in order to select the applicant that will become the ROEEA. The two applicants with highest scores will be invited to a personal meeting with IOeea in Bucharest which will result in the selection of the ROEEA. The results of the evaluation process will be presented to NCU and SCO, which have a nonobjection right on this process. After acceptance by NCU and SCO, the IB will inform the candidates about the selection process results and the necessary follow-up information. Evaluation Scheme The evaluation scheme is structured in two tables. Table 1 shows the selection criteria which need to be fulfilled in order to proceed to the second part of the selection process. In table 2 all relevant evaluation

9 9 criteria are shown. All applying institutions will be evaluated according to their degree of fulfillment in these criteria. The evaluation process will result in a total score of points. The ROEEA institution will be selected according to the process described above under subchapter Second stage (page 8). Selection Criteria Description Evaluation Know-how Resources Application Languages Human Resources Re- Financial sources Solid English skills. At least the foreseen contact person for the International Office European Energy Award within the organization has solid English skills (speaking, reading, understanding and writing). Sufficient human resources for performing the necessary work in establishing the eea in Romania The organisation can provide sufficient human resources to establish and operate the eea system in Romania. The application should at least include the CV's of the overall program manager and one technical expert. Financial stability of organisation The organization can prove its financial stability through financial balance, annual turnover and profit. Quality and completeness of application dossier The organization s application dossier meets high quality standards, includes all necessary documents and is submitted in time. Quality and Completeness of Application Sufficient: Sufficient: Sufficient: Sufficient: Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Yes/No Independence Independence Institution of Legal form of the organization and conformity with the targets of eea The organization is not a private, profit orientated company and its activities (products and services) are congruent with the targets of the eea, i.e. reduction of energy consumption and carbon emissions, energy efficiency increase and promotion of renewable energies. Table 1 Selection criteria for the pre-selection of the ROEEA applicants. Sufficient: Yes/No

10 10 Evaluation Criteria Description Evaluation (Points) Know-how Network Energy Policy Capacity building Implementation projects Quality management systems Marketing and Communication International collaboration Municipal level Regional national level and Profound know-how of Romanian energy policies The organization and the key persons have an excellent overview over all the policies and activities in Romania concerning energy. Knowledge about CoM and SEAP The organization and the key persons have in-depth knowledge about energy-related international activities for municipalities (e.g. the Covenant of Mayors (CoM) with the SEAPs (Sustainable Energy Action Plan), Smart City, etc. Organization and execution of seminars, courses, workshops and coaching The organization has experience in the organization and execution of seminars, courses, workshops and coaching (e.g. for municipalities, consultants, auditors). Implementation know-how on municipal level The organization is experienced in supporting local authorities when it comes to implementation projects (covered by the areas of the eea system, i.e. development and regional planning, communal buildings and facilities, supply (energy, water) and disposal (waste, waste water), mobility, internal organization, communication and co-operation). Experience with quality management systems (QMS) The organization can prove experience in implementing and/or dealing with quality management systems (e.g. ISO, EN, etc.). Experienced with marketing and communication tasks The organization is experienced in planning and executing marketing task as well as in professional communication with partners with different backgrounds (-> dissemination capacity for the eea). Experience with international collaboration projects The organization has experience with international collaboration projects, preferably in the areas covered by the eea. Existing network with Romanian municipalities The organization has comprehensive experience in interacting and collaborating with Romanian municipalities and maintains an active network with them. Existing network with Romanian regional and national institutions Government institutions or other (energy relevant) Romanian stakeholders which could be supportive for the dissemination of the eea in Romania. Profound: 15 Medium: 7 Profound: 10 Medium: 5 Profound: 15 Medium: 7 Profound: 15 Medium: 7 Profound: 20 Medium: 10 Profound: 15 Medium: 7 Profound: 10 Medium: 5 Broad network: 20 Medium: 10 Broad network: 15 Medium: 7 Table 2 Evaluation criteria for the selection of the ROEEA. Intermediary scores are possible to better distinguish the applications

11 11 Financial Conditions The estimated budget, based on the Swiss Contribution of CHF 350'000, is as follows: Financing within 3 years Fees/ Salaries in CHF Expenses in CHF Total in CHF Swiss Contribution (85% of total) 350'000 Romanian Contribution (15% of total, by ROEEA) 61'800 Total 411'800 Expenses within 3 years Support by Swiss Institution (to be selected by IOeea) 112'500 18' '250 Local structure (ROEAA) 135'000 33' '750 International city twinning activities (ROEEA) 15'000 15'000 National city twinning activities (ROEEA) 15'000 15'000 Training, seminars, support of local eea advisors (ROEEA) 12'000 12'000 Communication activities (ROEEA) 9'000 9'000 Membership Forum European Energy Award e.v. (three years, ROEEA) 7'500 7'500 License fee (performance fee, flat rate fee, 80% discount, ROEEA) 18'000 18'000 Audits (ROEEA) 5'000 5'000 Miscellaneous (ROEEA) 30'300 30'300 Total 247' ' '800 The detailed services of ROEEA for the cities and the financial contributions of the cities will be defined in the phase of Institutionalization of ROEEA. The Romanian contribution of 15% is to be paid by ROEEA. Any income generated by the activities related to the EEA in Romania (e.g. membership fees, audit fees, consultancy fees) can be used to bring up the contribution of ROEEA. The listed budget can be subject to changes and will definitively be fixed in the contract between the involved institutions. All payments for the project will be made out of the ROEEA budget, which will submit reimbursement requests afterwards, according to the Framework Agreement's provisions. The ROEEA has to sign the Licence agreement European Energy Award (eea) in Romania attached to the present document. Timeline of Application Timeline May 2015 Publication of the call + 2 weeks Questions/ clarification requests of the applicants can be sent to dpfbl@a.mdrap.ro and to vali.baciu@a.mdrap.ro.

12 weeks Answers to the questions/ clarification requests will be sent to applicants and published on weeks Latest proposal submission (date of and / or poststamp) The receipt of the mail will be confirmed by the recipient +7 to +14 weeks Evaluation of the applications. Additional questions or required information can be asked by IOeea. The two applicants with highest scores will be invited to a personal meeting with IOeea in Bucharest. Communication of decision (planned) +11 to +18 weeks Signing the Implementation Agreement (National Coordonation Unit and ROEEA) +12 to +19 weeks Preparation and signature of a Licence Agreement between ROEEA and the Forum European Energy Award e.v. +13 to+20 weeks ROEEA starts its activities