Thailand and Australia co-hosted roundtable on ASEAN Power Grid

Background

Partnerships for Infrastructure (P4I) is an Australian Government initiative partnering with Southeast Asia to drive sustainable, inclusive, and resilient growth through quality infrastructure. P4I partners with Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

P4I works with partners to strengthen infrastructure decision-making and practice across the transport, energy, utilities and telecommunications sectors. P4I’s focus is on the early stages of the infrastructure lifecycle, including planning and prioritisation, financing strategy, and procurement.

The four main services offered by P4I are linkages with Australian government agencies and other institutions, technical and policy advice, infrastructure project advice and knowledge-sharing and learning.

As the foundation of quality infrastructure, P4I also integrates gender equality, disability, and social inclusion, and disaster risk reduction and climate change considerations into all activities. Delivered through a single team, P4I is led by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in collaboration with Ernst & Young, Adam Smith International, The Asia Foundation and Ninti One. P4I has a head office in Bangkok, with other staff located around the region.

Cross-border electricity trade and the ASEAN Power Grid

Energy demand in Southeast Asia will more than double by 2040 and the sector continues to be dominated by fossil fuels due to growing population, urbanisation, income levels and industrialisation. Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate and disaster risk and is already seeing the number and intensity of extreme weather events increase dramatically with severe economic and social impacts. Climate mitigation efforts including through cross-border energy infrastructure and trading, are vital for ASEAN.

Given this, the ASEAN Power Grid (APG) is a key priority of the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016 – 2025, supports efforts to enhance energy connectivity and market integration, complementing ASEAN Strategy for Carbon Neutrality. 

By enhancing the region’s ability to integrate different sources of renewable energy with complementary supply profiles, the APG can be a key initiative to support the decarbonisation of power systems and achievement of climate commitments across ASEAN.

ASEAN Power Grid Roundtable

To support the region’s cross-border electricity trading and APG initiatives, Thailand and Australia intend to co-host a one-day ASEAN Roundtable on integrating renewable energy and digital technologies into the APG. The Roundtable would be held in Bangkok in around August 2024 for around 75 participants across ASEAN member states. 

Scope of Work

P4I is seeking an experienced and qualified consultant (individual or partner organisation) in energy sector across Southeast Asia region. The consultant will support P4I activity lead to work with the Australian Government, through DFAT and P4I, and the Government of Thailand, through the Ministry of Energy of Thailand (MOEN), with the strategic planning, organisation and delivery of the Roundtable that can give effect to the following objectives.

Thailand and Australia are seeking to use the Roundtable to:

• support ASEAN’s efforts to increase understanding and capacity of the enablers and opportunities of cross-border electricity trading within the region towards the APG;
• demonstrate our regional leadership on climate and energy transition by contributing to efforts to advance a key APAEC initiative, including by maximising public diplomacy and strategic communications opportunities;
• help understand potential implications and opportunities for both Thailand and Australia of increased cross-border electricity trading and the APG, which may relate to economic, geostrategic, climate and disaster resilience, and gender and social inclusion;
• identify potential further opportunities for Thailand and Australia to cooperate bilaterally on renewable energy, low-emissions technologies and climate change under our Strategic Partnership, including to expand economic cooperation in line with Australia’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

The Roundtable will be held over one day with a dinner event in the evening. P4I welcomes the consultant’s input and support to the P4I activity lead on a balance of innovative components (e.g. technology showcases, interactive sessions, networking) to complement more traditional sessions (e.g. presentations, keynote speeches).

Applications Instructions

When applying for this consultancy, the consultant with energy sector knowledge and experience should respond to this request for tender (RFT) with a four-part proposal, please provide the following information:  

Part 1 will be a written statement of no more than four pages, addressing the following selection criteria:

• Demonstrated experience, capabilities and qualifications relevant to the RFT, including:
  • Deep understanding of key issues in Thailand and ASEAN’s energy sector;
  • Strong existing network of relationships in Thailand, ASEAN and Australia relevant to the Roundtable;
  • Understanding of how Australian experience and expertise can contribute to, and be showcased at, the Roundtable to maximise opportunities for Australia;
• The supplier’s indicative agenda for a one-day Roundtable in Bangkok, demonstrating how it gives effect to the proposed objectives outlined above. Note: while the Roundtable agenda will be agreed with the Government of Thailand, P4I requests a proposed agenda to help assess the supplier’s understanding of the objectives. 

Part 2 will provide organisation name or individual details, with CV of relevant works (2-pages maximum). For organisations, please include organisation name, the names of specialists being nominated with CVs.

Part 3 will be a portfolio, or examples related to the scope of work.

Part 4 will be a detailed budget (in AUD), comprising fee rates for all key staff members, the number of days allocated to specific tasks, and any anticipated reimbursable expenses.

Submission

Please submit applications and queries about the tender via email to the P4I Procurement Manager at tenders@partnershipsforinfrastructure.org.

Applications must be submitted by 11:59pm (Bangkok time) on 3 July 2024.

Due to the high volume of applications for P4I positions, only short-listed companies will be contacted.