The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) – supported by the National Treasury’s Government Technical Advisory Centre’s (GTAC's) transactional adviser – will publish a request for proposals (RFP) for the start of the Integrated Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency Programme (iREREP) in the coming week.

This follows the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa on July 25 of actions to address South Africa’s electricity crisis.

To facilitate the preparation and submission of the responses, the DPWI – through GTAC – will release the RFP at www.etenders.gov.za and the www.irerep.co.za, where interested parties can download the RFP and related documents and obtain information pertaining to the programme.

“I am delighted to announce the release of the RFP in the next week for the procurement of the programme, which will be the largest programme for the procurement of renewable energy and resource efficiency for public facilities,” Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia De Lille said on July 27.

As the largest landlord and facilities manager in the country, De Lille said the DPWI had a responsibility to not only deliver and manage quality infrastructure but to combat climate change and enhance sustainable development through its mandate – such as providing buildings for government service delivery.

“We have a duty to implement programmes to reduce electricity demand and encourage energy efficient use by consumers as articulated by . . . Ramaphosa on Monday,” she said.

The iREREP is Strategic Integrated Project (SIP) 28, known as the Photovoltaic (PV) and Water Savings on Government Buildings Programme. The project was gazetted as a SIP on July 24, 2020, as part of a credible pipeline of projects in the Infrastructure Investment Plan, which was approved by Cabinet in May 2020.

De Lille said the programme would help guide South Africa along an environmentally sustainable path, while contributing to social and economic development; energy and water security of supply; budget sustainability; and improved governance of utilities.

“Considering the challenges to our economy, the persistent energy crisis, water shortages and effects of climate change, our aim must be to ensure that our investment achieves economic growth and transformation to improve the lives of citizens and fast-track development,” she said.

Prior to the RFP, the DPWI undertook and issued a request for information (RFI) in September 2021, with responses due a month later. The responses received subsequently informed the drafting of the RFP, De Lille explained.

“The RFI allowed the department to gain additional market insights that will drive the implementation of the programme, as well as provide an understanding of the appetite and readiness of the market to participate,” she said.

Fifty-eight submissions were received through the RFI process, of which 19% were international respondents and 81% were local respondents. De Lille said this enhanced the DPWI’s understanding and assisted it to embed a better regulatory and eligibility criterion.

In recognising that this is the first of its kind, De Lille said the department had collated and prepared the necessary information to address the critical areas and questions raised through the RFI.

Additionally, the DPWI has taken the necessary steps to ensure that it adheres to the relevant approval processes.

These steps include hosting workshops with participating stakeholders to enable the successful roll-out across provincial and national government, including the DPWI and its regions; and undertaking resource audits which serve as inputs for the current RFP process.

The current procurement round will see the DPWI release a bundle of projects into the market.

Additional resource audits have started in preparation for the next round of projects, in which the DPWI will release to market in various batches additional projects within the next 6 to 24 months.

“This programmatic approach to procurement will ensure that we create the necessary momentum and certainty that will allow for the development of a vibrant resource services company market, development of skills, job creation and the achievement of a number of other programme objectives,” De Lille said.

The DPWI will also endeavour to engage with various stakeholders to obtain the approvals required, to create an enabling environment, and to ensure proper governance structures as well as procurement processes are in place and adhered to.

“In this regard, consensus exists within government and we are entering into the necessary agreements with our user departments for their participation,” De Lille said.

She explained that the programme had conceptualised a dedicated funding mechanism to support local participation and small, medium-sized and microenterprise involvement, including women and youth.

De Lille said key institutions had expressed their interest in becoming finance partners to the project, both locally and in the international development financing market and commercial market.

RFP INFORMATION REQUESTED 

The RFP will be open to the public with information requested from the respondents focussing on four key areas, namely: legal, technical, finance and economic development. The information requested for each of these key areas is detailed in the RFP.

“We encourage all private sector participants across renewable energy, energy and water efficiency, alternative waste management sectors and through their various roles including prospective bidders, prospective sponsors, lenders, local manufacturers, prospective suppliers, prospective advisors and other interested parties to participate in the RFP as we further cement partnerships between government and the private sector,” De Lille said.

She said the DPWI wanted to champion innovation and be an anchor for new smart technologies, expanding its mix and solutions beyond the proven technologies.

“We have therefore developed a section on the website where bidders will be able to upload their project videos and images to showcase their technologies. This programme bears testimony to our commitment of putting the Infrastructure Investment Plan in action and contributes to our goals of achieving the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan,” De Lille said.

De Lille will also be hosting a conference on July 28 with all the private landlords from whom the DPWI rents office space to engage them on the need to reduce energy demand.

“Our appeal will be for all landlords to make their buildings more energy and water efficient . . . and to assist in cost and energy efficiencies that will help our economy,” she said.

De Lille said the programme could lead to significant financial savings that could be diverted to other government priorities.

“We firmly believe this will go a long way in contributing towards the strategies of demand management in energy consumption,” she said.