Islamic Republic State of Afghanistan

Ministry of Energy and Water

Renewal Energy Department

Call for Expression of Interest (EOI)

For
Implementation of 100 MW Grid Connected Renewable Energy
Projects
In
Afghanistan

January 2016

Experision of Interest Description:

Investment in the 100 MW Renewable Energy

grid connected projects in selected
cities/provinces

Investment Type:

Local and International Developers

Sector:

Energy

Organization:

Ministry of Energy and Water

Country:

Afghanistan

Lot:

01

Issue Date of EOI:

03 Januray 2016

Last Date of Submission of EOI:

31 January 2016

Status:

Open

Point of Contact:

Ministry of Energy and Water, Afghanistan

Tel:+93 (0) 794 444443
Email:red@mew.gov.af
red-mew-af@gmail.com

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Under the directions of the President Office, Ministry of Energy and Water of Islamic Republic
of Afghanistan, invites all local and international investors or project developers, to give their
Expression of Interest (EOI) for investing in Twenty Renewable Energy Projects capacities
ranging from 500 kW to 30 MW in selected Cities/Provinces in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan is poised for stability and growth and would require reliable supply of energy to
fuel this growth. The country is endowed with excellent renewable energy resources including
solar, wind, and biomass, hydro and geothermal. The Energy Services Law of Afghanistan
aims to lay ground for private investors to invest in energy market of the country in generating
electricity or power from the renewable energy (REN) sources of the country which are
available abundantly overall the country. The 100 MW package will ensure the deployment of
power generation for improving the overall power scenario in Afghanistan.
More than 60% of the people across the country live in dark homes, without access to reliable
form of electricity with no connections to power grids or large-scale energy. Many lives in
remote rural village communities and until they have access to energy services, little progress
can be made to develop and improve their lives, health, social equity and environment
protection. Access to reliable and sufficient sources of energy will be reducing poverty and
hunger in long term. In most of the country the day-to-day energy currently comes from the
burning of wood and diesel generators, practices that contribute to air pollution, deforestation,
and at high cost.
Afghanistans power demand can be expected to grow at 12-15% p.a. over the next decade,
resulting in a supply shortfall of over 6,000MW by 2032. The countrys current domestic power

supply is around 1,073 GWh or 22% of total supply; while power imports from Central Asia
account for 78% of total supply. Afghanistan only generates around 300 MW of electricity
mainly from hydropower followed by fossil fuel and solar power. It is estimates that the country
will need around 3,000 MW to meet its needs by 2020, implying the need for a fundament upshift in generation.
Currently, only around 25 - 33 % of the Afghan population has access to electricity, though
there is a large disparity, with 70 % of the Kabul population having almost 24 hours access, on
the other hand most of the rural population dont have any kind of access to basic forms of
electricity.
Energy is the key factor for any countrys economic growth. Development of the energy sector
of Afghanistan is one of the high priorities of MEW and this is also very important for the
stability of the region which will create jobs and bring considerable income.
Afghanistan has enormous Renewable Energy Resources with excellent to fairly good
generation potential. These resources are spread over wide geographical areas throughout the
country, in contrast to the other conventional energy resources, which are concentrated and
location specific. Renewable Energy maps of the country which shows potential of different
renewable energy sources in different provinces can be downloaded from Renewable Energy
website at www.red-mew.gov.af
Afghanistans rich hydrocarbon and renewable energy resources can provide one of the pillars
for ensuring energy security of the Country. The regulatory landscape in Afghanistan includes
the Electricity Services Law, sets of Renewable Energy standards and limitations on
interventions for private sector investment in the energy generation from home resources. The
draft incentivized electricity tariff and draft investment policy of Afghanistan will offer a
conductive working environment for foreign companies and investors. The Energy Services
Law allows foreign investors investment in generation, transmission and energy trade.
Due to the great success of the REN projects across the world, MEW proposes the 1st lot of
the REN projects with the total capacity of 100 MW in twenty provinces of the country. This
package will provide reliable power access to residents with the focus on sites with a strong
visibility to the public, such as local residence, businesses, schools and governmental
institutions in general to ensure a success and the replication of the projects afterwards to all
over the country.

PROPOSED 100 MW PACKAGE

Ministry of Energy and Water (MEW), being the nodal ministry to plan and direct the
development of energy sector in Afghanistan. Based on the Afghanistan Renewable Energy
Policy, which aims to provide a thrust and direction to the REN sector set targets to generate
4500MW 5000MW of power from REN resources of the country by 2032, which is equivalent
of about 95%of the total energy mix of as per the amended targets of Countrys Power Sector
Master Plan (PSMP).
The scope of this EOI covers almost all REN resources and technologies that can be deployed
in a techno-economically and environmentally sustainable manner in Afghanistan. The overall
goal of the proposed EOI is for investing in 100 MW REN projects in different provinces of the
country, to provide power to local communities, local business, industrial parks for improve the

living conditions of communities through the use of REN resources by providing electricity
services to all.
The 100 MW package includes thirty projects in twenty provinces from solar, wind, biomass
and micro hydro power (MHP) sources. Overall, more than one million people from different
sectors; businesses, shops, households, schools, government and public institutions are
expected to benefit from the proposed projects.
Out of these thirty projects, four are in large and populated province of the country Kabul,
Kandahar, Balkh and Herat where national grid are available but the demand are high.
Fourteen are in those provinces where local grids are available but currently are supplied with
diesel generators such as Zabul, Logar, Khost, Takhar, Ghazni, Paktia, Badghis, Badakhshan,
Farah, Ghor, Bamyan, Daikundi, Helmand and Urozgan. Two are those provinces where there
is no local or national grid available; these are Noristan and Paktika therefore local grid also
needed there
2.1

Selected Cities/Provinces
In the Phase-I, the following Cities/Provinces with Tendered Capacity as mentioned
against each city, have been selected under the proposed scheme.

No

Project Name
Kandahar Solar - DG Hybrid Project

Source of
Energy

Capacity

Kandahar

Solar

30.0

Province

(MW)

Kabul Solar - Hydro Hybrid Project

Kabul

Solar

10.0

Roof Top Solar Project

Kabul

Solar

5.0

Kabul Waste to Energy Project

Kabul

Biogass

6.0

Kabul Waste Water Treatment Project

Kabul

Biogass

1.0

Bini Hisar Biogas Diagester Project

Kabul

Biogass

0.5

Bamyan Solar Project

Bamyan

Solar

1.0

Ghor Solar Project + Backup (5pm-10pm)

+ Distribution Network (20 kV)

Ghor

Solar

5.0

Helmand Solar Project

Helmand

Solar

3.0

10

Herat Wind Project

Herat

Wind

14.0

11

Spogmee MHP Project

Badakhshan

MHP

2.5

12

Kuran Wa Munjan MHP Project

Badakhshan

MHP

1.5

13

Yangi Qala MHP Project

Takhar

MHP

1.0

14

Farkhar MHP Project

Takhar

MHP

0.5

15

Namak Ab MHP Project

Takhar

MHP

0.5

16

Mazar Waste to Energy Project

Balkh

Biogass

6.0

17

Zari MHP Project

Balkh

MHP

0.5

18

Sholgara MHP Project

Balkh

MHP

0.5

19

Kishindeh MHP Project

Balkh

MHP

0.5

20

Urozgan Solar Project

Urozgan

Solar

1.0

21

Noristan Solar Project + Backup (5pm10pm) + Distribution Network (20 kV)

Noristan

Solar +
MHP

1.0

22

Daikundy Solar Project

Daikundy

Solar

1.0

23

Badghis Solar Project

Badghis

Solar

1.0

24

Zabul Solar Project

Zabul

Solar

1.0

25

Paktia Solar Project

Paktia

Solar

1.0

26

Logar Solar Project

Logar

Solar

1.0

27

Khost Solar Project

Khost

Solar

1.0

28

Ghazni Solar Project

Ghazni

Solar

1.0

29

Paktika Solar Project + Distribution

Network

Paktika

Solar

1.0

30

Farah Solar Project

Farah

Solar

1.0

Total

100

Based on proposed package, companies or developers can either invest in one of the projects
in any particular province, part of the one project or number of the projects from the proposed
list. If the investor is found to be liable, the investor will be required to prepare the detailed
project proposal as well as Project Appraisal Document as per the guidelines and template set
by MEW. The project appraisal will entail complete project design, implementation
arrangements, and project justification.
Minimum bid capacity for all the provinces indicated in table above shall be 500 kWp and
maximum bid capacity shall be 10 MWp per project. That means for location / province, the
tender capacity of the size of each project shall be in the range of 500 kWp to 10 MWp can be
allocated to a single bidder, for installation at identified location indicated in above list.
One project may however comprise of several locations is a specified province. However,
MEW reserves the right to relax the aggregate capacity (i.e. minimum or maximum capacity)
within a defined area based on the merit of case to case basis. Each project can separately
connect with the grid and may have separate meters. Interested companies or developers
should get familiarized with each project before submitting their bid for location / province.

PROJECT TIME LINE

All interested investors or project developers are expected to submit their EOI along with their
company profile and any other relevant documents to MEW on or before 30th January, 2016.
The EOI should be sent to an email id specified at the top in contacts. The EOI will be used to
develop Renewable Energy based business proposals with various individual local and
international companies.
The MEW dedicated team would compile a list of all interested local and international
companies to participate in the implementation of the listed projects in Afghanistan. The
duration of the proposed projects implementation will be considered individually immediately
after mutual understanding and signing of the power purchase agreement (PPA) with DABS
and MEW.
The interested companies may seek clarifications on any of the information provided in this
request for EOI in writing, by e-mail to MEW at the address, mentioned in contacts.
The EOI in response to this call shall be submitted by the companies or developers shall
comprise of the following:
1. Cover Letter
2. List of project/s from want to invest
3. Proposed tariff for the interested project/s
4. Tentative implementation plan of the specified project/s
5. Required land for the interested project/s
6. Company profile include list of previous similar projects implemented
Companies or developers are expected to do the following once being awarded the specific
project/s:
Detailed operational and implementation plan
Detailed project design
Operation and implementation plan of the project
Detailed business plan including payment plan and handover of the project after the agreed
project life time
3.1

Tentative Implementation Plan

The steps, description and time frames are given in the table below.
No

Steps

Descriptions

Time Frame

Call for EOI

Published on the MEW

web-site

3rd January 2016

Receipt of final EOI for REN

Projects from potential
applicants

By email specified in
contacts

31st January 2016

Announcement of shortlisted
projects based on technical
screening and final evaluation

Published on the MEW

web-site and notification by
email to all shortlisted
companies or developers

15th February
2015

Develop and float RFP

Published on the MEW

web-site

29th February
2016

Receive proposals from

potential companies or
developers

Evaluate proposals

Select investors or venders and

contracting (PPA)

Implementation support to
shortlisted pilot projects

Monitoring and Validation

31st March 2016

30th April 2016

15th May 2016
Based on the
signing of PPA
These will cover issues
such as Technical
Performance, testing
methods and data
collection mode, Validation
of revenue models,
operating costs,
operational problems,
feedback from
stakeholders, impact of
use of energy usage, etc.

Based on the
individual project
parameters

ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GOIRA FOR THE PROPOSED PACKAGE

Government of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) for the promotion and development of
the REN sector and to lay good grounds for investment in the 1st batch of REN projects, will
provide the following support - but not limited to for the interested investors for the propose
scheme;
Land for the proposed project/s at specific location in each province near the grid for
the entire project/s life
Tax incentives
25% subsidy
Security assistance for project implementation
Generation License based on the Energy Services Law
Long term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA)
Attractive tariff based on the project location, type of technology and source of energy
Provision of basic data about each project/s
5

SELECTION CRITERIA

Based on the following criteria the most eligible investors will be selected:
Lowest offered tariff
Technical capacity
Financial capability
Past experience in the relevant field
Committed to meet the required international standards for project/s development