BACKGROUND
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) through the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) is accelerating the development and deployment of Green Hydrogen and related technologies in various hard-to-abate sectors of the economy. MNRE has requested the World Bank to undertake an assignment to assess and recommend measures to optimize the approval processes of Green Hydrogen/Derivate projects. This is aimed to support adoption and implementation of the practices and procedures that will ensure smooth and timely preparation, implementation and operationalization of projects including aspects related to safety in the handling and use of hydrogen in various end use applications.
Hydrogen, historically, has been used in various sectors/industry. Its use, however, has been in a controlled environment with a very strong regulatory oversight. With a thrust on green hydrogen as an important intervention for achieving low carbon pathways for the economies globally, its applications are increasing exponentially. It is therefore imperative to ensure that the agencies in India are continuously adapting their processes (best practices, regulations, codes, standards, skilling inter alia) to accommodate the evolving landscape of this low carbon energy transition. The Green Hydrogen value chain, consisting of production, storage, transportation, distribution, and end usage would need requisite know-how to ensure safety, decrease costs, and ensure compliance with applicable regulations, codes, and standards (RCS).
This assignment aims to comprehensively review the process and sub-processes involved in various fuel and feedstock applications of Green Hydrogen, such as, mobility, ports, fertilizers, refineries, storage, etc. and recommend measures to standardize and streamline requirements for expeditious and smooth operationalization of projects. The assignment seeks to engage qualified consulting services for achieving such objectives.
SCOPE OF WORK
The assignment is expected to
undertake below tasks:
1. 1. Identify the various
phases of development of a green hydrogen project (for priority sectors
considered under NGHM) covering the entire value chain (including production,
storage, transportation, distribution and end usage) and subsequently [a]
identify the various applicable regulations, codes and standards (RCS) for
facilitating approval of the projects; and [b] establish a recommended/ideal
timeline (based on end usage) for the project(s) from concept to commissioning.
2. 2. Review the
established timelines to obtain approvals at each stage of the Project
preparation, implementation and operations that may act as a bottleneck or pose
as a risk thereby delaying the project commissioning and/or operations.
Subsequently suggest methods and best practices to streamline and simplify the
evaluation processes such that the projects can adhere to the envisaged
timelines.
3. 3. Undertake a
comprehensive review of the entire value chain of green hydrogen (including
production, storage, transportation and end usage) to identify areas which have
a human interface and subsequently suggest best practices (e.g., safety,
availability of requisite skillset, information technology tools, testing
infrastructure, etc.) to ensure safety, optimize costs, and ensure compliance
with RCS.
4. 4. Assess the various
applicable RCS and juxtapose them with global RCS to identify gaps and thereby
suggest remediation measures including review/introduction of Standard
Operating Procedures (SOP) for organizations such as Petroleum and Explosives
Safety Organization (PESO) as well as for industry (such as, for handlers,
etc.).
5. 5. Based on the assessment
of skill sets, recommend requisite programs for skilling/re-skilling and
training along with required training infrastructure. This is of specific
importance for the workers handling green hydrogen at decentralized levels,
such as, at Hydrogen Refueling Station.
6. 6. Conduct detailed
consultation with requisite stakeholders, including but not limited to
developers, end-users, regulators, policymakers inter alia, to understand their
concerns and incorporate their feedback in any suggestions/recommendations made
therein. This would be applicable to all sub-tasks proposed under the
assignment.
7. 7. Review/strengthen/develop SOPs,
draft standard documents (such as, checklist for submission of documents) for
streamlining involved approval process, recommend interventions to expedite the
process (such as, deployment of tools, software, etc.) and prepare an action
plan with implementable recommendations for various regulatory agencies.
Testing infrastructure is also particularly important.
INDIVIDUAL
/ FIRM PROFILE
The
consultant will be a qualified firm or a consortium of firms.
SUBMISSION
REQUIREMENTS
The
World Bank Group invites eligible firms to indicate their interest in providing
the services. Interested firms must provide information indicating that they
are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar
assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate
skills among staff, etc. for firms; CV and cover letter for individuals). Please
note that a single pdf file of not more than 50 pages should be submitted and
the total size of the file should be less than 5MB. Consultants may associate with others to
enhance their qualifications. Where a group of firms associate to submit an
EOI, they must indicate which is the lead firm. If shortlisted, the firm
identified in the EOI as the lead firm will be invited to the request for
proposal (RFP) phase.
Interested
firms are hereby invited to submit expressions of interest.
Expressions
of Interest should be submitted, in English, electronically through WBGeProcure
RFx Now.
NOTES
Following this invitation for EOI, a
shortlist of qualified firms will be formally invited to submit proposals.
Shortlisting and selection will be subject to the availability of funding.
Only those firms which have been
shortlisted will be invited to participate in the RFP phase. No notification or
debrief will be provided to firms which have not been shortlisted.
If you encounter technical
difficulties while uploading documents, please send an e-mail to the Help Desk
at corporateprocurement@worldbank.org prior to the submission deadline.