Deadline: 21-Jan-22
The South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) Partnership Fund (SPF) is inviting applications to fund qualified organizations for supporting activities and programs consistent with the SAREP’s purpose of improving access to affordable, secure, reliable, and sustainable energy, and its four objectives in India.
The South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) is the flagship regional energy program of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) mission to India (USAID / I). This five year initiative (2021-26) will improve access to affordable, secure, reliable, and sustainable energy in six countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka — in line with these countries’ climate and clean energy priorities.
The SAREP Partnership Fund (SPF) will support market-based transformative solutions to enable the clean energy transition, particularly by engaging the private sector, local organizations, and new and underutilized partners. It will also harness innovative business models, solutions, technologies, resources, experiences, and networks of relationships that exist across stakeholders. SPF will achieve this by catalyzing country and regional activities to complement the technical assistance provided by SAREP. SPF aims to expand and maximize the impact of USAID resources in an innovative and sustainable manner through the SPF activities designed, owned, and implemented by grantees under the SAREP Program.
Objectives
- All proposals must address one or more of SAREP’s four objectives:
- Enhance regional energy markets and integration: SAREP aims to facilitate development of regional power markets, improve coordination and planning, strengthen national and regional institutions, drive consensus on power trade, and institutionalize a supporting framework and mechanisms.
- Increased deployment of advanced energy solutions and systems: SAREP will enhance and accelerate deployment of clean energy technologies for transition to net zero emissions by helping partner countries reach near-term climate goals and avoid locking in longer-term emissions trajectories.
- High-performing modern utilities: SAREP will enable modernization of transmission, system operation and distribution utilities in the region to improve their technical, financial, and operational performance, grid resilience, enhance customer service, and promote adaptability to new technical advancements.
- Transparent, best-value procurement and private sector investment mobilized: SAREP expects to expand private sector investments, and enhance domestic and international finance for clean energy deployment. SAREP will also enable improved procurement processes and governance, adoption of best-value procurement practices, promote PPP models, and improve bank ability of clean energy projects.
- The SAREP Partnership Fund will support the following illustrative types of activities to achieve outcomes described outcomes under the four technical objectives:
- Pilot demonstrations
- Incubation support
- Feasibility studies, detailed project reports, and market assessments
- Knowledge management and dissemination
- Policy advocacy and consensus building
- Knowledge sharing, exchange, and institutional capacity development
- Developing business models and innovative solutions, and structuring of innovative financial transactions to enable clean energy transition
- Design and deploy new decision-making tools
Funding Information
The total value of any individual grant to a US organization, if any, must not exceed the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT), which is $ 250,000. The applicable ceiling for grant awards to non-US organizations is $ 500,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- SARE P Partnership Fund grants can be provided to private sector / for-profit entities; not-for-profit organizations; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); civil society organizations; business service organizations; industry, trade, or other private sector associations; educational / training or academic institutions; and think tank / research entities. All applicants will be bound by various USAID regulations as relevant and set forth in the US Code of Federal Regulations and Automated Directive System.
- For this RFA, entities from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, or Sri Lanka, or other developing countries per USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS) 310 are eligible to apply, provided they are legally authorized to operate in India, ie, the country of performance. US entities are also eligible, per USAID’s Automated Directives System (ADS), provided the amount granted does not exceed the Simplified Acquisition Threshold.
- To be eligible for funding grantees must:
- Have no real or apparent conflicts of interest that could jeopardize the impartiality of the selection process or aris e and affect project implementation. Applicants will be required to proactively declare any such potential conflicts so that they are mitigated in advance of applicant consideration. Any such conflicts can be personal, business, or finance related.
- Be legally authorized to conduct the activities in India and be able to demonstrate that they can comply with local legal and regulatory requirements (including receiving funds from foreign entities).
- Have internal controls and processes to safeguard assets and protect against fraud and waste.
- Have written and well-articulated ethics / conflict of interest policies.
- Have sound financial systems and accountability with up-to-date accounts consistent with local laws and regulations.
- Be willing to abide by all applicable USAID regulations and complete, sign, and abide by all required certifications, including the Branding and Marking requirements.
- Be willing to report on achievements and outputs in line with RTI’s approved monitoring and evaluation plan.
- Commit to secure a DUNS identification number if the anticipated grant award is $ 25,000 or more.
- If required under legal or regulatory provisions, have a valid and active Foreign Contributions Regulations Act (FCRA) registration.
- Be willing an able to ensure compliance regarding environmental monitoring and mitigation.
For more information, visit https://www.rti.org/sites/default/files/sarep_partnership-fund-rfa_to_7203861f00002_final_121721.pdf