As an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations, the federally owned Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH supports the German Government in achieving its development-policy objectives. It provides viable, forward-looking solutions for political, economic, ecological and social development in a globalised world. GIZ promotes complex reforms and change processes. Its corporate objective is to improve people’s living conditions on a sustainable basis.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, is announcing as following:

Call for expression of interest

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The project “Economic development for the stabilization of the labour market (Entrepreneurship Promotion)” financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and implemented by GIZ, supports improving the employment of the Kosovar population and the sustainable productivity and competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

In recent years, Kosovo has seen a notable increase in both domestic and international investments in the solar energy and heat supply sectors. This surge in investment is driven by a growing recognition of the benefits of renewable energy sources and a commitment to addressing climate change. The Kosovo Energy Strategy 2022-2031 outlines a clear vision for the country’s energy future, emphasizing the importance of expanding renewable energy sources to achieve a sustainable and environmentally friendly energy sector.

A key component of this strategy is the goal to increase the share of renewable energy in Kosovo’s electricity consumption to 35%. This ambitious target reflects Kosovo’s commitment to reducing its reliance on fossil fuels and transitioning towards cleaner energy alternatives. As part of this transition, Kosovo aims to phase out coal by 2050, underscoring the urgent need to develop and implement renewable energy technologies. Solar energy, in particular, is expected to play a crucial role in meeting these targets, given its potential for widespread adoption and contribution to reducing green house gas emissions.

To support this transition, there is a need for a skilled workforce capable of installing and maintaining solar panels and other renewable energy technologies, such as heat pumps. The growing demand for technical expertise in solar technologies highlights the need for specialized training and education programs. As Kosovo moves forward with its renewable energy initiatives, it will be essential to ensure that there are enough trained professionals to support the deployment and upkeep of these technologies.

The “Entrepreneurship Promotion (EP)” project is focused on stabilizing the labour market, by increasing the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in employment- relevant sectors. As such, with this activity it aims to increase the number and quality of solar panel and heat pump installers. This activity works in conjunction with other GIZ projects,

including the “Innovation and Training Park” in Prizren, the “Kosovo Energy Project,” “Fit4Jobs,” and the “Centres for Migration and Development (ZME).”

These GIZ projects aim at equipping individuals and businesses with the knowledge and skills needed to participate in the renewable energy sector. Fostering innovation and providing practical training in heat pump and solar panel technologies, is a contribution to the over a llgoal of expanding Kosovo’s renewable energy capacity and achieving the targets set in the Kosovo Energy Strategy.

In summary, the services being procured, are essential for advancing Kosovo’s renewable energy goals. By addressing the need for technical expertise, promoting gender diversity, and supporting community engagement, these initiatives play a critical role in driving Kosovo’s energy transition and achieving a sustainable and resilient energy future.

The focus of this assignment will be to accredit existing and validated trainings and further qualification opportunities for skilled workers as experts for solar panel and heat pump installations and planning. In addition, it aims to identify gaps and create an updated and comprehensive curriculum for ‘Training of Trainers’ for experts for solar panel and heat pump installations and planning in Kosovo for personnel of local companies. Moreover, it seeks to identify gaps and develop an updated, and comprehensive curriculum for trainings for non- trainers for solar panel and heat pump installations and planning.

In the efforts to identify and accredit existing and validated training and qualification opportunities for skilled workers in solar panel and heat pump installations, as well as to plan and create and update comprehensive curricula for both trainers and non-trainers, the GIZ project "Entrepreneurship Promotion” invites qualified consulting companies to submit an expression of interest in developing the “Solar Panel & Heat Pump Installations and Planning Training Programs”.

The checklist below provides further information about the conditions and expectations of the GIZ project. Based on responses to this Request for Information, GIZ will pre-qualify companies that will receive an Inquiry and will be formally invited to submit their offers with detailed specifications. Response to the RFI does not necessarily imply that the company will receive an offer for a contract for the assignment.

Based on the outcome of offers, GIZ will offer a contract to the selected company. Please note that all correspondence and dealing with the GIZ must be in English language.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

1. Proof of company’s legal status (registration and/or certification documentation, status), company details(name, postal address),date of incorporation within their initial response.
2. Average annual turnover for the last three fiscal years, at least 150,000 Euros/annually. Please provide reports from the Tax Administration.
3. The number of employees including managing staff at least 5 persons. CVs of the Team Leader and experts should be submitted.
4. Companies should submit at least three (3) references of comparable services, which includes in the area of solar panels and heat pump installation and three (3) reference projects in the Western Balkans in the last three years.

In addition, your expressions of interest will be ranked by the technical experience as weighting in below, the maximum number of candidates is five:

1. University degree in electrical engineering, renewable energy or similar area – 10%
2. Experience in technical area of electrical engineering, renewable energy or similar – 10%
3. Experience in developing and facilitating training programs with a focus on solar energy subjects – 10%.
4. Experience in quality assurance in the VET (Vocational Education and Training) systems – 10%.
5. Practical experience in heat pump installation, system design etc., with private industry – 10%
6. Regional Experience – 30%
7. Experience of development projects(at least 50% - Official Development Assistance ODA - financed) - 20%

Interested companies are invited to submit their electronic application in English language. The deadline for submitting the application is 11.10.2024 until 15:00h, via email at: [email protected] , titled/labelled as 83474231 – Solar panel & heat pump installations and planning Training Programs.

Please note that:

• Expression of interest and documents must be submitted in pdf format.
• The size of emails for quotation is limited to 20 MB. In case the quotations exceed the maximum data size, quotation documents must be sent via filetransfer.giz.de , please provide the password!
• You should use the reference number 83474231, otherwise we cannot consider your offer
  

After the evaluation of received expressions of interest, the chosen companies will be contacted and invited to take part in the tender. GIZ shall not bear any costs and expenses incurred by any bidder during the tender procedure and shall retain right to accept or refuse completely any offer, annul, or repeat the procedure at any time before the execution of a contract, holding at the same time no liability towards the bidders, and shall have no responsibility to provide reasons for such decision. The tender dossier will be sent only to short listed service providers.