Site-specific Application

Site-specific Application

The REA Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP) Performance-Based Grant (PBG) uses the Odyssey platform exclusively for all tender-related activities. Submissions outside of the platform will not be accepted. 

Please read this guide thoroughly for instructions on how to submit an application to the REA NEP PBG program.

In addition to this participation guide, please review the complete Odyssey user guides for software help and FAQs to troubleshoot any issues, or reach out to the Odyssey support team via the support chat box in the bottom right corner of the application


Submit the site-specific application

Once your pre-qualification application has been  Selected, you may submit applications for individual projects (e.g. specific mini-grid sites) on a rolling basis. 

1. Create a Project

To create your projects;
  • Click Create Project(s) in the Projects tab

  • Select Create a Mini-Grid Project from the dropdown menu

REA NEP PBG Program Requirements
  1. In the Asset Name field, please number the projects you are submitting to the program. (Ex: "25. Kiroka").
  2. Using the Program dropdown, you MUST select REA NEP Mini-Grid Performance-Based Grants in order to be able to submit.

2. Complete the project data modules

Complete the initial technical analysis for the project under the Project Design tab. Please read an overview of each project module as well as the REA NEP PBG requirements for completing each module below. Detailed instructions for how to use each module can be followed in the pre-development user guides.

Information


The information module of the project contains the site information that was provided when creating the project. You will also upload site-specific application files in the Project Files tab for each project. Learn more about completing your site information.


REA NEP PBG Program Requirement
The following documents are required to be uploaded to the Project Files section of each site-specific application:
  1. Exclusivity Agreement
  2. Completed Environmental and Social site screening checklist
  3. For category I sites:
    1. Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), as well as RAPs and Livelihood Restoration Plans (LRPs), if applicable
    2. Copy of the cover or introduction letter of the ESIA stamped by the Ministry of Environment
  4. For category II sites: copy of the cover or introduction letter of the ESMP stamped by the Ministry of Environment
  5. Evidence of compliance with minimum technical requirements, including the signed Warrant of Compliance with Technical Specifications
  6. Energy Audit Report
  7. Baseline Survey Report
If you are submitting an  Interconnected grid project, you are also required to submit the following documents; 
  1. SLA agreement with Discos.
  2. Tripartite agreement.
You may also refer to the Site-Specific Technical Application Instructions document available in the Programs > Documents section for a list of required file uploads.
Rember to always notify REA of any new document upload via the message section. 


Load

In the load module, you will provide information on the number and type of customers as well as the projected load profile. Learn more about creating a load assessment.

Generation Design

Once your load profile in Odyssey is complete, you can design a generation system. Odyssey is integrated with HOMER Energy to enable rapid system design based on your load assessment. Odyssey pulls in your 8760 load profile and site location to design your generation system. Learn more about designing your generation system
If this is an interconnected mini-grid, be sure to pull in the grid component to your design.  Read more about the options for modeling an interconnected mini-grid in the FAQ article:  What are my options for modeling an interconnected mini-grid?

REA NEP PBG Program Requirement
  1. Each mini grid project will have to be technically viable in its design and may use conventional sources of energy, provided that the renewable energy supply part is at least 60% of the total system’s energy supply. 
  2. Running HOMER is required. After running HOMER, your Renewable Fraction must be greater than 60% and the Load Availability must be 98% or greater. You can view these results in the Model Output section.
  3.  You do not need to optimize sizing for each component using HOMER if you have determined your system sizing using another method, but must run HOMER to verify your system will meet performance requirements (such as the 60% minimum renewables requirement).

The  Min. Renewable Fraction acts as a filter after HOMER has run the dispatch schedule for each component. If your generator pricing is inexpensive, HOMER will optimize your system with the generator dispatching to meet a majority of the load, which could result in all systems filtering out the generator. HOMER would therefore return a result with no generator, even if it may be cheaper to meet some of your load with the generator. Reach out to support or see the  HOMER manual for more information.

Distribution Design

In the Distribution Design module you will track and categorize capital expenditures related to the distribution network and customer connections. The distribution system costs will be pulled into the Financials section and used to calculate project financial performance metrics. Learn more about tracking distribution design costs.

Costs 

The Costs module is a place to track and categorize project capital and operating expenditures. These will be pulled into the Financials section and used to calculate project financial performance metrics. Learn more about  tracking costs.

Revenue

The Revenues module calculates your revenues based on your defined tariff structure and forecasted load profile. Learn more about entering your tariff structure. 

Financial

In the Financials section, you will enter project-level sensitivities and account for ramping/growth rates for your load assessment. The financial page uses all the information you entered into Odyssey to calculate key financial metrics. Learn more about calculating project financials.

3. Submit your Site-Specific Project Application


 The submission process is divided into two stages.
  1. Initial Submission
  2. Final Submission

1. Initial Submission

As soon as you have an exclusivity agreement signed for a site, it should be submitted to REA. This will register the site in the system and provide key market data about which sites have already been claimed by developers. The checkbox for the exclusivity agreement is mandatory; you cannot submit a project unless you have confirmed that the exclusivity agreement has been uploaded.  REA will update your status to “Incomplete” pending the upload of additional documents after which you can re-submit your project.

 


Please note that you will not be able to edit your projects once you submit them. If you need to make edits reach out to support via chat for assistance.

2. Final Submission

After your project has been unlocked for editing, you will proceed to complete all required data modules and document uploads. You will also be required to check off all the list of documents needed for proposal evaluation for REA to review your proposal in the Project Application module. 


When you have finished uploading and checking the boxes, send a message to REA via the Messages section of the project to inform them that they can start reviewing your application. After this REA will update your status to “Under Review."


Once you have completed the required data modules in the Site-Specific Technical Application, you can submit your Site-Specific Technical application through the Project  Submission module. It is required that you complete the project data modules and check all the boxes in the Project Application module before submitting your site-specific application.

To submit your project:
  1. Navigate to the Project Submission module of the project. 
  2. Select the Submit Project with Organization button 

4. Updated Grant Disbursement Process

You will be eligible for grant disbursement based on two milestones.

Milestone 1 - Disbursement at Commissioning 


Conditions for Milestone 1

Once you have connected the customers, you are required to upload the proof of customer connections on the Odyssey platform. To do this:
  1. Navigate to the Connections module of the claim
  2. Select the Download Template button to download an Excel template where you can input your proof of customer connections. A description of the data you should include in each column is outlined below:

    Field Name

    Information

    External ID

    Required - This is the ID of the Meter associated with the connection. This value must be unique for each row. In most cases, this is the serial number of the meter

    Customer Name

    Required - The name of the customer being connected to power. 

    Gender of Primary Account Holder

    Required - Specify the gender of the primary account holder of the connection. 

    Customer Category

    Required - The customer category of the connection.

    Customer Type

    Required - The customer type name of the customer connection. This is a sub-category within Customer Category.  A few examples would be Large Household, Small Household etc. 

    Location (Address)

    Required - The physical address of the customer connection. 

    Location (State)

    Required - The state within Nigeria of the customer connection. 

    Phone Number

    Required - Enter the phone number associated with the customer connection.

    Latitude

    Required - The latitude of the connection in Decimal Degrees (ex: an acceptable format is: "12.7518" not 12°45.108' N)

    Longitude

    Required - The longitude of the connection in Decimal Degrees (ex: an acceptable format is: "12.7518" not 12°45.108' E)

    Date Connected

    Required - The date the customer connections was made. The date should be formatted as: "YYYY-MM-DD" in your Excel template (ex: you would enter 2019-11-15 if the payment was made on November 15, 2019).


    4. Navigate to the Connections tab and Submit them to REA.


Milestone 2 - 90 days after successful verification

A second disbursement will be made on a rolling basis, upon 3 months of satisfactory connections and service delivery. There should be successful verification on the Odyssey platform via Remote Verification and the  Independent Verification Agency (IVA)

 

Do not make any changes to the Meter ID’s approved for Milestone 1

5. Report on your Milestones;

A new tab  (Milestones) has been added to the navigation bar, this is where you will now be reporting your milestone updates on your project development to the REA program administrators. You will no longer make updates via the messages tab. To do this;
  1. Within each project, select the Milestones tab from the top navigation bar
  2. Select the milestone to open it and ten click on Edit Milestone to give a status update
  3. Provide a status update for each milestone, details on the milestone progress, and any documentation
NOTE: If you do not have a milestone to report on for the month, ensure you fill out the detail section of the last milestone with "No update"

Additional Milestones

  1. You can customize additional Milestones for your projects by:
    1. Click on the + Add Milestones sign in the Additional Milestones section
    2. Input the milestone that you want to report on and a description of it and then click on Add Milestone to create it
    3. Select the newly created milestone from the list below 
    4. Click on Edit Milestone to provide a status and any required details
    5. Click on Confirm to save it.
     
PBG Program Requirement
Once your site-specific application is approved by the PBG administrators, you will need to provide a status update in the Milestones Tab when you begin construction and when the site is commissioned.

A description of the application milestone you will set is provided below:

  • Financing Secured
    Once you have secured financing needed to begin purchasing materials for and constructing your site, set the status of your project to "Financing Secured" to update the PBG program administrators on your project progress.

  • Purchase Order Assets
    Once you have placed an order for the purchase of materials for the site, set the status of your project to "Purchase Order Assets" to update the PBG program administrators on your project progress.

  • All Goods Received (Cleared Customs)
    Once you have received the materials and cleared them.

  • Installation (All Goods on Site)
    Once all materials required for construction are at the site and you are able to begin the installation of the mini-grid components., set the status of your project to "Installation (All Goods on Site)" to update the PBG program administrators on your project progress.

  • Under Construction
    Once you have begun construction on your project, set the status of your project to "Under Construction" to update the PBG program administrators on your project progress.

  • Commissioned
    Once you have submitted proofs of customer connection for grant disbursement in the Connections section of Odyssey, set the status to "Commissioned" to update PBG administrators on your project progress

  • Customers Connected
    Once customers have begun using power at the site, set the status of your project to "Customers Connected" to update the PBG program administrators on your project progress. The Odyssey team can work with you at this point to integrate your meter consumption data to support remote verification of the site.  Learn more here.


A description of the Project application status the program managers will set is provided below:
  1. Under Review
    Your application is currently being reviewed by the program managers.
  1. Incomplete
    Your site-specific application is incomplete and requires additional information. Your project has been reopened to allow for editing. Once you add the required information, you can resubmit your project for review.

  2. Approved/Grant Agreement Under Review
    Your application has been reviewed and accepted. The grant agreement is currently under review.

  3. Grant Agreement Signature
    The grant agreement for your project has been signed.

  4. Commissioned
    The project has been commissioned and is in progress.

  5. Declined
    Your application is not approved for the program.

  6. Cancelled
    The project has been cancelled.


6. Submit Connections for Verification

Once your mini-grid project has been commissioned, you will submit proofs of customer connection for grant disbursement. 

1. Integrate Meter Data

Odyssey enables you to integrate operating data in the data integrations section of Odyssey. For remote verification of connections, Odyssey automatically checks your meter and payment data integrated with Odyssey to verify that your connections have been supplied electricity and meet program requirements. Learn more about setting up a data integration.

Once your site has been commissioned, please complete your meter integration as soon as possible so your data will be available when you are ready to complete remote verification. 

2. Complete remote verification and submit your connections 

You will upload connections and complete remote verification in the Connections module of each project. Learn more about completing remote verification and submitting your connections.

PBG Program Requirement

A connection will be considered verified if Odyssey finds the following:· 
  1. Two instances of consumption greater than zero in the last year that are greater than 90 days apart (so it's not dependent on the connected date you put on your connections sheet)
  2. Total consumption > 0 kWh

Verify your Connections

  1. To verify your connections;

  1. Select the checkbox next to each connection you would like to submit
  2. Select Verify
Once you select 'Verify', the verification process will be initiated and the status of each of them will be displayed. Review the meaning of each status below:
  1. Verification in progress
    The request to verify the connection has been sent.

  2. Meter Reading not found
    No data was found for the meter. Please check your integration again

  3. Data out of date range
    Consumption was found, but not within the date range of the rule (e.g. Consumption is greater than zero but doesn't meet the 90-day date range)

  4. Didn’t meet requirements
    Consumption is equal to 0

  5. Error during verification
    An unexpected error occurred.

  6. Verified
    Verification was successful

3. View your connections status

Once you have submitted connections, the PBG program administrators will review your connections and either mark the connections as Approved, Paid, or Rejected.  You can view a summary of the status of all connections in the summary at the top of the Connections module and will be notified by email of any connection status updates.

  1. Not Submitted
Connections are uploaded to Odyssey but not submitted. 
  1. Submitted Connections
investor has received the connections.
  1. Approved Connections
Investor has approved the connection
  1. Paid Connection
Investor has given the connection a tier, assigned a payout, and paid for the connection.
  1. Rejected Connections
The investor received the connection and there was a reason the connection was refused. You can rectify the connection (ex: adding missing information) and submit again if appropriate. Please check the Messages section of your project for more information from the program administrator.


7. Messaging program administrators

You can communicate with the Program administrators 
  • Navigate to the Messages module in your project.
  • Write your message 
  • Click on Submit to send it.



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