UEF ZEDSI

UEF ZEDSI

The Universal Energy Facility uses the UEF Platform powered by Odyssey exclusively for all program activities. Submissions outside of the platform will not be accepted. 

Alert

Please read the guide thoroughly for instructions on how to submit a proposal to the Universal Energy Facility Program. 


In addition to this participation guide, please review the complete Odyssey user guides 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.


1. Review program information

If you have registered to participate in the program, you will be able to access all UEF information within the UEF Platform powered by Odyssey. You can see all program information by selecting the Finance tab and then selecting Universal Energy Facility from the Programs list. 


View program documents

  1. Select the Finance > Programs tab from the left navigation bar

  2. Navigate into the UEF ZEDSI  from the programs list

  3. Click the Resources section

  4. View and download the program documents

    • Select the documents or folders you would like to download 

    • Click the Download button

    • Read all program documents thoroughly before submitting your program application to ensure that you understand all the requirements of the program.

  5. Send any questions to the UEF admin in the Messages tab


2. Submit your project application

Applicants must describe in detail the site and mini-grid system design. To do so, Applicants will submit their mini-grid project on the UEF Platform:  

  • Create a Project

    • Navigate to the Assets section within the UEF program

    • Select the Mini-grid option under Create a new claim. Learn more about Creating a Project. 

    • On the Information tab, ensure "Universal Energy Facility - ZEDSI" is selected in the Program dropdown. This MUST be selected in order to submit to the Universal Energy Facility.

  • Complete the project data modules

Complete the initial technical analysis for the project. Please read an overview of each project module as well as the UEF requirements (as stated in the UEF Operating Manual) 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. Learn more about completing your site information.

    • You will also upload Site-Specific Project Application files in the Project Files tab for each project. You must upload the following files:

      • If your generation manufacturers vary per site, upload data sheets related to each site here. 

  • 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.  Learn more about designing your generation system

    • UEF Requirement: The proposed generation design must have a load availability of at least 97% and renewable energy production of 60%, verified via the UEF Platform’s embedded HOMER module. If HOMER cannot be used, please provide other technical justification in the Files section of your mini-grid project.

  • Distribution Design

    • Input capital expenditures related to the distribution network and customer connections. Learn more about inputting distribution design costs.

    • UEF Requirements: 

      1. Upload the design of your distribution system in the Distribution Design Files section

      2. Grantees must use customer metering solutions that can be integrated with the UEF Platform. This enables the UEF to remotely verify connections in an efficient and affordable manner.

  • General Costs

    • Input general costs related to site development and operating expenses. Learn more about tracking general 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.

  • Create your portfolio

    • Navigate to the My Projects section of Odyssey

    • Select the projects you want to include in your submission

    • Navigate to the clipboard icon at the top of the page and click on Create Portfolio

    • Name your portfolio and select the checkbox next to Create Portfolio for Financing (Tenders, RFPs, Investors)

    • Click the Create button. Learn more about creating your portfolio.

Complete your portfolio

  • Complete the form in the Business Plan section of the portfolio

  • Upload the required documents in the portfolio Data Room.

Submit your application

  • Navigate to the Portfolio Submission section of the portfolio 

  • Click on Submit Proposal to submit your Project Application 

3. Provide updates on the development milestones

As a part of your participation in the UEF ZEDSI program, it is expected that you provide frequent updates on the status of your sites.

  1. Navigate to the Finance section within the left sidebar navigation 

  2. From the home page, navigate to Programs 

  3. Select the UEF ZEDSI program

  4. Navigate to the Claims section

  5. Select the name of the project you’d like to updates

    1. Navigate to the Milestones tab and complete the below on an ongoing basis as the site progresses




Milestone Name

Description

Implementation Timeline

Please provide the implementation timeline for the following development milestones. Provide the tentative date of each development milestone on grant agreement signing.

Form: 

  • Grant agreement date:

  • Major Equipment on Site: tentative date on GAS

  • Under Construction:  tentative date on GAS

  • Commissioned tentative date on GAS

  • Eligible Customer Connections Completed: tentative date on GAS

Prospecting

The site has been identified and energy audits are in progress. 

Assets Purchase Order

An order for the purchase of the materials necessary for carrying out the construction of the Mini-Grid has been concluded.


All Goods Received (Cleared at Customs)

All materials have been cleared by the customs officials of the Project Host Country, fully received by the Grantee and ready to be transported to the Mini-Grid Site.

Major Project Equipment on Site

The Major Project Equipment has arrived at the Mini-Grid site.


Installation / Under Construction

The materials have reached the Mini-Grid Site and construction of the Mini-Grid has commenced.

Milestone 1: Mini-grid Commissioning and Testing

The Project has been commissioned and the Commissioning Tests have been carried out. 


Actual commissioning date: 


  • File upload, commissioning report

  • Checkbox: Also, please fill out a claims report template for ZEDSI connections has been provided for any ZEDSI-eligible customer connections (in the Connection section of the project).

  • METER TOTALIZER SERIAL NUMBER (The totalizer is the smart meter at the start of the grid / output of the plant that tracks the total consumption at the site across all mini-grid customers): 

Smart Meter provider:

[checkbox]: Please confirm that you’ve integrated the smart meters for all customers for this site with Odyssey following the instructions here


Eligible Customer Connections Completed

All ZEDSI–eligible customer connections have been connected and have begun using power from the Mini-Grid, signifying the readiness for meter integration in support of commencement of remote verification of the Mini-Grid Site. All customers have been submitted via the Connections tab of this site.


4. Submitting your claims report

Integrate CRM Data

Odyssey enables you to integrate operating data from your mini-grid sites in the Analytics > Data Integrations section of Odyssey. For connection remote verification, Odyssey automatically checks your operating smart meter data to verify that your connections have been supplied electricity and meet UEF ZEDSI 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. You will only need to complete this once per site. 

Submit your Milestone 1 claim

On commissioning and as part of updating your development milestones as specified in Step 3., you will upload claims in Odyssey for the UEF program administrators’ review and financial disbursement. 

  1. Select the Finance > Programs tab from the left navigation bar
  2. Navigate into the UEF ZEDSI from the programs list
  3. Within the UEF ZEDSI program, navigate to Claims
  4. In the Claims section, you can view and manage existing or past claims at the bottom of the page or select Productive Use to create a new claim

In your claim, you will provide details on each UEF ZEDSI eligible customer who you are submitting for UEF ZEDSI funding. To do this, 
  1. Select Connections from the top panel within your claim
  2. Click Download Template to download the Excel template, fill out the required fields, and upload the completed version
  3. Complete the following fields in the Excel connections template below:

Milestone
Milestone 1, Milestone 2
Customer Name
Enter the name of the UEF ZEDSI eligible customer
Smart Meter Serial Number
Unique identifier that must be unique for each customer
Customer ID
Customer Gender
Female, Male
Customer Category
Select from the dropdown:
Residential, Commercial, Public, Productive, Anchor
Customer Type
Specify the type of customer as a subset of the customer category. I.e. Shop, Tailor, School
Country
Zambia
Location (Province)
UEF ZEDSI Options: 

Central, Copperbelt, Eastern, Luapula, Lusaka, Muchinga, Northern, North-Western, Southern, Western

Location (Address)
Customer Phone Number
Latitude
Longitude
Date Connected
Previous Energy Source
Candles, Battery torches, Solar home system, Petrol Generator, Diesel Generator, Main grid, Kerosene lamps, other, Not Applicable
PUE Equipment Connected
PUE Equipment Brand/Manufacturer
PUE Equipment serial number
PUE Equipment Wattage/Load (kW) 
Customer/Load category
Micro: <0.4 kW
Small: 0.4-1.0 kW
Medium: 1.0-2.5 kW
Large: >2.5 kW

Expected Usage of PUE (Hours/day)
Average Energy Consumed per Customer per Day
(kWh/Day)
Please enter the expected daily consumption of the customer (in kWh) including productive use equipment usage.
Total CAPEX Cost of PUE Equipment ($)
Final Sale Price to Customer (Kwacha)
Average Monthly Electricity Revenue from Customer (Kwacha)
Collection Frequency
Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Other
Duration of Installment Payment Plan (Months)
Which demand stimulation activity did the customer benefit from (Select Impact 1):
Select one of the following items from the dropdown: 

Installation support of eligible PUE equipment and connections, After sales support/maintenance of PUE equipment and connections, Training and capacity building on financial management and tariff awareness, Sales and marketing of eligible PUE equipment, Recruitment of dedicated staff for demand stimulation activities, Retrofit of PUE Equipment, Other (please specify in description column)



If Other, please specify:
Which demand stimulation activity did the customer benefit from (Select Impact 2):
Which demand stimulation activity did the customer benefit from (Select Impact 3):


Complete remote verification and submit 

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.

  1. Verify your connections
    1. Select the checkbox next to each connection you would like to submit
    2. Select Verify
    3. 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. Verified: Verification was successful
      3. Payment not found: A payment document could not be found for the external ID of the connection.
      4. Data out of date range: At least one document was found, but not within the date range of the rule.
      5. Didn’t meet requirements: At least one document was found in the date range, but it doesn’t meet the requirements.
      6. Error during verification: An unexpected error occurred.
    4. Once your connections are ready to submit, you can select them and choose Submit
      1. Choose Submit All (Filtered) Connections from the dropdown menu to submit all connections.
      2. To submit individual connections, select the checkbox next to the connections and then select Submit > Selected Connections.
    5. View your connections status
      1. Once you have submitted connections, the UEF 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.


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