Solar Project Proposal ENG

Solar Project Proposal
TITLE
Submitted by
COMPANY
Version Date of submission: Summary of required changes /made compared to previous version
1 dd/mm/yyyy -------
Project proposal submitted as part of the Energising Development Rwanda promotion of village grids
COMPANY TITLE 01/06/16
Content
List of acronyms.....................................................................................................................................6
1. Project presentation.......................................................................................................................7
1.1. Qualitative description of the project.....................................................................................7
1.2. Summary table.......................................................................................................................8
2. Information about the developer...................................................................................................9
2.1. General information...............................................................................................................9
2.2. Information about technical and financial capacities.............................................................9
3. Socio-economic analysis...............................................................................................................10
3.1. Description of the village(s)/cell(s).......................................................................................10
3.2. Public institutions.................................................................................................................10
3.3. Commercial activities............................................................................................................10
3.4. Existing infrastructure & development projects...................................................................11
3.5. Evidence of local support.....................................................................................................11
4. Technical proposal........................................................................................................................12
4.1. Demand assessment.............................................................................................................12
4.2. Overview of the system........................................................................................................14
4.3. Powerhouse..........................................................................................................................15
4.4. PV Area.................................................................................................................................15
4.5. Solar charge controller.........................................................................................................15
4.6. Batteries...............................................................................................................................16
4.7. Inverter.................................................................................................................................16
4.8. Diesel Generator (if applicable)............................................................................................16
4.9. Monitoring and protection system.......................................................................................16
4.10. Wiring and auxiliary installations..........................................................................................16
4.11. Distribution network and consumer connections.................................................................16
5. Business model.............................................................................................................................18
5.1. Commercial management....................................................................................................18
5.2. Technical operation..............................................................................................................19
5.3. Business environment..........................................................................................................19
6. Financial proposal.........................................................................................................................20
6.1. Investment costs (CAPEX).....................................................................................................20
6.2. Source of Financing..............................................................................................................21
6.3. Operational costs (OPEX)......................................................................................................22
6.4. Tariff revenues......................................................................................................................22
6.5. Cash flow projection.............................................................................................................23
6.6. Financial performance and debt analysis.............................................................................24
7. Work plan.....................................................................................................................................25
8. Additional documents and certificates.........................................................................................26
8.1. Eligibility Certification...........................................................................................................26
8.2. Additional documents and certificates.................................................................................26
8.3. Photos, Technical drawings & Specifications........................................................................26
8.4. Pro-forma invoices and cost offers.......................................................................................26
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How to use this Project Proposal Template

The following Project Proposal Template has been designed by EnDev Rwanda in order to guide and
support project developers in the submission of their PV solar project proposals. Project size for
single AC distribution projects has to be between 5 and 100 kWp installed capacity. In case of a
bundle of small DC PV village grids, the minimum installed capacity of the bundle must reach at least
5 kWp.
Do not forget!
Text in grey and italic provides guidelines about
the minimum information required in each If your total net generating capacity at the time of
specific section or table; please enter first your commissioning is greater than 50 kW, you must
obtain a Simplified Licence for Isolated Grids issued
content in normal black writing below the grey
by the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA)
text and only delete the grey text once you are
according to Regulation No.
sure that you covered all required details. Also, 01/R/EL-EWS/RURA/2015 Governing the Simplified
feel free to add any additional information you Licensing Framework for Rural Electrification in
might consider useful for the development of Rwanda. If this applies to your project, make sure to
the proposal. approach RURA in the early stages of the project
development process. If the capacity is less than 50
Please consider carefully the Safety and Quality kilowatts, you must only obtain a formal exemption
Guidelines for solar village grids, which are from the licencing requirement from RURA.
provided on the UOB website. The guidelines
also recommend a number of manuals and An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) might be
reports that might support you in preparing a required by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB)
quality proposal. before the beginning of the construction phase. To
find out if you need an EIA, please contact RDB and
Please follow the proposed structure of fill out their application for EIA. After conducting a
chapters and paragraphs when completing the field study, RDB will inform you if you receive an EIA
template. Start elaborating the project exemption, if you need only a partial study
proposal from Chapter 2; Chapter 1 (composed (Environmental Management Plan), or a full EIA (for
of sub-chapter 1.1 and 1.2) should be the last which the RDB will create the Terms of Reference).
Make sure to approach RDB in the early stages of the
one to be completed, as it provides a final
project development process
overview of the proposal.
It is very important to check the consistency of the information provided at any stage of your
proposal development; if inconsistencies persist in the final document, EnDev Rwanda will assume
the most disadvantageous information available, hence affecting negatively the final score. This is
particularly true for the data presented on power demand, tariffs and revenues in the tables 2, 7 and
13.
For the financial proposal (chapter 6), you need to complete first the sections on CAPEX, OPEX,
financing and revenues in the respective sub-chapters 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4. In a second step, you
need to conduct your cash flow projection over a ten year period (sub-chapters 6.5), as well as the
assessment of the financial performance and debt (sub-chapters 6.6). For this analysis, you will not
consider the contribution of the results-based funding provided by EnDev Rwanda. We expect that
NPV and IRR are possibly low highlighting the existing viability gap, which is why you are applying for
EnDev support in the first place. However, a project needs to show that it is a cost efficient
investment and that the gap is not unrealistically large. In any case, we will not accept any project
that is not able to cover its operational costs through collected revenues.
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Please approach UOB if you would like to use the EnDev village grid cash flow spread sheet for this
exercise. After submission of your application, the cash flow projection, financial performance and
debt analysis will be repeated by UOB using the EnDev village grid cash flow spread sheet to calculate
the amount of RBF funding your projects requires and qualifies for.
Before submitting your project proposal, you can delete this section “How to use this Project
Proposal Template” from the project proposal. After a final check for completeness, please also
delete all grey explanatory text in the chapters. The application should be submitted to UOB
electronically only in MS Word (.docx) format.
We require you to submit a number of legal documents as well as photos, technical drawings and
specification sheets. These documents need to be inserted into the chapter 8 of the project proposal.
If you only have print copies of these documents, we ask you to scan them (scan in text mode to
keep the files small). In case the final proposal document gets too big (in terms of MB), you can select
a picture in your document, click on Picture Tools (Format) on the top bar, then Compress Pictures.
There, untick the option “Apply only to this picture” and select Print (220 ppi). This will reduce the
size of pictures in this document.
In case this is not working, consider to submit two separate documents, which are:
 The project proposal (chapter 1-7);
 Chapter 8, which is composed of all additional documents and certificates needed for the
assessment.
For the final signing of the RBF contract with UOB, the project proposal will be printed out, signed
and attached to the RBF contract. Any legal documents need to be provided in original only at this
occasion.
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List of acronyms
CAPEX Capital Expenditures

EARP Electricity Access Rollout Project
EBITDA Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortisation
EnDev Energising Development
GPS Global Positioning System
kW kilo-Watt (power)
kWh kilo-Watt-hour (energy)
MCB Miniature Circuit Breaker
MPPT Maximum Power Point Tracker
OPEX Operational Expenditures d’exploitation
PD Project Developer
RBF Results-Based Financing
RDB Rwanda Development Board
REMA Rwanda Environment Management Authority
RRA Rwanda Revenue Authority
RSSB Rwanda Social Security Board
RURA Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority
UOB Urwego Opportunity Bank (RBF implementing institute)
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1. Project presentation
Complete this chapter (composed of 1.1 and 1.2) once you have finished the rest of the proposal and
make sure that the information provided is consistent with the information provided elsewhere!
1.1. Qualitative description of the project

Please provide a qualitative overview of the project in one page. It should provide the following
information:
 Location of the project (villages to be connected, accessibility to the plant, e.g. dirt-road for 5km,
others to be specified by the PD);
 Characteristics of the beneficiaries (number of households, social and community institutions, e.g.
schools, health centres, churches; commercial activities to be connected; main business activities
in the area, others to be specified by the PD)
 Characteristics of the plant (installed PV capacity, total batter capacity @ C20, inverter capacity,
diesel generator capacity – if any, others to be specified by the PD)
 Costs and financing of the project (financing, including how you plan to obtain pre-financing for
the project, tariff collection system)
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1.2. Summary table
Location of the plant

Province District
Sector Cellule
Village(s)
GPS (plant) Longitude: Latitude:
Directions from the closest urban centre
Access to the
Mean of transportation needed to reach the site;
site
Accessibility over the year (if rains affect accessibility)
Customers
Item Power demand Daily Energy
Number
Customers (kW) demand (kWh)
Households
Social and community institutions
Business customers
TOTAL -
PV Plant
Installed PV capacity [Wpeak] Total battery capacity @ C20
[kWh]
Total Inverter capacity [kW] Diesel generator capacity* [kW]
* If applicable
Distribution network
Distance from powerhouse to furthest 1-phase customer [m]
Distance from powerhouse to furthest 3-phase customer [m]
Total extension of 1-phase distribution [m]
Total extension of 3-phase distribution [m]
Metering system Meters and/or load limiter
Prepaid/postpaid, flat rate
Tariff system
or metered
Costs and Financing

Total project cost RWF or USD Cost per kW installed RWF or USD/kW
Civil Engineering Structure RWF/USD (Add % of the total cost in brackets)
Electrical equipement RWF/USD (Add % of the total cost in brackets)
Distribution grid RWF/USD (Add % of the total cost in brackets)
Office equipment RWF/USD (Add % of the total cost in brackets)
Other (non-construction) costs RWF/USD (Add % of the total cost in brackets)
Loan % over the total project cost, payback time, interest rate
Contact
Project developer Name, phone number, e-mail
Local chief(s) Name(s), phone number(s)
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2. Information about the developer
2.1. General information

Please provide the following information:
 Company name;
 Address (in Rwanda and abroad if applicable);
 Legal status:
o Type of company (sole proprietorship, partnership, Ltd, others)
o Ownership (name of the owners and respective shares)
o Date of establishment (and transfer to current owners, if applicable)
 Organisational structure (name of key employed staff and their role – it can also be
represented in a chart);
 Contact person (name, role, phone number, email)
 Company bank accounts (bank, account holder and account numbers)
Attach the following documents in Section 8.2 Additional documents and certificates:
 RDB Certificate of domestic company registration;
 RSSB certificate of social security clearance;
 RRA certificate of tax clearance;
Fill in the company self-certification of compliance with the requirement using the template in
paragraph 8.1 – Eligibility Certification
2.2. Information about technical and financial capacities

Please provide an overview of your technical and financial capacities, specifically:
 Short description of the capacities of the proposed key experts for this project;
 Short description of all previous projects related to the proposed activity;
 If existing, Information about the turnover of 2015 of the company (relevant figures about
financial statement);
 Describe the accounting system to record financial transactions (cash management, bank
account management, frequency of financial reports, experiences with annual tax
statements);
Attach the following documents in Section 8.2 Additional documents and certificates:
 Full CVs of the proposed experts for this project (diploma certificates not needed);
 Full description of all previous projects related to the proposed activity (including installed
capacity and specific activities, such as design, construction, commissioning, others);
 If existing, financial statement of 2015
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3. Socio-economic analysis
3.1. Description of the village(s)/cell(s)

Please write a half-page qualitatively describing the village(s)/cell(s) that will benefit from the
electricity provided by the project, including:
 Main sources of income for villagers;
 Connection to main roads/ distance to the next paved road, etc;
 The GPS coordinate for each village to be connected;
 Other information considered important;
Figure 1: Project location

Insert here a district map showing the location of the villages/cells; it could either be a scan of paper
maps or the screenshot of an electronic map (such as Google maps), where the location of the
villages to be electrified is pinpointed (with a marker).
Fill in table 1 below to define and cluster households, commercial activities and public/social
institutions by village. It should include the total numbers of households, business activities, social
and community institutions (and not only those you are willing to electrify).
Table 1: Village overview
Village 1/cell Village 2/cell Village 3/cell TOTAL

HOUSEHOLDS
BUSINESS ACTIVITIES
Type 1
Type 2
…
SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY INSTITUTIONS
Type 1
Type 2
…
3.2. Public institutions

Please list for each village/cell the existing schools and health centres explaining
 The type of school (primary, secondary, vocational, boarding) or health centre;
 The usual daily hours of use (even state if buildings are used for different purpose in the
evenings)
 Please specify what energy sources the institutions currently use and what these are used for.
3.3. Commercial activities

Please provide for each village/cell a short description of the existing commercial activities. Explain in
how far there is demand/potential to replace existing diesel engines or enhance labour intensive work
by electric powered mechanisation. Describe possible barriers mentioned by local business to manage
the investment in electrical equipment and how you aim/facilitate to overcome such barriers.
Estimate possible power demand of commercial customers. In section 4 table 2, you should only
include such customers for which you can present a realistic scenario.
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3.4. Existing infrastructure & development projects

Please list all infrastructure and development projects – completed, operational and planned - in the
targeted villages (such as roads, water management, resettling, irrigation, health, education, others
to be specified by the PD) with a particular focus on energy projects.
3.5. Evidence of local support

Please describe how the project has been introduced to the local population and the expectations and
possible reservations of the population in respect to the project. Please also give details about how
you have explained or plan to explain the tariff model to the future customers (no need to explain the
tariff model here, but describe how you have or plan to explain it to your future customers, e.g. by
preparing a Tariff leaflet, having a village meeting, others to be specified by the PD).
Also, demonstrate support at local level by attaching the following documents in Section 8.2:
Additional documents and certificates:
 Expression of interest from the local chief(s) to benefit from the electricity service against
payment of fees. The letter needs to be certified by the respective cell authority.
 Letter from the District authorising the project.
 OPTIONAL: List of names and phone numbers of targeted future customer
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4. Technical proposal
For the development of the technical design, please consider the “EnDev Rwanda Quality and Safety
Guidelines for solar village grids” which are provided as part of the application package. We can
provide all recommended free literature and manuals upon request. Additionally, we are also sharing
our checklist for project commissioning that will give you an idea what we are looking for during
commissioning.
4.1. Demand assessment

The proposed steps and structure of the demand assessment is only intended as guidance. You can
used a different approach but you need to make it transparent and provide a load curve (figure 2)
and the data required in tables 2 and 3.
Power demand and willingness to pay

For the assessment of power demand, the following steps are proposed:
Step 1: Based on the socio-economic assessment presented in chapter 3 and based on a first
estimation of the possible coverage of your distribution network, you should identify the power
demand of your future customers based of the type of appliances they plan to use. Customers may
list an unrealistic array of appliances they would like to use but possibly cannot afford to procure or
use them. It is recommended to also assess the maximum willingness to pay of customers (RWF per
month) as a means to crosscheck if the demand is realistic (effective demand). This information will
also help you later to design a realistic tariff model. You should develop and use a structured
interview template to collect all information required from your customers during a short interview.
In case of significant power demand and willingness to pay outside the foreseen reach of your
distribution network, you may consider serving these customers with stand-alone systems such as
battery systems, PicoPV systems or SHS.
Step 2: Targeted customer in the three categories households, businesses, and social & community
institutions should be clustered into homogenous groups based on their specific power demand
characteristic (peak power demand).To establish these clusters, define in table 2 below for each
customer group the type of appliances used (column A), the power demand of each appliance
(column B), the number of this type of appliance (column C), to calculate the respective power
demand for each type of appliance (column D) and the resulting total power demand for each
customer group as the sum of total power demand (column E). Do these calculations first in a
spreadsheet and copy it into table 2 below once you finalised the exercise.
Table 2: Estimation of power demand

B C D E
A
Number of Power Total power Total power
Customer group Type of appliances
appliances demand of demand demand
used
appliance (BxC) customer
Households
Appliance 1 (e.g. light) # W W
Type 1 Appliance 2 (e.g. radio) # W W W
Appliance 3 # W W
Type 2 Appliance 1 (e.g. light) # W W W
Appliance 2 (e.g. radio) # W W
Appliance 3 # W W
… … # W W W
Business
customers
Type 1 … # W W W
Type 2 … # W W W
… … # W W W
Social &
community
institutions
Type 1 … # W W W
Type 2 … # W W W
… … # W W W
Daily load curve

A load-curve (x: daily hours in 1h intervals vs. y: power demand) for each customer group should be
provided, as well as a final (cumulative) daily load curve for all customers (figure 2). Based on this
load curve, the average daily and monthly energy demand can be estimated for all your customers.
You will need such load curves to calculate/model the demand supply match (possibly by using
software such as Homer or PVsyst). This will also help you to estimate your average electricity
consumption and respective revenues in chapter 5.
For elaboration of a load curve, the following steps are proposed:
Step 1: Based on the information provided in table 2, you can now prepare a load for each customer
group by defining the size of the customer group and the percentage of use of the maximum load of
the respective customer group in any 1 hour interval of the day (e.g. from 7-8 am). To get the
information on hourly use you need to discuss with the customer their daily use pattern of their
appliances (e.g. no use from 11pm to 5 am, only lights from 5am to 6 am, occasional use of radio and
phone charging during the day, full use from 6 pm until 11pm). Use spreadsheet software to define
the load profile over the 24h interval and to prepare graphs.
Figure 2: Presentation of daily load curves for all customer groups

Please insert here a figure with the daily load curves for each customer group/unit, and the
resulting load curve providing clear information about peak power and daily energy demand;
STEP 2: Discuss the result of your demand assessment and the presented load curve. You can easily
calculate the average power demand by adding the electricity consumption of each 24 hour interval.
Be aware that this load curve does not give you a safe estimation on your possible peak load but only
the average load demand! To safely estimate your peak load, you need to assume that all your
customers use the maximum power you allow them to use at the same time. So you can calculate the
possible peak load by multiplying the total power demand in column E of table 2 by multiplying each
cell with the number of customers in this category as proposed in table 3 (column C).
STEP 3: Summarise the result of your demand assessment in table 3 below. Use for column B the data
of column E of table 2. Explain any technical measures taken to safeguard that max power demand of
specific customer groups and customers is respected (load limiters, MCBs, other control systems). In
case you plan to include virtual customers (see section 4.11) please add these customers in their
respective category as an extra customer group.
Table 3: Overview on demand assessment

E
C D
A B Total daily
Customer group Peak power Daily energy
Number Max power energy
(A x B/1000) demand
demand
Households
Type 1 W kW kWh kWh
Type 2 W kW kWh kWh
… W kW kWh kWh
Business customers
Type 1 W kW kWh kWh
Type 2 W kW kWh kWh
… W kW kWh kWh
Social & community institutions
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Type 1 W kW kWh kWh

Type 2 W kW kWh kWh
… W kW kWh kWh
Total peak power and daily energy demand kW kWh
Demand-supply management
Please discuss your load management strategy below. How do you limit the maximum power use
stated above in table 3 for each customer (load limiter, MCB)? What is the reaction speed and
accuracy of these devices (most thermal MCBs have a poor accuracy and are slow, which could result
in a break-down of your network before the MCB is triggered)?
As solar radiation is limited to and varying over the day hours; you need to model the supply demand
match using software such as Homer or PVsyst to determine the least cost-mix of PV installation,
battery storage and possible use of a diesel gen-set. You should also consider a modular and
expandable infrastructure that enables you to expand your PV module or battery capacity to cater to
possible future demand growth.
If the total cost of the systems gets too high to cater to the identified mix of local demand and
purchase power, you could consider the following options to reduce investment costs:
 Reduce the power offered to specific customer groups: reducing the size of the MCB, have
them shared among different customers (for example, 1 A MCB every 4 households, or use
the power availability in terms of hours per day);
 Reduce the number of customers: you have to balance the cost of the distribution network
for remote customers; in case of supply constraints you can improve your profitability by
focussing on customers in a close range to your power plant.
 Use active load management: by shifting power demand to the day hours (as far as possible
e.g. for productive use) you can reduce the required storage capacity.
 Design a modular system: by designing a modular system (e.g. by oversizing the power-
house to store more batteries in the future), you will be able to add capacity in case the
demand of your customers increases above your present availability.
4.2. Overview of the system

The following sections require general parameters needed to evaluate the quality of the concept of
your PV system(s). These values can be calculated either by means of computational tools, or by
direct calculation. In the former case, please state here which software was used (such as Homer,
PVsyst or others). Otherwise, provide all calculations in each relevant paragraph.
Table 4: Solar Irradiance

Location
MINIMUM daily solar irradiance [kWh/m2/day] Date of minimum solar irradiance
Assumed losses for reflection,
% Explanation
heat, cables, inverter, storage
MININMUM daily available power
[kWh/m2/day]
generation
Source of data
Table 5: PV plant configuration
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Please describe here the selected overall technical design and configuration of the PV power plant. In
case a diesel generator is used, explain mode of operation (back-up or parallel operation).
Installed PV capacity
Installed Inverter capacity
Battery capacity @ C20
Diesel generator capacity (if
any)
Figure 3: Overview map on main PV mini-grid components

Insert a map here identifying the location of the main components of the plant, including distances in
metres; it could either be a scan of paper maps/drawings or the screenshot of an electronic map
(such as Google maps).
Assumptions and factors

Please present here in detail all safety and design assumptions and factors you have considered in the
design of each component of your plant. You can refer to the “Quality and safety guidelines for solar
village grids” for support.
Environmental analysis
Please provide a description of the measures you will put in place to mitigate potential environment
hazards (e.g. leakage of batteries, spilling of diesel).
Also, please state whether you received an exemption (environmental clearance) for the EIA
(Environmental Impact Assessment) or not.
Attach RDB environmental clearance or approved EIA in Section 8.2: Additional documents and
certificates
4.3. Powerhouse
Please provide a description of the general layout (rooms and functions), materials (floor, walls, roof,
and doors), dimensions (height, length, and width), and the ventilation systems (number and location
of openings/windows).
Indicate the position of all electrical equipment in the powerhouse.
Finally, please state how safety and long-term operations will be ensured (how to avoid trespassing,
presence of lightning rod and grounding system, internal lights, no danger in respect of floods and
landslides, others to be specified by the PD)
Insert calculations and measures here.
Attach technical drawings in Section 8.3: Photos, Technical drawings & specifications
4.4. PV Area
Please provide a description of the PV module type, technical specifications and total size.
Explain the layout of the PV module array set-up, mounting structure, foundation and wiring.
Explain positioning of combiner boxes and wiring to the power house.
Insert calculations and measures here.
Attach technical drawing and location photos in Section 8.3: Photos, Technical drawings &
specifications
4.5. Solar charge controller

Please provide all specs (type, manufacturer, design capacity, MPPT characteristic, charging scheme,
etc.)
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Provide calculations and explanation for design and selection here.

Attach specs sheet in Section 8.3: Photos, Technical drawings & specifications
4.6. Batteries
Please provide a description of the brand, type, size, and number of batteries proposed.
4.7. Inverter
Please provide a description of the brand, type, size, and number of inverters proposed.
4.8. Diesel Generator (if applicable)

Please provide a description of the specifications, including the type, manufacturer, origin, capacity,
rated power, nominal rotational speed (rpm).
Also, provide an overview of the power needed on daily basis (x: daily hours in 1h intervals Vs. y:
power generation) and an estimation of total energy produced per day by the generator.
Make sure that the energy output of your diesel generator on annual basis is less than 50% of the
total energy output of the system.
4.9. Monitoring and protection system

Please provide a description of the specifications including the type, manufacturer, origin remote
access, as well as information about the meters installed and the lockable box for connections.
Attach specs sheets in Section 8.3: Photos, Technical drawings & specifications
4.10. Wiring and auxiliary installations

Please provide information about cabling and the grounding of all system (PV panels, charge
controller batteries, inverter, generator, control panel, etc.), including the lightning rod. Also, provide
information about the availability of a toolbox and spare parts.
4.11. Distribution network and consumer connections
Distribution network
Please describe the overall concept including a description of how safety of power distribution will be
ensured. In particular, the following aspects need to be covered:
 Distribution cables are out of reach;
 Poles are well placed and stable;
 Risk of landslides is prevented for any components;
 All wires and connections are insulated
 All electric sockets are grounded;
Figure 4: Overview map on the distribution network
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Insert a map here identifying the location of the powerhouse, the village(s) and the (main) customers
indicating distances in metres. If you do not have a high resolution map of the area, use google earth
and mark the position of main components.
Please describe how you will meet the EARP design standards and guideline as mentioned in the
Quality and Safety Guidelines for solar Village Grids.
Fill in the table below information on the distribution network:
Table 6: Distribution network

Items 1 phase 3 phases
Total length of the distribution system [m]
Distance from the power house to the closest customer [m]
Distance from the power house to the furthest customer [m]
Number of poles
Average distance between poles [m]
Poles height [m]
Poles materials
Cables type, material, and size
Consumers connections
Please provide information on how you will ensure safety for the customers.
Attach specs sheet in Section 8.3: Photos, technical drawings & specifications
Virtual power customers

In case additional customers are connected via stand-alone power systems owned and operated by
the project developer, describe the type of systems (battery systems, SHS, PicoPV systems) used. Be
aware that in case of SHS and PicoPV systems, only Lighting Global certified products can be
accepted. In case of battery systems, detailed technical specifications need to be submitted.
Attach specs sheets for the used stand-alone systems in Section 8.3: Photos, technical drawings &
specifications
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5. Business model
5.1. Commercial management
Metering system
Please explain the metering system adopted, whether it is post-paid, pre-paid, or hybrid (based on
the type of customer).
Consumer fees, for connection and use

Please describe the fees systems for your customers in the table below, including the contribution for
connection and information about the purchase or rent of the metering systems (kWh-meters and/or
MCBs), and who covers those costs. If three-phase connections are provided, please list the customers
that will benefit from it, and their fees.
Please explain how and when the connection fee shall be collected. In case you want to use the
connection fee as part of your own equity for your loan application to a bank you need to explain how
you can collect the connection fee before start of construction.
Table 7: Village Grid Tariff System

Please enter in every row either the “Flat fee” or “Metered fee”. In case of a combination of monthly
base/rental fee plus metered tariff, use the column “flat fee” for the base/rental fee. In such a case
please explain if the base/rental fee includes an initial package of kWh or not. Also, use the same
structure and numbers proposed in tables 2 and 3 in chapter 4.1.
Connection
Single or 3-Phase Flat fee Metered fee
Customer group # fee
connection (RWF/month) (RWF/kWh)
(RWF)
Households
Type 1 1-phase/ 3-phase
… 1-phase/ 3-phase
Business customers
Social & community institutions
Tariff collection and management

Please explain how revenues will be collected (pre-paid, post-paid) and how you aim to ensure an
efficient tariff collection.
 The provision of a bookkeeping system and the personnel for the tariff collection should be
described here.
 Also, include information on how the revenues will be safely put aside (bank account, others
to be specified by the PD), and how you plan to finance operations and management costs in
the future.
 How do you deal with customers who stop paying or pay irregularly?
17
5.2. Technical operation
Technical and management staff

 Describe the set-up of the technical team, such as staff for operation and maintenance, as well as
guards to ensure safety.
 Also, provide information about how the team will be remunerated and on which basis.
Operation & Maintenance

Please describe how you will ensure operation and maintenance.
 Include a schedule for ordinary maintenance,
 Explain how you plan for extraordinary maintenance and provide the contact people for the
retrieval of spare parts.
 Explain operation and maintenance in case of virtual customers.
5.3. Business environment

Please provide information on potential competitors (solar home systems, charging stations, solar
lanterns, etc.) and how you will deal with them.
What is your plan in case your target villages are connected to the main grid in the coming years?
18
6. Financial proposal
A clear financial proposal is crucial to analyse the commercial viability of the project without and with
the Results-Based Financing offered by EnDev. High quality and accuracy of provided cost data will
ensure that your project qualifies for bank financing and reduce risk of the long term commercial
operation.
 Please enter all available information on CAPEX, OPEX and your financing resources in the
tables of section 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4.
 Implement the cash flow projection and financial performance & debt analysis. EnDev offers
a spreadsheet cash flow tool to calculate the cash flow and prepare the financial data
required in the table 6.5 and 6.6 of this chapter.
 The calculation of the RBF contribution will be implemented after proposal submission by
Urwego Opportunity Bank (UOB)/EnDev Rwanda.
6.1. Investment costs (CAPEX)

Prepare a cost breakdown of investment costs in the tables 8, 9 and 10 below. Explain and justify the
proposed costs. Not all entries need to be filled.
Attach a detailed Bill of Quantity in “Paragraph 8.3: Photos, Technical drawings & Specifications”
Attach any pro forma invoices in “Paragraph 8.4: Pro-forma invoices and cost offers”
Table 8: Village Grid Tariff System

Basis of Estimate (project developer's own cost
Item RWF or USD
estimate or pro forma invoice)
Solar power plant
Preliminary sites works explain
Solar panels explain
Mounting structure and foundations explain
Combiner boxes and wiring explain
Batteries explain
Charge controller explain
Inverter explain
Surveillance and monitoring system explain
Power house explain
Other explain
Total -
Distribution grid
LV ABC conductor and accessories explain
LV Poles explain
Service connection (Pole/customer) explain
Meters/load limiters explain
Household installations/appliances explain
Other explain
Total -
Virtual systems
Battery/SHS/PicoPV systems explain
Other explain
Total
Office equipment
Furniture explain
Equipment explain
Other explain
Total -
TOTAL
Table 9: Non-Construction Costs
Basis of Estimate (project developer's own cost

Item RWF or USD
estimate or pro forma invoice)
Non-Construction costs
Development and design explain
Expropriation explain
Simplified license (50-100 kW) 500 USD
Environmental management explain
Training of technicians explain
Other explain
TOTAL
Table 10: Total cost summary

Check consistency with the above tables. Also, specify the percentage of contribution of each item to
the total cost.
Item RWF or USD %
Solar Power Plant
Distribution system
Virtual system
Office equipment
Non-Construction costs
TOTAL
Contingency (5%)
GRAND TOTAL
Cost per kW capacity
Cost per connection
6.2. Source of Financing

Insert in table 11 below the amount of funding by source. The total amount of financing has to match
the Grand Total of your CAPEX calculated in the previous section.
 Explain how this funding shall be raised and what steps in that process have already been
conducted (e.g. meeting banks, agreeing with customers on advance payment, etc.).
 Describe any past, current and future subsidies received in relation with the proposed project,
if any (type of subsidy, amount, funder, time). Not sharing this information will be considered
as fraud.
Table 11: Overview on financing

Connection fees can only be considered as equity to the extend as clear contractual arrangements
with the future customers exist that specify the clear date of advance payment already at start of
construction. Any other connections fees should be entered into first year revenues of the cash flow
projection.
Source RWF or USD %
20
Equity
Project Developer Equity
Connection fee contributions
Credit
Commercial bank loan
Other loan
Grant
Grant by district or other donor
Total Funding
6.3. Operational costs (OPEX)

Present and justify your cost estimation for the village grid operation in the table below.
Also, include average annual costs for scheduled maintenance and replacement over the next 10
years (e.g. if you need to replace bearings every 5 years you need to include 1/5 of that replacement
cost under the topic plant maintenance).
Table 12: Overview on Operational Costs

Item RWF or USD Basis of Estimate
Personnel explain
Diesel fuel (if applicable) explain
Plant Maintenance explain
Maintenance of distribution system explain
Insurance explain
Water and Electricity explain
Office Equipment explain
Consumables (excl. office equip.) explain
Communications and Promotions explain
Transport explain
Local Taxes explain
Environmental Management explain
Other operating costs explain
TOTAL
Explain what annual cost increase of your operational costs you expect (price inflation)
6.4. Tariff revenues

Estimate expected annual revenues based on your proposed tariff model (section 5.1) as proposed in
the table below. Consider a fee collection rate of 90% and the due VAT of 18%.
Table 13: Village Grid Tariff revenues

Please note that in every row either the “Flat fee” or “Metered fee” can be filled-in, and not both.
Also, use the same structure and numbers proposed in the tables 2, 3 and 7 in chapter 4.1 and 5.1
respectively. For column E use the daily value of column E in table 2 to calculate the monthly value. In
case of a hybrid tariff consisting both of a monthly base/rental fee and a metered fee, and if the
base/rental fee includes an initial package of kWh (see section 5.1) then you need to deduct this
initial package from the monthly energy consumption (as you cannot sell this power again as
21
metered tariff). Enter the value for the estimated monthly energy consumption for all customers,
regardless if flat fee or metered fee!
A B D E F
C
# Monthly flat Metered fee Monthly Total
Customer group Total flat fee
fee (per kWh) energy metered Fee
(A*B)
consumption (A*D*E)
Households
Type 1 RWF RWF RWF kWh RWF
… RWF RWF RWF kWh RWF
Commercial customers
Social institutions
Total monthly fee RWF RWF RWF
(-) Fee collection rate 90% RWF
(-) VAT 18% RWF
Total monthly revenues RWF
Annual revenues RWF
6.5. Cash flow projection

Prepare your cash flow projection in the separate provided cash flow excel tool and copy the results in
the empty tables 14-17 provided below. The row “Tax free RBF” will be entered by EnDev after the
financial analysis of your proposal.
Table 14: Profit & Loss Projection

Year
(000 RWF)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Revenues 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Operational costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EBITDA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EBITA Margin (%) % % % % % % % % % %

Total Depreciation 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EBIT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EBIT Margin (%) % % % % % % % % % %
Total Interest 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fee to RURA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Profit before tax
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(incl. loss forward)
Corporate tax (15%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tax free RBF 0 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Net Profit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Net Profit Margin % % % % % % % % % %
Table 15: Cash Flow Projection
22
Year
(000 RWF)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Net Profit 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Depreciation (+) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Loss carried forward (+) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Loan Repayment (-) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Net Cash Flow 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Liquidity Reserves (5%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tax on dividends (15%) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total Dividend Pay-out 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6.6. Financial performance and debt analysis
Table 16: Financial Returns

Year
(000 RWF)
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Investment 0 -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Net profit -- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accumulated profit -- 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Payback (years) 0
Internal Rate of
%
Return (%)
Net Present Value
0
(000 RWF) xx% WACC
Table 17: Debt Analysis

Year
(000 RWF) Total
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Interest paid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Principal Paid 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CAFDS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
DSCR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Figure 5: Debt Service, CFADS, DSCR & RBF

Graph to be added here
23
7. Work plan
Remember that once the contract is signed, companies have one year to finish constructing the
village grid. Please fill in the boxes in the table below identifying the delay needed for each activity (if
applicable).
Also, please try to avoid building structures (especially civil works) during the rainy season.
Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Month
ADMINISTRATIVE DOCUMENTS
Environmental Impact Assessment (RDB)
Simplified Licence for Isolated Grids (50-100 kW, RURA)
FINANCIAL CLOSE
Getting loan guaranty and bank loan
CIVIL ENGINEERING WORKS
Set-up of construction site
Procurement of materials
Adaptation of access road
Construction of powerhouse
Construction of foundation and mounting structure for PV
Securing of the system
ELECTROMECHANICAL EQUIPMENT
Procurement of equipment
Installation of equipment
Wiring
GRID
Procurement of equipment
Excavation
Pose of poles
Installation of the distribution grid
CONNECTIONS AND COMMISSIONING
Testing
Connection of customers
Commissioning
Closing of construction site
24
8. Additional documents and certificates
8.1. Eligibility Certification
I, [names], as [Title] of [name of the company], declare that by signing this project proposal for and on behalf
of [name of the company] I am certifying that all information contained herein is accurate and truthful.
I am also committed:
i. To comply with the rules and obligations governing RBF funds and
ii. To provide all data related to the RBF program and accept checks and cross-check that could be conducted by
the program
iii. To fund all activities before the reception of the incentive
iv. To maintain the connection for the period of at least 5 years
v. To keep record of project monitoring data and share them with the program
vi. To provide information and participate in interviews
I understand that any wilful misstatement or leaving out information may lead to my disqualification and
legal prosecution.
_________________________________________________ (Seal)
(Signature)
(Name and Title of authorized representative of the company)
8.2. Additional documents and certificates

 RDB Certificate of domestic company registration;
 RSSB official certificate of social security clearance;
 RRA official certificate of tax clearance;
 Full CVs of the proposed experts for this project;
 Full description of all previous projects related to the proposed activity;
 If existing, financial statement of 2015
 Expression of interest from the local chief(s) to benefit from the electricity service against
payment of fees. The letter needs to be certified by the respective cell authority.
 Letter of support from the District
 OPTIONAL: List of names and phone numbers of targeted future customers
8.3. Photos, Technical drawings & Specifications
8.4. Pro-forma invoices and cost offers
25

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Solar Project Proposal

How to use this Project Proposal Template

CAPEX Capital Expenditures

1.1. Qualitative description of the project

1.2. Summary table

Location of the plant

Costs and Financing

2. Information about the developer

2.1. General information

2.2. Information about technical and financial capacities

3.1. Description of the village(s)/cell(s)

Figure 1: Project location

Table 1: Village overview

Village 1/cell Village 2/cell Village 3/cell TOTAL

3.2. Public institutions

3.3. Commercial activities

3.4. Existing infrastructure & development projects

3.5. Evidence of local support

4.1. Demand assessment

Power demand and willingness to pay

Table 2: Estimation of power demand

Daily load curve

Figure 2: Presentation of daily load curves for all customer groups

Table 3: Overview on demand assessment

Type 1 W kW kWh kWh

4.2. Overview of the system

Table 4: Solar Irradiance

Table 5: PV plant configuration

Figure 3: Overview map on main PV mini-grid components

Assumptions and factors

4.5. Solar charge controller

Provide calculations and explanation for design and selection here.

4.8. Diesel Generator (if applicable)

4.9. Monitoring and protection system

4.10. Wiring and auxiliary installations

4.11. Distribution network and consumer connections

Figure 4: Overview map on the distribution network

Fill in the table below information on the distribution network:

Table 6: Distribution network

Virtual power customers

5.1. Commercial management

Consumer fees, for connection and use

Table 7: Village Grid Tariff System

Tariff collection and management

5.2. Technical operation

Technical and management staff

Operation & Maintenance

5.3. Business environment

6.1. Investment costs (CAPEX)

Table 8: Village Grid Tariff System

Table 9: Non-Construction Costs

Basis of Estimate (project developer's own cost

Table 10: Total cost summary

6.2. Source of Financing

Table 11: Overview on financing

6.3. Operational costs (OPEX)

Table 12: Overview on Operational Costs

6.4. Tariff revenues

Table 13: Village Grid Tariff revenues

6.5. Cash flow projection

Table 14: Profit & Loss Projection

EBITA Margin (%) % % % % % % % % % %

Table 15: Cash Flow Projection

6.6. Financial performance and debt analysis