TOR for Consultancy Support to Conduct Pre-feasibility Assessment for Deploying Green Hydrogen Based Public Transport Buses in Ahmedabad

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About the Organization

ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability is a global city network association of more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable urban development. ICLEI South Asia, the South Asian arm of ICLEI, works with regional and city governments in the South Asian region through programs and projects on climate change and urban sustainability.

ICLEI South Asia (ICLEI SA) is implementing the project on Sustainable Energy Transition (SET) in South Asia (SET South Asia), which is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) program.

About the Proposal

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has 1,113 buses having total route network length of around 3,800 kilometers, combining both AMTS (Amdavad Municipal Transport Service) and BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) services. The combined ridership of these services serves around 5 lakhs people on typical day. Out of total buses, AMC have 207 buses are electric buses, 835 buses are CNG buses. As a part of expanding its zero-emission strategy in-line with the Government of India’s Net-Zero Emission Target by 2070, the AMC foresees the role of green hydrogen in its mobility system. Further, green hydrogen-based hydrogen buses play a crucial role in achieving sustainable, zero-emission public transport, complementing battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and addressing specific operational challenges. It will further enable transition towards green hydrogen economy as envisaged in the ‘National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM)’.

Conversely green hydrogen-driven bus as part of public transport system is a comparatively new avenue in India, wherein few pilots has been done and some are in the process of implementation. Ahmedabad is identified as a deep-dive city under SET South Asia project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the South Asia Regional Energy Partnership (SAREP) program. As a part of project activities, and its role as implementing organization, ICELI South Asia aims to provide technical assistance to Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) for a comprehensive assessment of green hydrogen based public transport system implementation. The feasibility report as an outcome of this technical assistance, shall provide multi-factor analysis, identification of suitable sites and routes, and techno-commercial evaluations to support effective decision-making.

ICLEI South Asia seeks consultancy services (individuals or organization) to assist AMC in showcasing the potential for development of green hydrogen (GH2) based public transport system, assessment of infrastructure and investment needs, establishing techno-commercial viability, and detailing out phase-wise implementation plan for GH2 buses integration in the existing fleet.

Objective and tasks

 Task 1: Comprehensive Review of Policy & Regulatory Frameworks, and Best Practices

Review of global best practices

• The consultant shall undertake a thorough analysis of international best practices and implementation models (like Joint Initiative for Hydrogen Vehicles (JIVE) scheme implemented in Europe etc.) in the field of green hydrogen-based public mobility. This includes studying advancements in green hydrogen production technologies, green hydrogen bus technologies, implementation experiences, cost structures, and challenges encountered by various cities or countries that have initiated similar projects.
• The review shall cover different implementation models (public, private, or public-private partnerships), key policy frameworks that enabled successful deployments, and regulatory environments that facilitated hydrogen infrastructure development. The consultant will also study some of the best practices for gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) in public transport, with respect to bus systems. This will enable to integrate the GESI lens in the pilot as well. The consultant will assess the lessons learned from these global experiences, including financial models, technological innovations, and operational hurdles, etc.

Review of policy & regulatory context in India and Gujarat

• The consultant shall conduct a detailed review of the national and (Gujarat) state-level policy and regulatory frameworks and standards governing hydrogen-based mobility in India, including various safety and other related matters. This review shall include various policy, regulations and guidelines given by various national and state government departments, including but not limited to Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), Ministry of Power (MoP), Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) etc. The (green) electricity integration, prevailing standards, regulations, policies and rules to be reviewed and considered by the consultant.
• The necessary rules for safety, storage, installation, and handling of hydrogen shall be reviewed in the context of implementation consideration. This shall include but not be limited to Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organization (PESO), along with relevant IS/ISO/IEC/OISD/NFPA standards, and AIS-157 etc. The safety and standard regulatory framework should also include relevant Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), which is working on setting safety and technical standards for hydrogen storage and transport.
• This review should also encompass features like National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), and any state-level hydrogen or clean mobility policies, and applicable financial assistance schemes, including viability gap funding (VGF) or other incentives, designed to encourage green hydrogen adoption. The consultant will also identify gaps in the current policy environment and recommend necessary changes or clarifications that would enable smoother implementation of the pilot project.

Review of GH2 based Public Buses Technology, Pilots, and Mapping of Suppliers

• The consultant shall evaluate existing and up-coming green hydrogen pilot projects in India, and abroad with a focus on those involving public mobility, particularly hydrogen-powered buses. This shall also include an in-depth analysis of the type of work undertaken, mapping and scope of work of various suppliers, the technical specifications of buses and infrastructure used (hydrogen storage, refuelling, etc.), and the challenges faced during implementation and operations. The consultant will document the outcomes of these pilots, including any operational challenges, lessons learned, and the potential for scaling up similar projects. This review will serve as a foundation for making informed decisions regarding the proposed pilot in the Ahmedabad city.
• Moreover, the consultant shall identify and summarise list of suppliers/ service providers of various infrastructure requirements for enabling green hydrogen-based pilot at Ahmedabad. This shall include but not be limited to green hydrogen buses & its technology (Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV), Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine (H2ICE)), fuelling station, operation & maintenance, hydrogen generation – purification – distribution – storage systems, external green hydrogen suppliers/ distributors, hydrogen dispensing units, compressing or other cooling requirements etc.

Task 2: Identifying Resources, and Defining Scope for Pilot Implementation

• To understand better ground conditions, existing operating models in AMC for public buses, and suitable sites (for necessary green hydrogen-based infrastructure) and suitable routes; the Consultant shall need to carry out walk-through site visits to selected bus depots and routes in Ahmedabad, and conduct with meetings with concerned department of AMC.

Review of existing public transport infrastructure available with AMC & past data

• The consultant shall conduct a comprehensive review of the existing public transport infrastructure available with the Ahmedabad’s municipal corporation (AMC). This will include analyzing the current bus fleet, its operations, the various routes covered, and occupancy levels across these routes, and future plannings.
• The review will also encompass historical data on traffic conditions, fuel resources, fuel costs, operations and maintenance (O&M) schedules & associated costs, and the types of ownership or contract models in use. This shall also include review of key challenges/features of fleet operations, parking arrangements. It should also consider review on existing EV charging infrastructure, no. of charging depots, no. of bus charging, average charging consumption, connected load, demand patterns, charging frequency, RE integration and setoff for EV, billing and any other related information.
• The consultant shall review past work of AMC for training or other activities for encouraging women as a frontline driver for public buses. This review should also consider existing GESI mainstreaming efforts at AMTS which can be also extended to this pilot.
• ICLEI South Asia team will support for providing baseline data noted above as available and will liaise with bidder and AMC to collect additional information.

GH2 Infrastructure Sites selection and Route identification

• The consultant shall evaluate and select suitable sites for green hydrogen refueling stations based on current and projected infrastructure needs. It includes criteria for determining ideal routes, as well as early assessments of feasible corridors and probable locations for green hydrogen refueling stations and depots. This will include a detailed assessment of depotbased or en-route refueling stations, considering factors such as traffic flow, bus routes, and available land. The analysis will also cover mapping of potential external suppliers of green hydrogen, with a focus on cost, supply reliability, purity levels, and continuous availability of GH2.
• Based on this analysis, the consultant will identify potential routes for deploying hydrogen buses and assess for parking facilities. The consultant shall also visit potential sites for green hydrogen generation (as feasible), refueling, dispensing and storage units, and electrical and other infrastructure needs to accommodate the green hydrogen based public buses transition. Based on available sites, the consultant shall evaluate storage options for green hydrogen, considering the need for safe and efficient storage at refueling sites or depots.
• The consultant will estimate infrastructure and investment requirements for hydrogen refueling, including upfront capital costs for different models like in-house hydrogen generation, other infrastructure required for green hydrogen-ecosystem, public-private partnership (PPP), or other commercially viable and reliable options.
• Additionally, the consultant will provide a high-level plan for the design, permitting, and construction of hydrogen refueling stations, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and industry standards. A site survey/visit shall be conducted to assess the necessary infrastructure for accommodating hydrogen buses at the bus depots, including specialized maintenance facilities.
• The consultant will also assess various renewable energy (RE) integration options for hydrogen production – storage – and dispensing facility etc. The study will explore different procurement models for integrating RE with the production of green hydrogen, including captive RE generation, open access agreements, and other forms of procurement available to the AMC. The study will also include the electricity consumption analysis for the entire green hydrogen ecosystem, including generation, storage, and dispensing. This energy consumption will be factored into the overall feasibility analysis, providing insights into the costs, infrastructure needs, other requirements to integrate renewable energy sources.

Task 3: Feasibility Assessment with Implementation Plan

Techno-Commercial Feasibility Analysis

• The consultant shall conduct a comprehensive techno-commercial analysis to assess the feasibility of deploying green hydrogen-powered buses in the city. The infrastructure requirements shall be derived from the assessment activities conducted in Task 2 above.
• The consultant shall develop a robust financial model that evaluates the viability of a hydrogen-based bus fleet, factoring various market costs, and the other enabling schemes including viability gap funding (VGF) from central, and state governments. The total cost of ownership (TCO) model should also consider various project financing consideration and its impact on project’s viability. The TCO model will include discounted payback period calculations, project IRR, equity IRR, comparing hydrogen buses (based on FCEV, and H2ICE technology) with the replacement of existing CNG, diesel, or electric buses. A costbenefit analysis will be performed, focusing on the long-term advantages of the transition, including fuel savings, reduced emissions, and potential revenue from carbon credits or other environmental incentives.
• The overall analysis would also include a detailed breakdown of both capital expenditures (Capex) and operational & maintenance expenditures (Opex) related to the procurement of hydrogen buses, electricity consumption and workforce training.
• Based on secondary literature and market trends, assumptions on construction of green hydrogen generation, purification, storage, distribution refuelling/dispensing infrastructure to make the analysis inclusive.
• The consultant shall make at least two scenarios for green hydrogen supply for the buses (on-site generation and external procurement) in the calculations. The viability of hydrogen buses to various options, including battery electric and diesel buses should be considered. Estimates for cost benefit analysis related to above points can be based on the secondary literature and market trends.
• The analysis should also consider and project the future costs associated with green hydrogen fuel, operations and maintenance (O&M), and the potential costs of system upgrades as the technology evolves.

Pre-Feasibility Report (with Procurement Specifications)

• The consultant shall prepare a comprehensive pre-feasibility report outlining the findings from the policy and regulatory reviews, best practices, site surveys and route planning, infrastructure investments (generation-storage-dispensing-safety etc), supply-chain logistics, and other cost components (i.e. considered in techno-commercial models), as well as considerations on integrating GESI as a part of proposed pilot from the onset. Based on viability assessment, feasibility report should have willing-to-pay analysis for different models in financing part, along with proposed subsidy/VGF assistance (from central and state government) mapping.
• The pre-feasibility report will include a phased implementation plan for deploying hydrogen buses in the city (including the quantity aspects of GH2 requirements), with provisions for future scaling as the pilot project proves successful. The report will also cover technical specifications, infrastructure requirements, and financial forecasts for expanding the hydrogen fleet and refuelling network across the city over time. The consultant should recommend further safeguarding studies or evaluations that AMC can undertake to ensure holistic success of the pilot project, such as – HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Study), QRA (Quantitative Risk Assessment) etc. The report should also have details on risk assessment and mitigation strategies to address the potential problems, such as technical, financial and environmental concerns, as well as proposed mitigation strategies.
• The report should have summarized stakeholder analysis on various aspects of implementing GH2 buses in Ahmedabad city. The outline of the operational plant should be given in the report. The pre-feasibility report shall also outline a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the hydrogen bus pilot. These indicators will serve as benchmarks for evaluating the success of the pilot project and inform decisionmaking for future scaling.
• The report should also provide technical specifications and a list of other requirements for procurement of GH2 buses and related infrastructure for Ahmedabad. These specifications should be comprehensive such that, AMC can take it as a ready reference for further procurements. At last, final recommendation with actionable approach should be given in the report.

Implementation Plan

• The consultant shall also suggest an implementation plan for AMC, which can consist of best suitable option (derived from pre-feasibility report). This implementation plan should also consider, the financial investment requirement, viability gap funding sources/schemes, project financing requirements along with potential lenders in this domain, and high-level step-by-step implementation plan. The implementation phase to outline approaches for phased rollout, beginning with a pilot phase, and progressing with full-scale deployment, with specific timeframes and milestones. The consultant shall submit draft plan to AMC, and necessary modifications needs to carry out based on AMC’s requirements/inputs and submit revised plan.
• The implementation plan should also emphasize the need of training and capacity building bus operators, maintenance personnel plan, and hydrogen handling through various collaborations / possibilities.
• The implementation plan should also integrate the gender mainstreaming efforts at BRTS/ AMTS, strengthening them with respect to having a component on design feature of these buses to be universally accessible, have more women and gender-diverse folks as frontline transport workers etc. There are multiple best practices on such integration in the Indian context that can be cited, including KMRL (Kochi Metro Rail Limited); CRUT (Capital Region Urban Transport) in Bhubaneshwar etc.

Deliverables

• Inception Report
• Techno-Commercial Analysis (MS Excel File with a brief narrative on the model and guidance notes)
• Feasibility Report
• Implementation Plan
• List of Infrastructure and Equipment Suppliers (MS Excel File)

The above deliverables should encompass all the task and work mentioned in the Scope of Work of this RFP. If information collected is not part of the above deliverables, the consultant needs to submit details separately to ICLEI South Asia. The inception report should outline the work plan, timeline, methodology, and data requirements from AMC/on-site visits, coordination & reporting plan etc.

The consultant is expected to present findings and recommendations of the Task to ICLEI South Asia, SAREP-USAID and AMC. Final reports and documents shall be submitted after addressal of comments and inputs provided by ICLEI South Asia, SAREP-USAID and AMC to the draft reports.

​Eligibility

Both independent consultants and firms are welcome to apply. The consultants should ideally have the following expertise and experience:

Technical Requirements

• Minimum two experts consist of – (i) team lead in urban mobility domain, and (ii) hydrogen (or CNG or other flammable gases) and related infrastructure expert.
• Minimum 8 years of relevant combined professional experience in feasibility assessment of public transport or urban mobility.
• Minimum 5 years of relevant combined professional experience in techno-commercial assessment of mobility projects (at least one project with FCEV or EV buses)
• Minimum 5 completed assignments involving feasibility assessment for public transportation (buses) for municipal corporation / other government departments / any organizations
• Team’s relevant combined professional experience in hydrogen infrastructures like storage and distribution, and hydrogen generation and utilization in refineries/fertilizers or other industrial requirements, along with various safety standards (specially for hydrogen) such as PESO, IS/ISO/IEC/OISD/NFPA standards and other safety protocols like AIS-157 will be given preference
• The combined professional experience in the domain of green hydrogen policy and regulations, green hydrogen infrastructure, electricity policy & regulations – tariffs & grid safety aspects shall be given preference
• Any relevant experience in providing consultancy services for feasibility analysis for public transport (i.e buses), refueling stations like CNG with its storage – dispensing – safety considerations, knowledge of various ARAI standards and safety considerations, working with hydrogen production, storage, dispensing, cooling and compression system, and working with government departments will be considered as an additional advantage during the selection process. Additionally, GESI work in the domain of public mobility shall also be given preference.

Financial requirements

• The bidder (if a firm) should possess valid and relevant legal documents for taxation and financial accounting purposes issued by authorized agencies (such as GST, TIN registration as relevant).
• The bidder must be registered with relevant Income tax department and should produce Latest Income Tax clearance certificate/income tax return details for last 3 financial years.

Education Requirement

• The consultant/ Team lead (if a firm) should have a minimum of Bachelor’s/master’s degree in urban planning / transport planning – having minimum combined experience of 8 years in urban mobility or transport feasibility studies / pilots / projects
• At least one expert having a minimum of Bachelor’s/ master’s degree in chemical/mechanical engineering – having minimum of 8 years of combined experience in projects like hydrogen, high pressure storage, flammable gas process piping & infrastructure, CNG refueling and storage stations, and safety codes etc.

Language Requirement

• Proficient in English, Hindi

How to Apply

• The Terms of Reference (ToR) can be downloaded free of cost from the ICLEI South Asia website.
• The proposal document shall be submitted by bidders through email to the below mentioned email IDs on or before 18 th November 2024 (11:59 PM). nikhil.kolsepatil@iclei.org
• Nikhil Kolsepatil, Program Coordinator - Energy & Climate, ICLEI South Asia gaurav.patel@iclei.org
• Gaurav Patel, Manager - Energy & Climate, ICLEI South Asia • Contact for queries:
• Gaurav Patel, Manager - Energy & Climate, ICLEI South Asia gaurav.patel@iclei.org; +91 9173 072 735

Proposal Submitting Deadline: 18 th November 2024

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