Brief Description of the assignment: Provision of testing facilities for Clean Cook stoves

Period of assignment: November 1, 2024 – March 31, 2025

Expected start date of the assignment: November 1, 2024

Closing date for expressing interest: October 11, 2024

Expression of interest to be submitted to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Background and rationale

The Kenyan Green and Digital Innovation Hub (gDIH), is a one stop shop support facility for MSMEs, start-ups, and innovators that seek to develop and scale up their green and digital oriented business. It is mandated to support Kenyan enterprises in their digital and green transformation by providing MSMEs, start-ups, and innovators demand driven services under four key pillars: access to innovation support facilities, access to finance, skills development, innovation ecosystem building. The hub’s focus sectors are Agriculture, Energy, ICT and Smart Cities, while the focus technologies are automation, cybersecurity, cloud computing and IoT.

The use of inefficient biomass cook stoves is one of the key contributors to global climate change due to release of emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane and black carbon.  It is estimated that 68% of the sub-Saharan population use inefficient cook stoves (against 40% globally). There is an urgent need to transition households into improved cooking solutions by ensuring that tested and efficient cook stoves are widely available in the market.

The Green and Digital Innovation Hub Kenya plans to support 100 MSMEs and innovators who have developed clean cooking solutions to test their cook stoves for emissions, performance, safety and compliance with the set standards by the Ministry of Energy.

Objectives of the Consultancy

The goal of this consultancy is to contract an institution through a competitive bidding to provide testing facilities for clean cooking solutions. The selected institution will be expected to have standardized laboratory testing protocols and have the capacity to undertake testing for multiple cook stove entrepreneurs for a period of 7 months.

The Institution will work with the gDIH to raise awareness among clean cooking entrepreneurs across Kenya, many of whom may not be aware of the efficiency or emission levels of their improved cook stoves.

Supporting clean cooking entrepreneurs and MSMEs to test their solutions will contribute to affordable clean cooking products in the Kenyan market.  

Duties and responsibilities

The consultant is expected to:

1. Develop standardized laboratory testing protocols for clean cooking solutions
2. Provide testing facilities and conduct tests for 100 MSMEs
3. Provide detailed and comprehensive test reports for each innovation including performance metrics, safety evaluations, and emissions data.
4. Raise awareness of clean cooking testing protocols in the country

Experience and qualifications

• Availability of advanced testing facilities that meet international standards.
• A track record of successfully completed similar projects.
• Technical and professional capacity to handle the testing of 100 cook stoves.
• Proven experience with testing locally developed clean cooking solutions
• Testing personnel in the lab with significant experience in testing clean cooking solutions
• Strong references from previous clients or projects

Proposal Contents

Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to provide the above services by submitting an expression of interest which should include;

• Organization Profile
• Technical and professional competence in clean cook stove testing
• Evidence of similar assignments
• Financial Proposal that highlights cost of testing 100 cookstoves.

Deliverables

• Inception report
• A detailed plan outlining the testing process, including methodologies and timelines.
• Comprehensive test reports for each of the 100 cookstoves, covering performance, safety, and emissions.
• A final report that includes an overview of the testing process, key findings, and actionable recommendations. 
  

Duration

The activity is set expected to commence in November and conclude by March 2025.

How to apply

Interested parties are to submit their Expression of Interest in the form of a PDF document with the subject line Provision of testing facilities for Clean Cook stoves to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by October 11, 2024