IDEAS Energy Innovation Contest in Renewable Energy

Background

Simple innovations can have a dramatic effect on the way businesses and markets operate in developing countries. Countries in the Caribbean have great potential for the development of economically and environmentally sustainable projects in key areas, such as renewable energy, energy efficiency and biofuels. Local innovation and the adaptation of existing technologies to local circumstances are essential for increasing the competitiveness of renewable energy services and tackling environmental concerns. This competition seeks to support innovative projects, enterprises, and applied technology initiatives focused on the adoption, innovation, assimilation, development and transfer of technology in connection with renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, having a tangible impact on the local or regional area, while supporting the development of sustainable economies and reducing poverty.

What is IDEAS?

IDEAS– is an Energy Innovation Contest intended to support the development of innovative projects and ideas promoting renewable energies, and improving energy efficiency and the access to energy in the region. A High proportion of the sponsorship for this contest is UKAid from the Department for International Development (DFID). IDEAS was first launched in February 2009, with the support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Government of Korea, non-governmental organization GVEP International (GVEP) and the German Technical Cooperation for Development (GIZ), and funded by the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany (BMZ), and by the Netherlands Directorate-General of Development Cooperation (DGIS). It received over 1,000 applications from 28 Latin America and Caribbean countries addressing energy efficiency, access to energy in rural areas and the expansion of renewable energy sources. 26 winners were selected in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia. IDEAS, was launched for a second time on September 15, 2011 in cooperation with the Mexican Secretariat of Energy with the support of the Sustainable Energy Fund,(FSE, as its acronyms in Spanish) the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the South Korean Government to promote innovation in the area of sustainable energy. More than 700 applications were received from Latin America and the Caribbean. As a result, about 15 winners were selected from Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Mexico in the category of Consortium with a Latin American Country lead by a Mexican Institution; addressing energy efficiency, access to energy in rural areas and the expansion of renewable energy sources.

Sponsors

The program will be jointly sponsored by UKAid from the Department of International Development (DFID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the South Korean Government and managed by UKAid from the Department of International Development (DFID) with GVEP as its implementing partner and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

• Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): a multilateral development bank aiming, among others, at mobilizing resources for investing in climate change adaptation and mitigation, especially renewable energy and energy efficiency: http://www.iadb.org.
• South Korean Government: has a strong record of fostering innovation and strategizing energy policies. In this tradition, the Government works towards achieving a low carbon society, as one of its major national energy policy goals: http://www.korea.net/.
• UKAid from the Department for International Development (DFID): is responsible for promoting development and the reduction of poverty: www.dfid.gov.uk /. DFID has an interest in supporting enterprises in the Caribbean region and has chosen GVEP as its implementing partner: www.gvepinternational.org.

The Contest

Purpose:
To support the development of innovative projects, enterprises, and applied technology projects aimed at the adoption, innovation, assimilation, development and transfer of technologies in connection with renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, energy access, climate change mitigation and fossil fuel substitution.

How to Apply:
Applicants must fill in an online application form available at IDEAS’ webpage: online application form.

Each applicant may submit only one application. Applications will be accepted in Spanish, English or French. Applications are eligible from the following Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.

Deadline for submission of applications:
The proposals must be submitted once the online application form, available at IDEAS’ webpage: online application form, has been filled out between 15 February and 30 April, 2012. Any application received after this date will not be considered.

Selection Process:
Initial screening: a team of technical experts and sector specialists from the sponsor organizations will screen the applications according to the eligibility criteria (see below). Applications that fail to meet these criteria will not be accepted.

Technical evaluation: applications will be ranked by experts according to the assessment criteria (see below), and a shortlist of semifinalists will be announced by June 2012.

Semifinalists may be required to provide additional information to the sponsor institutions, which must be submitted no later than July 1, 2012.

Final evaluation: a panel of experts will evaluate the final applications and announce the winners after July 15, 2012.

The screening and assessment criteria will include the following:

• Eligibility criteria: The competition is open to any individuals and enterprises or organizations subject to the criteria outlined below.
  
  Purpose of the projects to be proposed: Business initiatives and commercial projects which may be at an early stage but which have potential to achieve significant scale. Proposals are likely to be innovative in relation to technology or business model, and focussed on renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, climate change mitigation and fossil fuel substitution.
  
  Organization type: The competition is open to any form of organization, enterprise or individual based in the following Caribbean countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago.
  
  Time frame: Proposed activities must be completed within two years of receiving the initial disbursement.
  
  Non-reimbursable funds to be assigned:Requests for funding should not be greater than USD 200,000 per project.
  
  Existing funding: Applicants already receiving funding from the FSE, GVEP or the IDB for the past IDEAS projects are not eligible and will not be considered.
  
  Eligible expenses: Any expenses and investments directly related to the execution of the project, which are essential for its successful execution, are susceptible of being financed. Theseexpenses and investments must be fully accounted for.
  
  Counterpart contribution: Applications must include a counterpart contribution amounting to 20% of the aggregate project total budget, which may be in cash or in kind.

• Assessment criteria: Degree of innovation: Degree of incorporation of new methods that go beyond existing standards in the aforementioned areas. Innovation shall mean:
  
  New technologies;
  New combinations of existing processes or technologies;
  Cost effective technologies.
  
  Developmental impact (economic, social, environmental and technological): Potential to achieve clear and easily measurable and assessable results, and provoke a direct or potential impact in furtherance of economic and production efficiency, energy safety and environmental sustainability. Innovations must have potential to generate growth, income and employment for people; benefit the poor; facilitate the access by the poorest communities to the basic services and improve the access to energy products and services; to have a positive real impact on the environment and reduce emissions; reduce costs and improve sustainability. The proposal must provide specific indicators to monitor the project’s impact.
  
  Scalability, replicability and technical and financial sustainability: Theproject’s potential to be extended, replicated elsewhere, or adapted for broader needs within or outside the country where it was first implemented.Applications will have to provide a plan for technical and financial self-sustainability in the medium to long term.
  
  Institutional capacity and quality of the applications:Experience, institutional capacity, financial and technical capacity of the applicant, as well as the quality (consistency, level of detail, clarity and exhaustiveness) of the proposal.
  
  Transfer/delivery strategy: Intelligible transfer strategyexplaining the efficiency of the implementation, distribution and/or delivery mechanism of products/systems to the beneficiaries or clients, including the supply method or support processes, funding methods, organizational models and innovative combinations of partners/entities rendering goods and/or services.
  
  Projected risks: Level of risk in achieving the project’s purpose.

• Contract: Once the winners are announced and confirmed, contracts will be signed with the sponsors. The winners will submit project status reports in three stages, and their progress will be monitored by the sponsors. Failure to attain the proposed objectives may result in the termination of the contract. A final report will be submitted at the end of each stage.
  
  For more information, please contact ideas@iadb.org or visit the following webpage: www.iadb.org.ideas