iREREP is the official national Programme for the implementation of resource efficiencies and renewable energy at Government facilities. The programme is an initiative of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI or the Department) and is aimed at achieving key green building objectives, as contained in the South African Green Building Policy (2015).

DPWI is the largest property owner in South Africa, with a property portfolio covering 37 million square meters (sqm). Together with other government buildings at provincial and local government level, the whole of government’s property portfolio is estimated to consume 9.71 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity (approximately 5% of annual electricity produced by Eskom), and more than 94 million kiloliters of water and produces in excess of 2 million tons of waste per year.

The DPWI, through the implementation of the iREREP, seeks renewable energy and resource efficiency solutions that will reduce:

Government’s consumption of energy and water and its production of waste,
Peak electricity demand and expenditure on electricity, and
Water and waste management, and CO2

The solutions required must improve electricity and water security of supply to public buildings and overall governance of Government utilities. Through a competitive bidding process, the Department seeks to procure private parties who will partner with the Department to implement renewable energy and resource efficiency initiatives at buildings and facilities within the DPWI property portfolio.

Delivery of the Programme is anchored across the 5 key themes:

improved utilities governance;
security of supply;
budget rationalization;
socio-economic development; and
environmental sustainability.

iREREP will also contribute towards South Africa meeting its national policies and international commitments on environmental sustainability and climate change.

It is envisioned that the various phases (bidding and implementation) for the iREREP will span over 30 years. Individual projects are expected to span between 12 to 15 years. 

Bidding for projects under the iREREP will be done through a competitive bidding process. The Department seeks to identify private sector partners or resource efficiency companies, who will be able to finance, design, install, commission, operate and maintain renewable energy and resource efficiency solutions, as a single management unit, at public buildings, over the anticipated term of a projects (i.e. 12 to 15 years).

Therefore, while bidders may structure themselves as they deem fit, in line with the Programme requirements that will be set out in the RFP, it is anticipated that consortia will bid for projects under the Programme. Successful bidders will be required to incorporate a special purpose vehicle, which will enter into a PPP Agreement with the Department and, through appropriate subcontracting arrangements, implement a project.

On 20 September 2021, the Department released a Request for Information (RFI) to the market. The RFI sought to highlight the programme objectives of the iREREP, obtain information regarding the key objectives of the iREREP and gauge the market’s readiness to participate in a programme of this nature.  Responses to the RFI were submitted  on 27 October 2021. The information obtained from the RFI process has assisted the Department in structuring the Programme, projects thereunder and the bidding requirements of projects.

The Department, through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, and with the assistance of the Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) and its appointed Transaction Advisors, will undertake a competitive bidding process to identify adequately qualified private parties who can partner with the Department to achieve the Programme objectives.

• Prospective bidders will access general tender information via the iREREP Project page on the GTAC website, and the Online Data Room. The iREREP Project page will have this submission process outlined and the important RFP dates listed for bidders ease of reference.
• Bidders are also required to register before being able to submit an RFP application. Upon completing and submitting the registration form the bidder will receive an email containing the Electronic Funds Transfer account details and a reference number. The bidder will be provisionally registered until receipt of proof of payment of the tender application fee.
• Prospective bidders will pay a fee of Ten Thousand Rand (R10,000.00) per project. The payment will be made via electronic funds transfer with proof of payment to be sent to psp@gtac.gov.za and tenders@irerep.co.za.
• On making the payment, the bidder’s profile is activated, and they will receive an automated email with notification of the activated profile, login details and a link to the Online Data Room login page.
• Upon logging in prospective bidders will be able to view/download bid RFP information.
• Bidders will also be able to upload their tender bid documents via a tender submission form by selecting the tender they would like to bid for and uploading the required documents to the Online Data Room. Upon successfully uploading their bid information they will receive an email acknowledging receipt of the uploaded information.
• Bidders can then monitor the GTAC website to be alerted of the outcome of the RFP process and the successful bidder/s.
• The advert date of the RFP is 30 June 2023
• NB: The closing date for registrations and Document Fee payments is 24 July 2023 at 16h00.
• The bank details for payment of Document Fees are as follows:
  
  Account Name: Government Technical Advisory Centre
  Bank: Nedbank
  Branch Name: Corporate Client Services JHB
  Account Number: 1068 872 586
  Reference: Company Name_bid reference Number (e.g. Solar_GTAC 001-2023-24)
  
  
• The prospective bidder’s company name and GTAC 001-2023-24 must be used as the payment reference as shown in the example.
• GTAC will only communicate with bidders that have completed the registration forms and have paid the required tender application fees.
• The closing date for registration and payment of the initial Document fee is: 24 July 2023 at 16h00 pm.
• The closing date for identification of additional Projects and payment of additional Document Fees by bidders is: 01 September 2023 at 16h00 pm.
• The closing date for the bid submission is: 11 September 2023 at 16h00 pm.
• A compulsory Bidders’ Briefing Session will be held with registered bidders on 27 July 2023 prior to the bid submission date. Bidders are required to register for the session by completing the briefing session registration form and submitting same to the DPWI and GTAC. The date and details of the briefing session will be communicated to registered bidders.
• All relevant information pertaining to registration and payment are contained in the enclosed Programme Information Memorandum.
• General enquiries should be emailed to psp@gtac.gov.za with the following subject line “Q&A RFP Tender No’’ GTAC 001-2023-24 by no later than 01 September 2023 at 16h00 pm.

The DPWI and GTAC will only communicate with bidders that have completed the registration process (i.e. have completed the online registration forms and have paid the required Document Fee). Interested parties and/or prospective bidders who have not completed the registration form will not be allowed to participate in the RFP process nor submit and bid response/ submission.

Please note the following key dates:

The closing date for registration and payment of the initial Document Fee is: 26 May 2023 at 23:55.
The closing date for identification of additional Projects and payment of additional Document Fees by bidders is: 07 July at 23:55.
A compulsory Bidders’ Briefing Session will be held with registered bidders prior to the bid submission date. The date and details of the briefing session will be communicated to registered bidders.
Bidder enquiries should be emailed to RFP@gtac.co.za and tenders@irerep.co.za with the following subject line “Q&A RFP Tender No’’ by no later than 07 July 2023 at 11:00.

All relevant information pertaining to registration and payment of the Document Fee are contained in the Programme Information Memorandum that was released together with the RFP advert.

Prospective bidders, sponsors, lenders, local manufacturers, suppliers, advisors and other interested parties with skills, knowledge and technologies across renewable energy, energy efficiency, water efficiency and alternative waste management are legible to participate in the RFP process. Bidders must structure themselves in a manner that meets the requirements of the RFP.

The closing date for the bid submission is 11 September 2023 at 16:00pm.

Information on PPPs in South Africa is available on the National Treasury website (
www.treasury.gov.za) and the GTAC website (www.gtac.gov.za). Interested parties who are not familiar with the PPP contracting structure in South Africa, are encouraged to familiarise themselves in this regard.

The RFI process enabled the DPWI to solicit information from the market. This information assisted with designing the procurement process of the Programme. However, interested parties who did not participate in the RFI process will not be precluded from participating the RFP bidding process.

Yes, bidders may participate in more than one affiliated bid (i.e. bids comprised substantially of the same members) per round. However, bidders can only be awarded a maximum of two projects. Bidders may not participate in multiple bids that are not affiliated and nor across different groups of affiliated bids.

The Document Fee (ZAR 10 000) is a non-refundable deposit that must be paid by prospective bidders in order to access the RFP. The Document Fee is payable in respect of each Project. This means that where a Bidder seeks to bid for more than one project, the bidder must pay a Document Fee in respect of each project (e.g. R10 000 for one project, R20 000 for two projects etc).

The Document Fee must be paid into the GTAC Account. Funds collected in respect of the Document Fee will, in the absolute discretion of the GTAC and the Department, be used by the Department to cover costs incurred in administering the iREREP procurement process.

A Project may comprise of a single facility or multiple facilities that have been bundled to form a single project. The Department has absolute discretion in respect of the bundling of facilities to form a single project and will take into account technical viability, geographical viability and commercial viability of such a project.

Projects under the programme will be procured as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), in terms of Treasury Regulation 16. Successful bidders will be required to enter into a PPP Agreement with the Department, which agreement will govern the obligations of each party and the payment terms. Bidders can refer to Treasury Regulation 16 and the PPP Manual, 2004 for further details on the contracting arrangements of PPPs.

The bidder selection criteria is based on compliance with the legal functionality criteria; technical functionality criteria; financial functionality criteria; and insurance functionality criteria. Bidders who are able to demonstrate compliance with the various functionality criteria will be evaluated further and scored in terms of the 90/10 preference point system prescribed by the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, 2000. Bidders will be scored 90 points for price and 10 points for their economic development commitments (i.e. specific goals). Detailed requirements have been set out in the RFP.

Bidders are required to submit integrated solutions for each Project i.e., the proposed technical solution must comprise all elements of the technical output specification to be considered which include renewable energy, energy efficiency, water efficiency, and alternate waste management. These must be proposed as a single management unit.

There will be opportunities for prospective energy and water agents, artisans and plumbers to participate in facilities management projects to acquire the practical experience they require to graduate.

There are a number of areas in which small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be impacted throughout the resource efficiency, waste and renewable energy industries, such as (but not limited to):

• Manufacturing;
• Energy audit;
• Technical design;
• Finance;
• Installations;
• Operation and maintenance; and
• Measurement and verification.

Small businesses may participate as members of bidding consortia, advisors to bidding consortia or in the subcontracting/ supply chain arrangements of bidding consortia.

Prospective Bidders may approach any commercial bank or registered financial institutions who fund projects of a similar nature to obtain funding for their projects. In addition, an Integrated Renewable Energy and Resource Efficiency Fund (iREREF), which is a centralised funding mechanism to provide catalytic funding and support the successful rollout of iREREP is being established and can be approached for funding. The iREREF Fund will focus on providing financing towards senior debt, preferred equity and technical assistance to renewable energy and resource efficiency projects to be undertaken as part of the iREREP and/or companies participating in the iREREP.