Consultant-firm for Capacity building and research on hydrological modelling of reservoirs for forecasting and assessment of hydropower production

Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC)

   announces an open vacancy to the position

 of Consultant-firm for Capacity building and research on hydrological modelling of reservoirs

 for forecasting and assessment of hydropower production  

Background 

The Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB) aims to enhance regionally coordinated access to improved climate change knowledge services for key stakeholders (e.g., policy makers, communities, and civil society) in participating Central Asian countries as well as to increased investments and capacity building that, combined, will address climate challenges common to these countries.

This assignment is to be carried under the Component 1 of the CAMP4ASB project, “Regional Climate Knowledge Services”, and refers to the following sub-activities of the project: 1.3. “Methodologies, approaches, and tools”; 1.4. “Developing knowledge products”; 1.5. “Capacity building”. 

During the conducted Round Table (28th May 2019, in Almaty) the hydrometeorological services of the Central Asia countries have identified the need for capacity building on assessment of the hydropower potential of planned and existing reservoirs systems under a climate change context.

The hydrometeorological services staff will be trained on a model that will be developed for the purpose of this activity. The model will stimulate the water flow in the reservoirs for daily, weekly, monthly and annual periods, under the effect of climate change. The model will be used for strategic analyses for long-term planning as well as for tactical analyses for daily, weekly and monthly management (depending on the interests and capacity of the countries). 

1.       Objective:

The main objective of these Consulting Services is to build the capacity of the staff in hydrometeorological services on the use and application of hydrological models for water flow forecast in reservoirs, and assessment of hydropower production based on the modeling results. 

The four specific objectives include:

(i)                  Provide training on reservoir modeling and hydropower potential assessment;

(ii)                Support local specialists who will attend the regional training workshops in modeling of selected reservoirs and assessment of hydropower production;

(iii)               Develop an introductory online course on the application of reservoirs modeling for hydropower potential assessment;

(iv)               Produce an analytical report on the application of hydrological models for the selected river basins with reservoirs and assessment of hydropower potential in collaboration with local specialists based on the research outcomes in text and interactive format (i.e. graphs, maps and etc.) for the Central Asia Climate Information Platform (CACIP). 

2.       Specific Activities: 

        I.            Organize a regional and national training programs on hydrological modeling in reservoirs 

The Consultant will develop the capacity building program in consultation with the CAMP4ASB RCU. and based on the interests and the needs expressed by the local specialists. The program will include a regional workshop and national workshops in each country (activity i) and a continuous technical support throughout the project duration (activity ii). The regional workshop will introduce the concepts of hydrological modeling for reservoirs, as well as demonstrate the applications of the model including the local data provided by the specialists.

Participants will learn the methodology for integrating the numerical reservoir module into the hydrological model, which allows to simulate water balance of the reservoir and hydropower production (monthly, weekly and/or daily basis, depending on the available data). During the workshop, the participants will develop their own case study on selected pilot territories. The forecast outcomes will be used for further in-depth research and publication as analytical report(activity iv) and will discuss forecasting applications in their operation work. For the first activity (activity i), the Consultant will develop a training program for the regional and national workshops. Once the regional training completed, the Consultant will prepare the national training programs for each country, based on the capacity level and interests of the countries. Participants will learn the basic function and theory of the model as well as the data requirements to run the model for their region. They will be also introduced to the concept of model calibration and evaluation. Once the participants are acquainted with reservoir modeling, they will learn how to apply the model for hydropower potential assessment. This activity will include the following outputs:

• An outline of the training course and content for regional and national workshops;

• A short description of proposed topics and expected outcomes;

• A plan for the evaluation of training. 

The consultant will also develop a detailed evaluation of the modules/workshop(s) so that the workshop/training materials can be improved according to the participant’s feedback. 

The logistics for the regional and national trainings will be supported by the project’s RCU. 

      II.            Provide technical Support to local specialists who will attend the regional trainings

Following the regional and national workshops, the Consultant will provide technical support for the participants. In particular, the technical support consists in providing consultations to the specialists of hydromet services in mastering the model on the selected pilot areas. The support will be provided through e-mail exchange and one-on-one sessions using either Skype or Zoom technology that allows for screen sharing of remote computers. The overall goal of this activity is to advance the knowledge and skills in reservoirs modeling and hydropower production assessment of national experts. The consultations will last until the end of the Consultants’ contract. 

    III.            Develop an introductory online course on the application of reservoir modeling

Following the regional workshop, the Consultant will prepare an introductory reservoir modelling video course (webinar). The Consultant will prepare a short description of the course, including the structure and themes of online introductory course (webinars); short description of prospective content for each of webinar; technical requirements to online course platform; etc. The course will be uploaded and available on the Central Asia Climate Informational Platform (CACIP)

    IV.            Produce analytical report on the application of reservoir models for the selected river basins in collaboration with local specialists based on the research outcomes 

The workshops will focus on the application of the model for water flow forecast in reservoirs of Central Asia. During the regional workshop, the pilot river basins with reservoirs will be selected with the National Hydrometeorological Services (NHMS), and other responsible agencies (as ministry of energy and etc.) of Central Asia. The Consultant will prepare analytical report based on the outcomes of hydrological modeling and assessment of hydropower potential under climate change impacts in the selected pilot river basins. This report will be shared with the broader audience through the CAREC’s platforms and in interactive format (i.e. maps, graphs, and etc.) for the Central Asia Climate Information Platform (CACIP).

3.       Qualification Requirements

• At least five years of experience in the field of hydrological modeling of reservoirs and hydropower potential assessment;

• Proven experience in application of modeling in studies related to Central Asian hydrology;

• Proven experience (at least 5 years) in the development software tools and methods;

• Excellent understanding of the target audience and user perceptions in Central Asia;

• Proven knowledge in GIS, Statistics and modeling;

• Language skills in English and Russian 

4.       Reporting Requirements

·         The Consultant should report to the RCU Coordinator.

·         The estimated duration of the consultancy will be March 2020 – March 2021

Detailed Terms of reference

Interested candidates should send the Expression of Interest, which describes the candidate’s experience and qualification, CVs of key experts to be involved to the project and cover letter to SMustafin@carececo.org not later than February 12, 2020.