Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), with financing from the European Union via the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) for consultancy services to study and develop a Smart Grid and Digital Transformation Roadmap.

CONSULTING SERVICE

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Country: Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

Name of the Project: Consultancy Services for the Study and Development of the Smart Grid and Digital Transformation Roadmap

Grant No: CET1135 09

Ref.No. EEP/AFD/SG-DTR /CS/03/2026

Client: Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP)

Ethiopian Electric Power has received a financing from the European Union ("EU"), the management of which has been delegated to the Agency Française de Développement ("AFD"), and intends to use part of the funds thereof for payments under the following project: "Consultancy Services for the Study and Development of the Smart Grid and Digital Transformation Roadmap".

1. Project Objective

The objective of this assignment is to assess Ethiopian Electric Power's (EEP) existing generation and transmission environment and to develop a comprehensive, actionable Smart Grid and Digital Transformation Roadmap that guides EEP's technology investments and operational modernization over the short, medium, and long term. The Roadmap will accurately reflect the current state of EEP's ICT and Operational Technology (OT) assets; identify and prioritize smart grid capabilities aligned with EEP's operational needs, strategic goals, and regulatory obligations; ensure ICT/OT convergence, cybersecurity resilience, and sustainability integration across all phases; and explicitly address Artificial Intelligence (AI), Digital Twin, and other emerging technologies as key strategic focus areas. Delivered over a twelve (12) month engagement, the assignment strengthens EEP's institutional capacity through structured knowledge transfer and training, and is aligned with the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy and international good practice for power-utility digitalization.

2. Operational Scope of the Consultancy Services

The consultancy service encompasses a comprehensive assessment of EEP's generation and transmission environment and the development of a phased Smart Grid and Digital Transformation Roadmap, covering ICT/ OT environment assessment, needs and capability-gap analysis, architecture design, governance and cybersecurity frameworks, and a multi-year investment plan. The scope is confined to EEP's generation and transmission environment, including the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC), generation-plant control systems, transmission substations (66 kV above), the Market Management System (MMS), and associated ICT/OT and tele- communications infrastructure. The Consultant will provide all professional services necessary to deliver the tasks set out below, which include, but are not limited to, the following:

Task 1 - Inception and ICT/OT Environment Assessment

Task 2 - Needs Analysis and Smart Grid Capability Gap Assessment

Task 3-Smart Grid and Digital Architecture Design

Task 4 Governance, Cybersecurity and Data Management Framework

Task 5 - Investment Plan and Smart Grid Technology Roadmap

Task 6-Roadmap Validation and Board Approval

Assignment Duration, Team and Capacity Building

• The assignment is delivered over twelve (12) months from contract effectiveness, in six phases (Inception; Needs and Gap Assessment; Architecture Design; Governance and Cybersecurity; Investment Plan and Roadmap; Validation and Approval); phases may overlap
• The Consultant shall field a multidisciplinary team including a Project Manager / Lead ICT Strategy Consultant, a Lead OT/ Power Systems Consultant, a Power Systems and Grid Automation Engineer, a Telecommunications / OT Network Specialist, an OT Cybersecurity and Governance Expert, an Enterprise Architect, a Data Governance and Analytics Specialist, an Infrastructure Economist, a Sustainability and Emerging-Technology Advisor, and a Stakeholder Management and Communications Specialist
• Capacity building through structured knowledge transfer, a benchmarking program of one (1) site visit of one (1) week to comparable utilities for a five-member EEP delegation, and training and workshops program delivered in Addis Ababa for two (2) batches of eight (8) participants, each of two (2) weeks (ten (10) working days), for the EEP digital transformation teams

Reporting through a Document Management System with version control, monthly progress reports and quarterly executive briefings, in accordance with EEP confidentiality and OT rules of engagement.

The estimate contract size is 55 person-months for key experts.

3. Selection of Applicants

Ethiopian Electric Power hereby invites Applicants to show their interest in delivering the Services described above.

This Request for Expressions of Interest is open to:

Consulting firms

NGOS

Individual consultants

Joint Venture between NGO(s) and consulting firm(s)

Eligibility criteria to AFD financing are specified in sub-clause 1.3 of the "Procurement Guidelines for AFDFinanced Contracts in Foreign Countries", available online on AFD's website: http://www.afd.fr. 

The Applicant shall submit only one application, either in its own name or as a member of a Joint Venture (JV). If an Applicant (including any JV member) submits or participates in more than one application, those applications shall be all rejected. However, the same Subconsultant may participate in several applications.

If the Applicant is a JV, the expression of interest shall include:

a copy of the JV Agreement entered into by all members, or

a letter of intent to execute a JV Agreement, signed by all members together with a copy of the Agreement proposal,

In the absence of this document, the other members will be considered as Sub consultants.

Experiences and qualifications of Sub consultants are not taken into account in the evaluation of the applications.

Interested Applicants must provide information evidencing that they are qualified and experienced to perform those Services. For that purpose, documented evidence of recent (less than ten (10) years) and similar services shall be submitted.

Determination of the Applicants will be based on the criteria listed in the below table:

For each experience submitted by the Applicant, check the boxes of the criteria which are met by the experience.

Name of the Applicant:………………..

Determination of the similarity of the experiences will be based on: Core business and years in business;

The nature of the Services: i.e. to assess the ICT/OT environment, analyze needs and capability gaps, design the smart grid and digital

architecture, develop governance and OT cybersecurity frameworks, prepare a multi-year investment plan, and produce a board-approved Smart Grid and Digital Transformation Roadmap for EEP's generation and transmission environment.

The technical area: smart grid and digital transformation advisory for power utilities and transmission system operators - specifically ICT/ OT assessment; smart grid architecture (SCADA/EMS, IEC 61850 substation automation, WAMS/PMU, and grid telecommunications); OT cybersecurity (IEC 62443, IEC 62351, and ISO/IEC 27001); enterprise architecture and data governance; and investment planning and roadmap development. The applicant should specify and list one or several technical areas;

The location: in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the Client's country (Ethiopia) or other. Jagerbang grobed

The Client will also take into account for the evaluation of the applications the following items:

Local representatives/partners;

Professional certifications (e.g., PMP, TOGAF, ISA/IEC 62443, GICSP, CISSP);

Quality assurance procedures and certifications of the Applicant ISO 9001 or environmental and social certification.

Ethiopian Electric Power shall not analyze CVs of experts' profiles at this stage.

Due to the security risk in the areas where the Services are to be per- formed, the evaluation of Expressions of Interest will verify that the ap- plications meet the following criteria:

The Applicant has at least one experience providing services in an area with a similar security risk, for which it shall provide proof of implementation of security measures (invoice or contract with a security service provider, proof of security awareness training before departure on-site, etc.)

The Applicant has set up internal security management procedures: it shall provide a description of its monitoring system and crisis management system.

For services provided abroad, the Applicant has entered into an assistance and repatriation contract for its employees: it shall provide the certificate evidencing such contract.

The Applicant shall describe its standard preparation process for departure on assignment in sensitive areas, and shall attach documents proving its implementation (service orders with related instructions, certificates of awareness-raising or training actions, etc.).

For a JV, its leader and any member that has its registered office outside the Client's country shall fulfill each of these criteria.

An application that does NOT meet any of these requirements will be rejected.

Among the submitted applications, Ethiopian Electric Power will short- list a maximum of six (6) Applicants, to whom the Request for Proposals to carry out the Services shall be sent

A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Quality- and Cost- Based Selection (QCBS) method set out in the Procurement Regulations.

4. Guidelines for the Expressions of Interest

Expressions of Interest should be submitted in one (1) hard copy and one (1) soft copy in PDF format by email.

In order to ease the evaluation process, it is required that the application documents do not exceed Eighty (80) pages written in English language, gathered in one (1) file with a maximum size of 10 MB.

• The expression of interest file shall include, at a minimum:
• The letter of expression of interest signed by the Applicant or representative of the JV;
• The copy of the co-contracting (joint venture) agreement (if relevant);
• The presentation of the main Applicant (legal existence, organizational chart & staff, financial statement/turnover over the last 5 years etc., certificate of non-bankruptcy if available);
• The relevant past and ongoing references of the Applicant since January 2016 (see "Determination ofthe similarity of the experiences above") with brief description (year(s) of implementation, duration of Services, brief description...)
• A concept note of up to Two (2) pages describing briefly the understanding of the service, its methodology, its organization including articulation of international and local expertise, its recommendations and prerequisites;
• The signed Statement of Integrity, Eligibility and Social & Environment responsibility (see appendix).

The submittals should be presented in English.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form to the address below in person and by Email no later than 14 December 2026, 4:00 PM local time (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia). Interested Applicants may obtain further information at the same address below during office hours from Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM local time.

Note: In addition to the Email submission the applicants must submit One

(1) original hard copy and One (1) electronic version on a flash drive physically or by courier to the address below.

The address referred to above is:

Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), Procurement & Logistics Office

Attn: Eng. Tsion Birhanu,

Executive officer, Procurement & Logistics

Yeka Sub-city, Woreda 09, (Former Kotebe 02)

In front of Kotebe Metal Tools Factory,

Ethiopian Electric Power Compound, Block Number 09, First Floor,

Office Number 203

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

E-mail: [email protected] , [email protected]

Copy to: Mr. Hussen Adem, Manager, Project Procurement

Yeka Sub City, Woreda 09, (Former Kotebe 02)

In front of Kotebe Metal Tools Factory,

Ethiopian Electric Power Compound, Block Number 09, First Floor, Office Number 205

E-mail: [email protected]  or [email protected]

Mrs Weyinshet Dejene, procurement expert

E-mail: [email protected]

EEP shall confirm within 24 hours the receipt of each Expression of Interest file received. In the absence of such confirmation received from the Client within 24 hours after sending its Expression of Interest file, the Applicant is invited to request receipt confirmation of its Expression of Interest file from the Client.

Request for clarification have to be sent in a written form exclusively to the Client, not later than ten (10) Working days (from Monday to Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM local time) before submission.

Answers will be sent to all potential Applicants having withdrawn the Request for Expression of Interest from dgMarket.

An application that does not meet the above listed requirements will be rejected.

The Statement of Integrity, Eligibility, and Environmental and Social Responsibility form is also available on the DG Market website and EEP Website, attached as an appendix to the Request for Expressions of Interest notice.

Ethiopian Electric Power

Tender details

• Deadline: 2026-12-14
• Bid closing time: 16:00
• Bid closing (note): 14 December 2026, 4:00 PM local time (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia).
• Bid opening: 2026-12-14 16:00
• Bid opening (note): No Specific opening date and time
• Region: Addis Ababa
• Publishing entity: Ethiopian Electric Power
• Published on: Ethiopian Herald (Nov 07, 2026)
• Posted at: 2026-11-07T10:19:56.000Z
• Source: Qelal Tenders