EPSAP Background

• Project Description
• Management and Contracting Arrangements
• Contracting Arrangements Challenges
• Technical Complexity
• Innovation Applied
• Challenges Overcome
• Project Financial Performance
• Main Achievements of the Project

Download the full version of the EPSAP Background file [ PDF: 584KB]
prepared by Ms. Gina Fenner, Project Manager/Administrator

Management and Contracting Arrangements

A.  Implementing Agencies and Australian Contractor

Implementing Agency
Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)

Australian Managing Contractor (AMC)
SMEC International Pty Ltd (SMEC), in association with Intelligent Energy Systems (IES) and the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics (ABARE).

Partner Countries
Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam

ASEAN partner organisations
ASEAN Center of Energy (ACE)
ASEAN Secretariat

B.  Background

The project has had a long period of gestation.  It was initially developed to Draft Project Design Document stage by a feasibility design study team in 1995.  Due to budget uncertainties in Australia, authorisation was not finally received until October 1996.   With the passing of time and because various aspects of the project needed to be clarified, a revision team was fielded in 1997 to finalise the design of the project.  The revision mission visited the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand in May 1997, Indonesia in June 1997 (during which the ASEAN Secretariat was further consulted) and Vietnam in July 1997.

This project commenced in March 1999 when AusAID entered into a contract with an Australian Managing Contractor (AMC) to deliver the project. Due to changes within the AMC brought about by a subsequent takeover in the latter half of 1999, AusAID concluded in June 2000 that the AMC was unable to provide staff and other resources of the appropriate standard and quality. As a result, the project entered a period of suspension while AusAID conducted a Stocktake Mission to the participating countries in October/November 2000 to assess project progress and to report on changes to project design to be included in any re-commencement of project activities.

The project was re-tendered in 2001 and the contract with the new AMC was signed on 22 February 2002, which defined the formal date of project commencement.  With a four-year duration, the formal project completion date was 31 March 2006.

The new AMC was SMEC International Pty Limited, with Intelligent Energy Systems (IES) and ABARE assisting as sub-contractors. 

A chart indicating the organisation arrangements for the project is shown as Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1 : EPSAP Organisation Chart

Note: PCC – Project Coordinating Committee; NCC – National Coordinating Committee; NPT – National Project Team; ACE – ASEAN Centre for Energy; TAG – technical Advisory Group; AMC – Australian Managing Contractor; AHO – Australian Host Organisation.

As stated in the Project Design Document (PDD), the goal of the Project is:

To enhance the capacity of ASEAN energy policy makers and planners to assess the impacts and cost effectiveness of alternative energy policy options which could assist countries to formulate policies and programs to help meet the demand for energy services at least cost.

There are five purposes to this project, each of which illustrates the goal. They are:

• To increase the awareness of policy makers of the range of policy options available to tackle economic, technical and environmental problems associated with energy sector activities.
• To provide participating ASEAN countries with an opportunity to develop an autonomous energy sector modelling capacity that can be used to assist policy and other decision makers to identify least cost options for meeting the demands for energy services.
• To enhance policy research and analysis links between the relevant energy research and policy agencies within participating ASEAN countries and in Australia.
• To develop and strengthen the level of energy sector analysis and research, using a common methodological framework for ASEAN countries and Australia.
• To provide a mechanism to enable regional cooperation, information and technical exchanges between project participants on energy sector analysis and policy issues.

These objectives were to be achieved through the following activities:

• establishment of National Project Teams (NPTs), an AMC technical and administrative team, a Project Coordinating Committee (PCC) and National Coordinating Committees (NCCs) to undertake and co-ordinate project activities;
• provision of hardware and software to allow MARKAL models to be developed and run;
• training of NPTs in the use of MARKAL to build energy models and to use them for energy policy analysis;
• creation and ongoing development of national and regional MARKAL energy models;
• performance of three national energy policy studies in each country (one only for CLM) using the developed MARKAL models and the preparation, review, finalisation;
• performance of three regional studies and the preparation and dissemination of study reports;
• a series of technical exchanges/work attachments by national team members to ACE, by national team members to the Australian Host Organisation and by staff from the Australian Host Organisation to ACE;
• six-monthly meetings of a MARKAL Users’ group (AAMRUG) over a period of three years; and
• various other activities and reporting in support of the above.

C.  Activity Location

The Energy Policy and Systems Analysis Project (EPSAP) covers the South-East Asia region and, in particular, the countries of ASEAN as shown in the map below (excludes China and India).  As noted in the body of the report, the project participants covered by this project are Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.  Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar also participated through a companion project that is the subject of a separate project, although they are included in some aspects of the reporting of this Project for completeness.  Singapore and Brunei did not participate, although energy developments in these countries were a necessary input into project activities.

Map of Activity Location