The Department of Energy has extended the timeframe for completion of a revision of the White Paper on the Renewable Energy Policy of 2003, by a month.

The Renewable Energy Market Transformation Implementation Support Unit (REMT-ISU), which is a joint initiative of the World Bank and the Department of Energy, on Thursday said that the planned completion date for the project had been extended to February 2010 in order to accommodate concerns raised over tight project timelines.

The REMT-ISU last month issued a request for proposals from consultants in the energy sector to undertake a revision of the White Paper.

The selected consultant would be required to, among other tasks, examine the overall progress achieved and the barriers encountered in the existing White Paper and to analyse the risk profiles of different energy scenarios for the country in the short, medium and long term.

Further, the consultant would have to review elements of renewable energy policy, as well as assess the progress made by support mechanisms, such as regulatory and legislative instruments.

The consultant would also be required to review the current renewable energy target and devise appropriate sustainable renewable energy targets, going forward, as well as looking at the preinvestment and long-term financing mechanisms that were needed to promote renewable energy developments.

Interested parties had until September 14 to submit their bids to the REMT-ISU.

The proposal submission had to be clearly broken down into separate technical and financial proposals that had to be submitted in two separate emails or envelopes, the unit emphasised in a note.