Vietnam Urban Energy Security (VUES) Activity Fund Manual

The manual defines grant eligibility criteria and describes the procedures used to manage grants throughout the grant cycle, including solicitation and evaluation of applications, disbursements, monitoring of results, and closeout requirements. The VUES activity aims to support the demonstration of transformational and replicable business models, new technologies, and innovative financing mechanisms by the public and private sector. The Activity Fund will utilize $5 million under this award for grants under contract (GUC) which will leverage 1:1 resource matching to private and public entities to demonstrate or scale innovative products (technologies and services), business models, and financing instruments. The Activity Fund will provide technical assistance to enhance the enabling environment, build capacity to design and implement supportive policies and regulations, create new financial instruments, and design and implement energy programs for faster and more cost-effective acquisition of advanced, distributed energy solutions. The Fund will also coordinate with other donor and USAID-funded programs in the area of energy and air pollution, prioritize good practices in collaborating, learning and adapting to ensure adaptive programming that responds to changing circumstances, new knowledge and new evidence. The manual is intended as a living document and operational manual that will be updated by VUES as necessary over the life of the award. The VUES Field Operations Manual (FOM) has already been created, and the DAI home-office team has begun work to customize the manual for the project. The manual will be housed in the Lotus environment, allowing all staff to immediately access the most up-to-date version of each policy or procedure or template. The Activity Fund will issue grants to local organizations that respond to calls for applications related to issues that underpin co-created work plans. These grants will require a 1:1 match and could be issued to local nongovernmental organizations; universities; private for-profit organizations; and training institutions. The Fund will also use challenges and prize competitions to engage private sector actors with innovative business models, or better decision support to help the private sector generate and sell renewable energy certificates. The manual outlines the procedures for solicitation and evaluation of applications, disbursements, monitoring of results, and closeout requirements. The procedures are adapted from DAI's standard policies to the specific requirements of the VUES contract and the programmatic objectives of the activity, and they are in full compliance with all required rules and regulations, including ADS 303 and ADS 302. The VUES activity will continuously review program implementation and align activities to the evolving priorities of partner cities or new market opportunities for private sector investments. The Activity Fund will particularly focus on providing technical assistance to enhance the enabling environment, build capacity to design and implement supportive policies and regulations, create new financial instruments, and design and implement energy programs for faster and more cost-effective acquisition of advanced, distributed energy solutions.