15 July 2026

RFQ: Energy One Stop Shop (EOSS) Impact Assessment Study

15 July 2026

1. Background

South Africa’s energy sector has undergone significant reform to improve energy security, accelerate private sector investment and facilitate the transition to a competitive electricity market. In response to persistent regulatory, licensing and administrative bottlenecks affecting renewable energy projects, the Energy One Stop Shop (EOSS) was established as a coordinated government initiative to facilitate permits and licences and ultimately streamline regulatory processes and provide a single point of entry for investors and developers.

The EOSS aims to improve the efficiency of regulatory approvals across government departments and entities, reduce project development timelines, enhance investor confidence and accelerate the implementation of energy infrastructure projects.

As the EOSS has now been operational for a defined period, there is a need for an independent assessment of its effectiveness, efficiency and overall contribution to South Africa’s energy investment environment. The findings will inform future improvements to the EOSS and broader regulatory reforms.

2. Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of the Energy One Stop Shop on energy project development in South Africa, with a particular focus on:

reducing regulatory delays
improving coordination across government institutions
facilitating investment in the energy sector
improving investor experience
supporting energy security and economic growth.

The study should overall assess performance, operational and economic impact as well as identify lessons learnt, previous and current constraints, value addition in the renewable energy regulatory eco-system, and opportunities for strengthening the EOSS value proposition.

3. Objectives

The consultant will:

Assess the effectiveness of the EOSS in facilitating and coordinating regulatory approvals.
Evaluate whether the EOSS has reduced approval timelines and transaction costs for developers over a period.
Assess stakeholder satisfaction with the EOSS.
Measure the contribution of the EOSS towards accelerating energy investments.
Identify institutional, regulatory and operational challenges affecting implementation.
Benchmark the South African EOSS against comparable international one-stop investment facilitation models.
Provide practical recommendations to improve the performance and sustainability of the EOSS.

4. Scope of work

The consultant will undertake, at a minimum, the following tasks.

Task 1: Inception

Review relevant legislation, policies and programme documentation.
Develop an inception report refining methodology, work plan and stakeholder engagement plan from the RFP process.

Task 2: Literature and document review

Review relevant legislation, policies, frameworks, government and investment reports, previous evaluations, and academic and international literature related to the EOSS and the energy sector.

Task 3: Stakeholder consultation

Engage key public and private sector stakeholders through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and workshops to gather insights on the effectiveness, challenges, and opportunities of the EOSS.

Task 4: Data collection and analysis

The consultant should analyse trends and identify measurable impacts attributable to the EOSS.

Collect and analyse quantitative and qualitative data to assess EOSS performance, including project support, approval timelines, investment facilitated, permits and licences processed, project completion rates, investor satisfaction, regulatory bottlenecks, and institutional coordination.

Task 5: International benchmarking

Benchmark the EOSS against comparable international energy investment facilitation initiatives, assessing governance, institutional coordination, digital platforms, service standards, performance monitoring, and investor services.

Task 6: Impact assessment

Assess the EOSS using key evaluation criteria, including relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, coherence, sustainability, impact, and value for money while evaluating its economic, investment, employment, regulatory, governance, investor confidence, and energy security outcomes.

Task 7: Recommendations

Develop actionable recommendations to strengthen institutional arrangements, policy and governance, digitalisation, service standards, monitoring and evaluation, and future performance indicators.

5. Methodology

Use a mixed-methods approach incorporating literature and policy reviews, stakeholder interviews, surveys, case studies, international benchmarking, quantitative and qualitative analyses, and cost-benefit analysis where appropriate.

6. Deliverables

Deliverable	Indicative timing
Inception report	Week 2
Literature review report	Week 4
Stakeholder consultation report	Week 8
Draft impact assessment report	Week 12
Stakeholder validation workshop	Week 13
Final impact assessment report	Week 15
Executive summary (10 pages maximum)	Week 15
Presentation to Steering Committee	Week 15
Final datasets and supporting documentation	Week 16

7. Expected outputs

The final report should present the methodology, key findings, impact and benchmarking analyses, lessons learnt, recommendations, a monitoring framework, an implementation roadmap, and supporting annexures, preceded by an executive summary and background.

8. Duration

The assignment is expected to be completed over 16 weeks from the date of contract signature. Preferably 1 August 2026 – 15 November 2026.

9. Reporting arrangements

The consultant will report to the Project Steering Committee, chaired by the Energy One Stop Shop and BUSA. Regular progress meetings will be held throughout the assignment.

10. Required expertise

The consulting team should demonstrate expertise in energy policy and regulation, electricity market reform, programme evaluation, economic impact assessment, investment promotion, public sector governance, regulatory reform, stakeholder engagement, and quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The team should include, at a minimum: