RFP for Using an Agent Based Model to Predict the Impact of City-Level Policies on the Adoption of Distributed Renewable Energy

RFP for Using an Agent Based Model to Predict the Impact of City-Level Policies on the Adoption of Distributed Renewable Energy

Organization: C40 Cities

Apply By: 20 Sep 2026

About the Organization

C40 is a network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities working to deliver the urgent action needed right now to confront the climate crisis and create a future where everyone, everywhere, can thrive. Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using a science-based and people-focused approach to limit global heating in line with the Paris Agreement and build healthy, equitable and resilient communities. We work alongside a broad coalition of representatives from labour, business, the youth climate movement and civil society to support mayors to halve emissions by 2030 and help phase out fossil use while increasing urban climate resilience and equity.

About the proposal

C40 is representing 5 member cities in India (Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Karachi). From 2021 to 2024, all cities developed their first Paris Agreement-aligned Climate Action Plans and reported their emissions. 43 cities in Maharashtra signed the Cities Race to Zero pledge, and C40 supported the cities in developing a roadmap towards decarbonising their energy and building sector. Mumbai also became the fourth city in the world – and the first in the Global South – to launch a climate budget in June 2024, under C40’s Climate Budgeting Programme. C40 Research team is launching a new project to accelerate Indian grid decarbonisation and improve public health, funded by the Wellcome Trust, and in collaboration with Ashoka ACPET and CHART centres. This project is split into three work packages that will deliver evidence at different scales: work package 1 is focusing on the national scale and will integrate a health component in the national planning tool (India Energy Security Scenario, IESS). Work package 2 (led by C40) delivers on the urban scale, and focuses on city-level interventions to help the development of distributed solar energy to reduce the dependence on coal-generated electricity. The third work package focuses on rural communities and will look at the adoption of electric cookstoves and produce local evidence on the health benefits of transitioning to clean cooking. This project focuses on Work Package 2 (WP2). While national models like the India Energy Security Scenarios (IESS) provide information on top-down decarbonisation pathways, they lack the granularity required for city-level planning and decision-making. WP2 intends to provide a bottom-up perspective that analyses how urban mitigation interventions can accelerate the deployment of distributed solar and batteries, while reducing dependence on coal-generated electricity, which lowers GHG emissions and improves local air quality and health. Cities can take direct actions to reduce electricity demand by retrofitting their municipal building portfolio and installing renewable energy on public land/buildings, but they do not have direct control over the composition of the state grid or private residential and commercial buildings. However, cities can act as accelerators: for example, introducing mandates or financial incentives on renewable energy, introducing enabling legislation that improves coordination in residential multi-family buildings, facilitating discussions with state ministries and DISCOMs, structuring group purchasing of solar, or providing information and guidance to residents and businesses. The primary objective of this Request for Proposals is to apply an Agent-Based Modelling approach (ABM) to analyse the impact of specific local policy measures on the adoption of solar and batteries in Mumbai and Chennai (by residential and commercial actors). The successful supplier will: - Develop the methodology and assess the data needs for this analysis. Conduct local ground surveys to understand appliance ownership and energy use patterns, if needed. Collect data, with C40 support, from local energy actors. Model a baseline of energy consumption amongst different types of households and businesses in the city. - Develop (or repurpose) an Agent-Based Model to assess how several policy interventions (e.g., renewable energy mandates, change in the metering limitations, change in peak hour tariffs, etc.) would impact the uptake of distributed solar energy and batteries by heterogeneous agents, from an economic and behavioural perspective. - Model how the change in use of solar energy can be translated into changes in the capacity factors of specific coal power plants that supply customers within Mumbai and Chennai, and in turn a reduction of the plants’ hourly emissions (GHG, PM2.5, and NOX). The results will inform the next iteration of Climate Action Plans (CAPs) for Indian C40 cities, providing evidence-based pathways for achieving net-zero by 2050. C40 will engage with the city and local energy agencies to enquire about the policies to prioritise for the analysis, based on feasibility and political interest. The points of contact in agencies will also be engaged throughout the process in order to collect feedback on the policies, the model, the data, and the outputs. Scope: the model should represent all energy use in the built environment and industries within Mumbai and Chennai’s urban boundaries. The model will represent different types of households (owners/renters, lower income/higher income) and businesses in the city (including industrial businesses). The solutions should focus on distributed solar electricity generation and use, and the installation of battery storage. The model does not represent solar thermal solutions or solutions for institutional buildings. The energy generation model covers the whole state. Deliverable - Methodology, local ground surveys and data collection - Model the uptake of distributed renewable energy with an Agent-Based model - Model the change in power plant utilisation rates. Project budget The project budget is 50,000 USD for all deliverables. Payment will be made according to meeting project milestones as approved by the C40 point of contact. Travel is expected for this work, and estimated expenses are to be included in the budget. How to Apply Deadline for receiving Offers September 20, 2026 For more information, please check the link: RFP Invited for Using an Agent Based Model to Predict the Impact of City-Level Policies on the Adoption of Distributed Renewable Energy