Early Warning System

Countries

Jordan

Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.

Specific Location

North-Eastern part of Jordan

Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.

Financial Institutions

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.

Project Status

Proposed

Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.

Bank Risk Rating

Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."

Voting Date

Nov 2, 2022

Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.

Borrower

National Electric Power Company

A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.

Sectors

Energy
Infrastructure
Technical Cooperation

The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.

Investment Type(s)

Loan

The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.

Investment Amount (USD)

$ 45.00 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Project Cost (USD)

$ 49.41 million

Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.

Primary Source

Original disclosure @ EBRD website

Updated in EWS Sep 6, 2022

Disclosed by Bank Aug 31, 2022

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Can you contribute information about this project?
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Project Description

If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the bank provided information, the project involves the provision of a sovereign guaranteed loan to the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) to finance the construction of a 400kV high voltage transmission substation in the North-Eastern part of Jordan, which will help in improving the grid's capacity to absorb existing and new renewable energy projects.

The proceeds of the Bank's loan will be used by NEPCO to finance a 400kV substation to help (i) improve the absorption capacity of existing and planned renewable energy projects, (ii) increased dispatching flexibility, (iii) reinforce the North-Eastern high voltage electricity network; and (iv) facilitate network interconnection to neighbouring countries.

Technical assistance will be provided to the company for the purposes of:

1) Environmental and Social Due Diligence - an Environmental and Social Assessment of the Company and Project will be carried out by an external consultant with the aim of providing recommendations for environmental, health and safety, and social management of the Company, confirming the categorisation of the Project and agreeing on an ESAP.

2) Technical Due Diligence - The assignment aims to assess existing local electricity transmission system for integration of newly proposed substation and key technical interfaces for operability of the newly proposed substation as well as review transmission grid performance, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, permits & consents, proposed technology and operational requirements of the proposed substation.

3) Green Skills Training for Electrical Technicians - The assistance aims to support NEPCO's Electrical Training Centre through the development of a 'green skills' training program to enable NEPCO's Electrical Training Centre to offer a new technical training for target groups on use of renewable energy sources on the company's grid.

4) Policy Dialogue on Apprenticeship Scheme - The policy dialogue initiative will build on the previous engagements with NEPCO under the VISP - NEPCO: Liquidity facility (Op ID 52010) to support the design of a national apprenticeship framework that will include a regulatory framework to be presented to the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Commission (TVSDC).

5) Implementation of Best Practices on Equal Opportunities - The assistance will support NEPCO's management at all levels in the implementation of best practices on equal opportunities, including fair hiring, performance evaluations and job promotions.

6) FIDIC Consultant - the assistance includes the appointment of a FIDIC Engineer who will work with NEPCO to ensure that during the construction stage work is carried out in accordance with the quality required by the contract, within the stipulated time and at the correct price.

7) Energy and Mineral Resources Commission (EMRC) Capacity Building for Green Transition in Jordan - The assistance aims to support EMRC's mandate pertaining to electricity system efficiency, transparency, and decarbonisation; with an emphasis on the auditing of Distribution System Operator (DSO) and Independent Power Producers (IPP) licensees and overall investment planning in line with non-discriminatory and least-cost principles.

Investment Description

Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Up to USD 45 million sovereign guaranteed loan to NEPCO. The Project is expected to be co-financed with an investment grant of EUR 4.4 million (USD 4.4 million equivalent) made available by other partners that will contribute towards the financing of the overall Project costs.

Private Actors Description

A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) guaranteed by the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

NEPCO is a 100% state-owned central entity in the Jordanian electricity system acting as transmission system owner and operator, dispatcher, single wholesale buyer of electricity and single buyer of fuel and natural gas for conventional generation.

Contact Information

This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Ghaith Assamak
assamakg@ebrd.com

Further contact information not provided at the time oif disclosure

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You can request information by emailing: accessinfo@ebrd.com or by using this electronic form: https://www.ebrd.com/eform/information-request

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF EBRD

The Project Complaint Mechanism (PCM) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who have been or are likely to be adversely affected by an European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the PCM, it may assess compliance with EBRD's own policies and procedures to prevent harm to the environment or communities or it may assist you in resolving the problem that led to the complaint through a dialogue with those implementing the project. Additionally, the PCM has the authority to recommend a project be suspended in the event that harm is imminent.

You can contact the PCM at: pcm@ebrd.com or you can submit a complaint online using an online form at: http://www.ebrd.com/eform/pcm/complaint_form?language=en

You can learn more about the PCM and how to file a complaint at: http://www.ebrd.com/work-with-us/project-finance/project-complaint-mechanism.html