Coelba Disco (IFC-46207)

Regions
  • Latin America and Caribbean
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Brazil
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
State of Bahia, Brazil
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
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
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
Jun 15, 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
COMPANHIA DE ELETRICIDADE DO ESTADO DA BAHIA COELBA
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
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)
$ 100.00 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)
$ 100.00 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.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Nov 20, 2024

Disclosed by Bank May 13, 2022

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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 propoposed investment consists of an 8-year green + sustainability-linked loan of up to BRL 550 million to Companhia de Electricidade do Estado da Bahia (“Neoenergia Coelba”) to finance part of its 2023 capex program, namely network expansion and renewal (excluding transmission lines), substation upgrades and digitalization programs. Neoenergia Coelba is a power distribution company operating in the state of Bahia, Brazil, with over 6.2 million customers and more than 21.2 TWh of energy sold in 2021. It is a subsidiary of Neoenergia, a publicly traded integrated energy company in Brazil, which is majority-owned by Spanish group Iberdrola (53,5%). The IFC loan will benefit from a parent company guarantee by Neoenergia.

As Sustainability Coordinator for this project, IFC has helped Neoenergia (i) identify material KPIs in line with the Sustainability-Linked Loan Principles by the Loan Market Association; (ii) define ambitious targets in line with the 1.5-degree scenario; (iii) draft its Sustainability-Linked Finance Framework and (iv) coordinate a Second Party Opinion (SPO).

Early Warning System Project Analysis
For a project with severe or irreversible impacts to local community and natural resources, the Early Warning System Team may conduct a thorough analysis regarding its potential impacts to human and environmental rights.

While all Performance Standards are applicable to this investment, IFC’s environmental and social due diligence indicates that the investment will have impacts which must be managed in a manner consistent with the following Performance Standards

PS 1 - Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts
PS 2 - Labor and Working Conditions
PS 3 - Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention
PS 4 - Community Health, Safety and Security
PS 5 - Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement
PS 7 - Indigenous Peoples

 PS6 and PS8 are not applicable and specific biodiversity and cultural heritage requirements are covered under PS1 and within the E&S management system.

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

The proposed investment consists of an 8-year green + sustainability-linked loan of up to BRL 550 million from IFC’s own account. It will finance part of Neoenergia Coelba’s 2023 capex program, namely network expansion and renewal (excluding transmission lines), substation upgrades and digitalization programs.

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.

As stated by Reuters, Companhia de Eletricidade do Estado da Bahia Coelba (COELBA) is a Brazil-based company engaged in the electrical energy sector. The Company operates as a public service concessionary of electrical power, aimed to project, construct and explore systems of sub-transmission, processing, distribution and commercialization of electrical energy and related services. It is also involved in other activities associated to electrical power services, such as technical services in the energy sector and export and import operations. The Company is part of Neoenergia Group.

As stated by the IFC, funded in 1997, Neoenergia is an integrated energy company that operates in 19 Brazilian states through the generation, transmission and distribution segments. It owns five distribution companies that bring energy to over 15.8 million consumers – i.e. 16% of the Brazilian population. It has five transmission lines (2,333 km) and 10 substations in operation, and over 4,301 of lines under construction. It has an installed capacity of 4.5GW, split among hydroelectric plants (67%), wind farms (22%) and thermal (11%). Lastly, it also operates in the liberalized business. Neoenergia has been a publicly-traded company since June 2019, with shares traded in the Brazil Stock Exchange. It is majority owned by Spanish group Iberdrola (53.5%). The PREVI pension fund holds a 30.3% interest, and the remaining shares are free floating.

Neoenergia Coelba was first incorporated as a State Owned Entity in 1960. It was privatized in 1997 and awarded as a concession to Neoenergia, which has been operating it ever since. Neoenergia Coelba operates in the state of Bahia, the 4th largest Brazilian state by population. In 2021, it supplied over 21.2 TWh of energy to more than 6.2 million customers. Its installed infrastructure comprises over 277,000 km of networks, 3.6 million poles, 7 million transformers and 337 substations.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
Neoenergia SA Parent Company Energy owns Companhia de Eletricidade do Estado da Bahia Coelba (COELBA) Client Energy

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.

Companhia de Electricidade do Estado da Bahia (“Neoenergia Coelba”)
Raphaela Yamamoto
Head of Finance and Treasury

Raphaela.Yamamoto@neoenergia.com

https://servicos.neoenergiacoelba.com.br 

ACCESS TO INFORMATION
You can submit a request for information disclosure at: https://disclosures.ifc.org/#/inquiries 
If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA
The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org 

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