Comoros Solar Electricity Access Project (WB-P177646)

Countries
  • Comoros
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • World Bank (WB)
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
U
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
May 25, 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
Government of Comoros
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Energy
  • Law and Government
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Amount (USD)
Not Disclosed
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 @ WB website

Updated in EWS Mar 9, 2023


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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 bank docments, the project objective is to increase renewable energy generation capacity and improve the operational performance of the electric utility.

The project has four components:

Component 1. Investment in Power Storage, PV, and System Upgrades (US$27.5 million IDA equivalent) 34. This component will finance solar PV power plants with battery storage in the three islands of the Comoros as well as system upgrades, rehabilitation, and automation to facilitate integration of solar power into the grid. It has three main subcomponents. Together, the addition of the PV project and battery storage will significantly enhance the performance of the Comorian power system by: (a) absorbing a larger amount of PV production during the day, thereby allowing for PV production to contribute to evening demand peaks (replacing thermal production), and (b) improving grid stability and therefore electricity service quality by reducing both frequency and duration of blackouts. The project will reduce fuel consumption by around 14 percent and facilitate further incorporation of renewable energy to reduce fuel consumption up to 35 percent.17 35.

Subcomponent 1.1. Solar PV plants in Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli (US$13.3 million IDA equivalent).

Subcomponent 1.2. Battery storage in Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli (US$9.7 million IDA equivalent).

Subcomponent 1.3. System upgrades, rehabilitation, and automation (US$3.5 million IDA equivalent).

Sub-component 1.4. Resettlement compensation (US$1 million IDA equivalent).

Component 2. SONELEC Commercial and Operational Recovery (US$ 8.5 million, of which US$7.5 million IDA equivalent and US$1 million SIDS DOCK Trust Fund) 41. This component will support the geographical expansion and enhancement of SONELEC’s existing management information system as well as the installation of advanced metering infrastructure (AMIs) across all customer groups. This component will benefit from US$1 million in funding from the SIDS DOCK. 42. Sub-component

Subcomponent 2.1. Geographical expansion and enhancements of SONELEC’s MIS (US$4.0 million IDA equivalent). 

Subcomponent 2.2. Installation of Advances Metering Infrastructure (AMI) (US$3.5 million IDA equivalent and US$1 million SIDS DOCK).

Component 3. Technical Assistance and Project Management (US$7 million of which US$5 million IDA equivalent; US$2 million SRMI) 44. This component will provide critical TA and project implementation support and capacity building to the implementing agencies as well as strengthen the overall capacity of the sector for increasing the capacity of renewable energy in the Comoros. This component will benefit from additional resources by the SRMI. 45.

Subcomponent 3.1. Project Coordination and improved renewable energy planning capacity for MEEH (US$0.8 million IDA equivalent and US$2 million SRMI).

Subcomponent 3.2. Project implementation support to SONELEC (US$3.5 million IDA equivalent).

Subcomponent 3.3. Technical assistance for financial management and improved financial reporting. (US$0.5 million IDA equivalent).

Component 4: Contingent Emergency Response (US$0 million) 49. A Contingent Emergency Response Component (CERC) with zero allocation may be used to contribute to an emergency response through the timely implementation of activities in response to an eligible national The World Bank Comoros Solar Energy Access Project (P177646) Page 23 of 57 emergency. This component will allow the GoC to request the World Bank to reallocate project funds in the event of an eligible emergency as defined in the CERC Annex of the Project Implementation Manual (PIM) that will be prepared. For the CERC to be activated and financing to be provided, the government will need to (i) submit a request letter for CERC activation and the evidence required to determine eligibility of the emergency, as defined in the CERC Annex, (ii) an emergency action plan, including emergency expenditures to be financed, and (iii) meet environmental and social requirements agreed to in the emergency action plan and environmental and social commitment plan. For the Comorian energy sector, emergency conditions may arise after extreme weather events including cyclones and flooding or economic disruption including fuel import shortages.

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

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.

Justin Marie Bienvenu Beleoken Sanguen

Lara Born

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

To submit an information request for project information, you will have to create an account to access the Access to Information request form. You can learn more about this process at: https://www.worldbank.org/en/access-to-information/request-submission 

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF THE WORLD BANK

The World Bank Inspection Panel is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by a World Bank-financed project. If you submit a complaint to the Inspection Panel, they may investigate to assess whether the World Bank is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. You can contact the Inspection Panel or submit a complaint by emailing ipanel@worldbank.org. Information on how to file a complaint and a complaint request form are available at: https://www.inspectionpanel.org/how-to-file-complaint 

How it works

How it works