RENEWABLE ENERGY & ELECTRIFICATION
ESMFs support bankability of SADC power projects The South African Power Pool (SAPP) provides a forum for the development of a stable interconnected electrical system, including the identification of priority power projects, in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region. Many of these projects need to fulfil bankability requirements by adequately assessing environmental and social safeguards. By Kirsten Kelly
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Over a two-year process, SRK reviewed regulations and laws with regard to several countries’ power projects
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IMIESA June 2021
RK Consulting was awarded an open tender by SAPP to develop an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF), which the World Bank approved. Created in 1995, SAPP is a SADC structure and one of the oldest power pools in Africa. It develops systems and agreements that help member states to trade power – to generate, transmit and distribute power at the most affordable price. Over the years, there has been an increased demand for power due to the growing economies of countries within the SADC region. Darryll Kilian, partner and principal environmental consultant at SRK
Consulting, adds that power projects typically require large investments. “Power plant upgrades and new builds, interconnectors to transmit power from one country to another, as well as hydropower schemes are capital intensive. Therefore, many of these countries must seek international funding. It can take years to produce these funding proposals, which can be constrained from reaching bankability.” Most of these proposals include exhaustive data on the location of the project, specifications by engineers on the power configurations, the amount of power required and a detailed cost estimate. However, environmental and social sustainability aspects are often left out of the proposal or are not adequately covered.
Safeguards Environmental and social safeguards refer to policies, standards and operational procedures designed to first identify and then try to avoid, mitigate and minimise adverse environmental and social impacts that may arise in the implementation of development projects. “They hold significant weight when determining the bankability of a project. There must be sufficient planning and screening in the beginning of the project to make sure that cultural, biodiversity, water and compensation
Darryll Kilian, partner and principal environmental consultant at SRK Consulting
