| Project Detail |
Project Description
The Mali Rural Electrification Small Hybrid System (the parent project) was approved by the Board on
December 11, 2013 and became effective on June 18, 2014. The proposed operation is an additional financing
(AF) to the parent project.
12. The parent project consists of an IDA credit in the amount of SDR 16.3 million (US$25 million
equivalent), a grant from the Scaling-Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries Program of the Strategic
Climate Fund (SCF-SREP) in the amount of US$14.9 million, and a grant from the Global Partnership for
Output Based-Aid (GPOBA) of US$5 million. The GPOBA Trust Fund closed on June 30, 2018 and was fully
disbursed.
13. The proposed AF seeks to (a) cover financing gap due to cost overruns using an additional IDA credit,
and (b) enhance the development effectiveness of the project by scaling-up activities that were successfully
implemented under the parent project, using a grant from the Japan Policy and Human Resources
Development Fund (PHRD). The AF will help reduce transaction cost and time and allow streamlined
preparation and processing procedures. It is structured around three main components.
· Component 1 (Service improvement and extension of existing mini-grids): US$11.6 million
equivalent IDA credit and US$ 2.3 million PHRD grant.
14. Sub-component 1.1: Hybrid generation (US$ 8.1 million equivalent IDA). The additional fund will cover
the funding shortfall for the construction of the solar photovoltaic (PV) plants introduce renewable energy
generation at least 45 existing diesel plants supplying mini-grids in rural areas.
15. Sub-component 1.2: Mini-grid extension and densification (US$ 1.5 million equivalent IDA). IDA funds
will cover the financing gap due to the underestimation of capital cost for the realization of the mini-grid
network extensions (medium and low voltage) considered under the parent project. The PHRD grant will
finance new activities to scale-up the results achieved through the GPOBA grant (under the parent project)
to help remove barriers to the electrification of poor communities in rural areas (e.g. high upfront investment
cost, unaffordable connection charges and costly internal wiring, etc.) and ultimately, make access to basic
electricity services affordable. This objective will be achieved by (i) financing the supply and installation of up
to 4,420 SHS in 20 villages and the deploy approximately 22,100 LED lamps (five per SHS), and (ii) supporting
the deployment of 800 additional Lighting Africa certified solar portable lanterns and related pico-PV
equipment in selected public schools.
16. A provision of US$ 2 million equivalent of IDA funds has been made to finance contingencies.
· Component 2 (Development of Off-Grid Lighting Markets and Energy Efficiency): US$1.9 million
equivalent IDA credit and US$ 0.4 million PHRD grant.
17. Sub-component 2.1 – Off-grid Lighting and Solar Lanterns. The IDA funds will cover the increase in
subsidies allocated to private distributors for the sale of Lighting-Africa certified portable solar lanterns. The
PHRD grant will support the deployment of 800 Lighting Africa certified solar portable lanterns and related
pico-PV equipment in selected public schools. The PHRD funds will also finance the services of independent
verification agents, support information and communication campaigns, and cover operational costs. The
campaigns will involve community meetings, the production and launch of radio and TV commercials and the
dissemination of flyers of other marketing material.
Component 3 (Project Management Support and Capacity Building): US$6.5 million equivalent IDA
credit.
18. The additional funds will cover the financing gap for the procurement of the owner’s engineer and
other consulting services, the procurement of a geographic information system, the establishment of a
technical control center to monitor the operational performance of the mini-grids, the implementation of
gender mainstreaming activities and operational cost. |
