| Project Detail |
This Environmental and Social Review Summary (ESRS) is prepared by MIGA staff and disclosed in advance of the MIGA Board consideration of the proposed issuance of a Contract of Guarantee.? Its purpose is to enhance the transparency of MIGA’s activities.? This document should not be construed as presuming the outcome of the decision by the MIGA Board of Directors.? Board dates are estimates only.??
?? Any documentation which is attached to this ESRS has been prepared by the project sponsor, and authorization has been given for public release.? MIGA has reviewed the attached documentation as provided by the applicant and considers it of adequate quality to be released to the public, but does not endorse the content.??
AMEA Power (the Guarantee Holder (“GH”)), has requested MIGA to cover the equity, quasi-equity and/or shareholder loans investments for an amount up to US$ 38.5 million for the Kairouan 100 MW PV power plant (“hereafter referred to as ‘the Project”) being developed by AMEA Power of UAE for the Build-Own-Operate (“BOO”) of a grid-connected solar PV plant. The construction of the Project will be managed by Kairouan Solar Plant Sarl. (“KSP”) (“The Project Enterprise (PE)”), a Special Purpose Vehicle (‘SPV’). The Project site is located in the Kairouan Governorate in the delegation of Sbikha, around 110km south of Tunis, 15km north of Kairouan and about 500m northeast of the Sbikha Industrial zone.
IFC secured board approval in December 2022 and signed the loan agreement in September 2023 to finance the Project through an A-loan up to US$12.9 million and a senior loan up to US$12.9 million from Clean Technology Fund (“CTF”). Therefore, MIGA will rely on IFC due diligence. AMEA is a new client to MIGA, but a repeat client to IFC.
The EPC contractor is a joint venture between NWEPDI and TEPC, and both are the subsidiaries of China Energy Engineering Corp Ltd (“CEEC”). The plant is anticipated to be operational for 20 years and then handed over to the Government of Tunisia. The project construction is expected to commence in Q1 2024 and will last approximately 16 months. MIGA updated the original Environmental and Social Action Plan (“ESAP”) timelines to be consistent with the current project timelines. The O&M contractor will also be the NEWPDI-TEPC consortium, and the O&M contract will have tenor of two to five years renewable by AMEA six months before each sub-period.
Below is the IFC ESRS disclosed in October 2022.
IFC Project Description (October 2022)
The project is a 100MW solar photovoltaic (“PV”) power plant in Tunisia (the “Project”) which was awarded in 2019 following a competitive tender to a consortium coordinated and led on an operational day-to-day basis by AMEA Power Ltd (“AMEA” or the “Company”). AMEA is an Emirati based renewable energy company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Dubai. The Project Company, a special purpose vehicle, Kairouan Solar Plant Sarl. (“KSP”) has been set-up. IFC (the “Lender”) will provide up to US$20 million from its own account and up to $17 million from IFC as implementing entity of the Clean Technology Fund; additional funds will be provided by African Development Bank (together with IFC and AfDB, the “Lenders”). The project is still in the design stage and is expected to be completed within 16 months after groundbreaking under a turnkey, fixed price Engineering Procurement and Construction (“EPC”) contract.
The proposed project site is located in the Kairouan Governorate in the delegation of Sbikha, around 110km south of Tunis, 15km north of Kairouan and about 500m northeast of the Sbikha Industrial zone. The proposed plant will be built on a 2km2 plot owned by the Government and leased to the company. The site is uninhabited and is part of the larger Metbasta desert rangeland area. The closest identified residential areas are the villages of Al Metbasta and Al Bshashma, located approximately 2.2km to the south and 4km to the northeast respectively.
The plant will consist of a utility grade grid-connected PV array power system, carried on a horizontal single axis beam tracker, consisting of approximately 220 thousand, bifacial crystalline PV panels with anti-reflective coating. Preliminary design indicates that the plant will include string inverters stations, converting direct current from the panels to alternating current, and a substation, converting to appropriate voltage for connection directly to the national grid with no storage batteries required. Connection to the grid will be through an 8km, high voltage 225 kilovolt OverHead Transmission Line (“OHTL”) constructed and operated by the Société Tunisienne de lElectricité et du Gaz (Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas – “STEG”). The plant will also include ancillary structures like office and data control building, warehouses and workshops, and internal roads; the plant will be completely fenced. Access to the site is via the existing regional road 171 running north-south about along the site east boundary.
The project is expected to employ approximately 450 (peak) workers during the construction stage, of which 100 would be skilled and 350 unskilled, during the construction phase. During the Operation and Maintenance (“O&M”) phase, to be carried out by a specialized contractor under KSP supervision, 45 workers, 10 skilled and 35 unskilled, are expected to be involved on site working in shifts. The E&S policies and procedures at the level of the Project Company will reflect those of AMEA. |
