S E2302 EPTEMBER 16 2009 TERMS OF REFERENCE ENVIRONMENTAL

With regard to the proposed LVEMP2 workshop we agree that it would be very useful to sensitize stakeholders and at the same ti

E2302

eptember 16, 2009

Terms of Reference

Environmental and Social Safeguards Services for

Rural Energy and Electricity Distribution in Liberia

Background

The Government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf took office in mid-January 2006 facing severe challenges. Fifteen years of civil war had destroyed much of Liberia’s physical and human capital and severely damaged its institutions. The new government endorsed programs aimed at improving governance, building capacity, and managing post conflict recovery through establishing policies to stabilize the economy and support economic reconstruction. Although progress has been substantial (broad price stability, and accomplished structural reforms to reinforce public financial management), the government still faces numerous challenges. Per capita GDP is estimated at US$195 in 2007, still below prewar levels, and Liberia is still one of the poorest countries in the world and, in current circumstances, unlikely to achieve any of the MDGs by 2015.

Before its civil war (1989–2003), Liberia disposed of a total installed electricity capacity of 177 MW (98% around Monrovia) and around 35,000 customers. The hydropower plant at Mount Coffee supplied 63 MW during the wet season and 5 MW during the dry season. Outside Monrovia there were ten small isolated power systems supplying rural areas.

By the end of the civil war in 2003, the power sector had been largely destroyed due to warfare. The remainder was destroyed due to looting until 2005. This included the complete destruction of the hydropower plant at Mount Coffee, and all the transmission lines and distribution network. Since the election of the new Government into office in 2006, there have been the following developments in Liberia’s energy sector:

Emergency Power: diesel units of 9.6 MW total across four sub-stations have been installed with the assistance of multilateral co-operation (Ghana, EU, USAID) and a small portion of the distribution network in Monrovia has been rehabilitated to provide street lighting and a small number of connections (>1000).
Monrovia Management Contract: IFC has been contracted by the Government of Liberia (Project No 25742) to attract the private sector into a management contract to provide power services in Monrovia, which will be funded by the Norwegian Government. IFC undertook the due diligence analysis and proposed strategic options to the GOL. A biomass-fired power plant has been identified as an IPP for providing power to Monrovia.
Another option under consideration is to supply Monrovia and Buchanan through Côte d’Ivoire. This would require the construction of a transmission line, part of the future West Africa Power Pool (WAPP), connecting Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone (CSLG). The World Bank is preparing a project for the financing of this CSLG transmission interconnector.

The Government of Liberia (GOL) has further intensified its commitment to the provision of energy services through the recent development of a National Energy Policy (NEP) and supportive legislation, which calls for universal and sustainable access to affordable and reliable energy supplies in order to foster the economic, political, and social development of Liberia. One of the key pieces of the NEP related to rural energy is the creation of a Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) whose long-term goal is to facilitate the economic transformation of rural Liberia by accelerating the commercial development of modern and renewable energy services in rural areas. The RREA will consist of a Secretariat, which comprises the core of its day-to-day operations, and a Board of Directors.

Against this background, the World Bank’s engagement in the energy sector, as reflected in its Country Assistance Strategy (CAS, 2009), is targeting both (i) rural energy and (ii) urban energy, and (iii) regional interconnections through the WAPP. In order to help prepare these activities, particularly in regard to rural energy development and the development of the electricity distribution network, a clear framework to ensure clear observance of environmental and social safeguards in accordance with World Bank standards is required.

Objectives

The objective of the assignment is to prepare environmental and social safeguards documentation capable to satisfactorily address in accordance with World Bank Safeguard Policies and Environmental, Health and Safety Guidelines the potential environmental and social and resettlement issues that may arise in the context of two proposed World Bank operations in the area of rural energy and electricity distribution. The two activities are (i) Catalyzing new and Renewable Energy in Rural Liberia; and (ii) the Monrovia Power Project.

Scope of Work

In the context of the “Catalyzing new and Renewable Energy in Rural Liberia”, the Rural and Renewable Energy Agency (RREA) of Liberia will be set up and 2-3 pilot projects will be conducted. Pilot projects will include rehabilitation of the previously 30 kW community-managed micro-hydropower installation that existed in the rural community of Yandohun, Lofa County, prior to the outbreak of violence in the late 1990s; and one or two pilots utilizing on-site solar power generation in other rural areas of the country that will not be connected to electricity grid in the next five years and contain a vibrant market area and significant population.

In the context of the “Monrovia Power Project”, the World Bank is planning to co-finance a Management Contract for Liberia’s power utility Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC). The objective of the project is to rehabilitate, over a five year period, Monrovia’s power supply and rapidly expand roll-out of the network to a significant share of the population.

The environmental and social safeguards works required for the purposes of both components of this project include: (i) preparation of an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF); (ii) an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) for the micro-hydropower station; and (iii) a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF).

(i) The ESMF, which should include a generic Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) for the power sector, is a screening tool to identify the potential environmental and social impacts and mitigation actions to be taken for project activities which have not yet been identified (an ESMP example from Tanzania for a similar project has been attached to this TOR). Activities to be financed could require the preparation of an ESIA, a freestanding Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), an Environmental Audit for existing facilities or no action for activities which have no environmental and social impacts. Activities to be considered are: off-grid solar power; expansion of and rehabilitation of distribution networks, expansion of or rehabilitation of transmission lines, rehabilitation of or new substations, PCB issues arising from old facilities to be rehabilitated, and rehabilitation of or new construction of micro-hydropower stations. The ESMF also needs to address the environmental management capacity building needs for the environmental and social management unit to be established in the RREA and an environmental and social unit to be established in the power utility responsible for distribution and transmission; identify who will be responsible for the environmental and social screening; identify who will implement the approved ESMPs, etc., and a budget.

(ii) For the 30 kW Yandohun micro-hydropower station an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) will need to be prepared. This ESIA will analyze the environmental and social impacts of the rehabilitation and will assess if there will be any new land acquisition required. The ESIA needs to analyze the water availability, changes in hydrology which might affect the sustainable operation of the station, impacts on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity; and any other environmental and social impacts. The ESIA also needs to address the environmental management capacity building needs for the environmental and social management unit to be established in the implementing agency; identify who will be responsible for the environmental and social screening; identify who will implement the approved ESMPs, etc., and a budget.

The ESIA also needs to address the environmental management aspects of the construction activities. The contractor needs to prepare and implement his own Environmental Management Plan (CEMP), which addresses for instance waste management, occupational health and safety, etc. The supervising engineer needs to supervise the appropriate implementation of this CEMP. Both these requirements need to be included in the bidding documents.

(iii) Since it is unknown at present if any involuntary land acquisition will be needed, a Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) for the power sector in Liberia will need to be prepared. An example of a RPF from Tanzania for a similar project has been attached to these TORs. The RPF needs to address capacity building needs and a budget for the preparation of future Resettlement Action Plans and to compensate affected people in future project financed activities.

Outputs

The Consultant is expected to submit the following types of outputs:

Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) report (separate report), including an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP), screening criteria, budget, etc. The ESMF needs to be in compliance with World Bank Safeguard Policies and World Bank Group Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines, especially the General EHS Guidelines and the relevant Power EHS Guidelines to be found on: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/sustainability.nsf/Content/EnvironmentalGuidelines. The Consultant should carry out public consultation meetings, include a chapter of these meetings in the ESMF report and explain how public concerns have been addressed in the ESMF, and include minutes of meetings in an annex. The Consultant should submit 5 hardcopies and 5 softcopies on CD of the Draft Final report for review by the Liberian environmental authorities and the World Bank. After inclusion of comments the Consultants should finalize the documents and submit 10 hardcopies and 10 softcopies on CD of the Final Report of the ESMF. The Liberian environmental authorities and the World Bank have four weeks to provide comments.

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report (separate report), including an Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) and a budget for the rehabilitation of the 30 kW Yandohun micro-hydropower station. The ESIA needs to be in compliance with World Bank Safeguard Policies and World Bank Group Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) Guidelines, especially the General EHS Guidelines and the relevant Power EHS Guidelines to be found on: http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/sustainability.nsf/Content/EnvironmentalGuidelines. The Consultant should carry out public consultation meetings, include a chapter of these meetings in the ESIA report and explain how public concerns have been addressed in the ESIA, and include minutes of meetings in an annex. The Consultant should submit 5 hardcopies and 5 softcopies on CD of the Draft Final report for review by the Liberian environmental authorities and the World Bank. After inclusion of comments the Consultants should finalize the documents and submit 10 hardcopies and 10 softcopies on CD of the Final Report of the ESMF. The Liberian environmental authorities and the World Bank have four weeks to provide comments.

Resettlement Policy Framework (RPF) report (separate report) covering the entire power sector, including capacity building needs, responsibilities for screening, potential future Resettlement Action Plan (RAP) preparation and implementation and a budget for RAP preparation and implementation. The RPF needs to be in compliance with the World Bank Safeguard Policy OP 4.12 on Involuntary Resettlement. The Consultant should carry out public consultation meetings. The Consultants should submit 5 hardcopies and 5 softcopies on CD of the Draft Final report for review by the Liberian environmental authorities and the World Bank. After inclusion of comments the Consultants should finalize the documents and submit 10 hardcopies and 10 softcopies on CD of the Final Report of the ESMF. The Liberian environmental authorities and the World Bank have four weeks to provide comments.

Modalities:

The assignment may include travel. The Consultant will report to Mr. Robert Robelus, Senior Environmental Safeguards Specialist, and Mrs. Fanny Missfeldt-Ringius, Senior Energy Economist, in the Africa Energy Department at the World Bank.

Level of Effort:

The Consultant should present a proposal on how the assignment will be carried out, level of effort, time frame and a budget for the preparation of the three documents.

Documents to consult:

Proposal for the “Catalyzing new and Renewable Energy in Rural Liberia” project.
Attached documents from Tanzania for a similar project.

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