Contacts:
In Washington: Herbert Boh 202 473 3548 hboh@worldbank.org In Accra: Kafu Kofi Tsikata (+233) 21 229681 ktsikata@worldbank.org In Cotonou: Karim Olayinka Okanla (+229) 2130 58 49 / 97 / 57 kokanla@worldbank.org In Lome: Slyvie Nenonene (+228) 221-5777 snenonene@worldbank.org WASHINGTON, June 29, 2006 – The World Bank Board of Executive Directors today approved two International Development Association (IDA) credits of US$60 million equivalent in total to the Republic of Benin and the Republic of Ghana under the US$350 million adaptable program lending (APL) facility that supports the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) initiative of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).* Both IDA credits finance the development of the second phase of the Coastal Transmission Backbone (CTB) sub-program of WAPP which aims to assure more stable and reliable exchange of electricity between the WAPP “Zone A” Coastal States (Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Benin/Togo and Nigeria) as a means to alleviate and/or reduce their collective vulnerability to drought-induced power supply disruptions. One of the two approved IDA credits will provide the Republic of Benin with US$15 million equivalent to finance components of the CTB to be implemented by the Communauté d’Electricité du Bénin (CEB), the bi-national transmission system operator of Benin and Togo. The CEB sub-components are: (a) supply and installation of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Energy Management Systems (EMS) and modern communications systems to upgrade the CEB Dispatching Center and associated 161 kV sub-stations in CEB’s transmission network; (b) development of an “Emergency Preparedness Plan” for the 65MW Nangbeto Hydroelectric Plant; (c) Engineering services and logistics support required to supervise implementation of CTB infrastructure within CEB’s service territory; and (e) technical assistance/consulting services required by CEB to deploy the WAPP “Operational Mitigation and Security Plan” for the CTB. The other IDA credit of US$45 million equivalent, approved for the Republic of Ghana, will finance components of the CTB to be implemented by the Volta River Authority (VRA), which are: (a) construction of 3rd Bulk Supply Point for the Accra/Tema load centers; (b) upgrade of the Volta Sub-stations (supply and installation of shunt reactors), the Akosombo Switchyard (supply and installation of phase-shifting transformer) and the Kpong Switchyard (replacement of obsolete circuit breakers and relays); (c) upgrade of SCADA/EMS and Metering Systems of VRA sub-stations in 161 kV transmission loop within Ghana; (d) development/deployment of “Emergency Preparedness Plans” for the 1062MW Akosombo and 160MW Kpong Hydroelectric Plants; (e) rehabilitation of Cranes at the Akosombo Hydroelectric Plant; (f) the upgrade of Akuse Training Center (supply and installation of power system simulators, 330 kV transmission line training facilities, computers, technical reference books, logistics, etc.) needed for capacity-building activities to be undertaken for the benefit of WAPP member power utilities; and (g) technical assistance/consulting services required by VRA for WAPP-related pre-investment studies. “The primary objective of this second phase of the CTB sub-program is to ensure that the system control capabilities of CEB and VRA are upgraded to the state-of-the-art to accommodate the WAPP “Operational Security and Mitigation Plan for the CTB” - a common set of operational rules of practice that the transmission system operators of WAPP “Zone A” Coastal States will collectively adhere to and deploy to protect their supply and restore power if a fault develops anywhere along the interconnected sub-regional network. This will assure more stable and reliable exchange of electricity along the CTB corridor from Abidjan all the way to Lagos,” said Amarquaye Armar, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the WAPP APL program. Armar added that “This program is part of a continuing series of programmatic lending operations that support African initiatives to create an open, unified regional economic space through the integration of markets for infrastructure services”. Under the auspices of WAPP, a specialized institution of ECOWAS, a cooperative, power pooling mechanism is being established as a means to increase access of the citizens of the community to stable and reliable electricity at affordable costs. The Coastal Transmission Backbone Sub-program of WAPP will facilitate unconstrained cross-border electricity exchanges between Benin/Togo, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria until at least 2020. ### For more information on the World Bank’s work in sub-Saharan Africa visit: http://www.worldbank.org/afr For more information on the World Bank’s work in Benin visit: www.worldbank.org/afr/benin For more information on the World Bank’s work in Ghana visit: www.worldbank.org/afr/ghana For more information about this project visit the project web site. * The credit is provided on standard International Development Association (IDA) terms, with a commitment fee of 0.35 percent, a service charge of 0.75 percent over a 40 year period of maturity which includes a 10-year grace period. |
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