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Bangladesh Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development II (RERED II) Project
(IDA Credit 5158-BD and 5514-BD, GPOBA TF096552 and TF098472,
USAID TF015034, BCCRF TF015077)
Implementation Review Mission
October 21-30, 2014
Aide Memoire
I. Introduction and Acknowledgements
1. An Implementation Review Mission for the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy
Development II (RERED II) was carried out from October 21-30, 2014 to review progress of
implementation of the project.1 The mission met with the officials of the Power Division and Power Cell
of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR), and Infrastructure Development
Company Ltd. (IDCOL). A list of officials met during the mission appears in Annex 1. The team wishes
to express its deep appreciation to the Power Division, Power Cell, IDCOL and others for the productive
discussions, access to information and excellent cooperation during the review mission. The findings of
the aide memoire were discussed and agreed through a virtual wrap-up meeting. The government
requested this Aide Memoire to be classified as Public document under World Bank’s Access to
Information Policy.
II. Key Project Data
Key Dates
Project Performance Ratings IDA Cr. 5158 IDA Cr. 5514
Board Approval September 20, 2012 June 19, 2014 Achievement of PDO Satisfactory
Signing October 23, 2012 June 30, 2014 Implementation Progress Moderately
Satisfactory
Effectiveness February 20, 2013 September 28, 2014 Financial Management Satisfactory
Closing December 31, 2018 December 31, 2018 Procurement Satisfactory
Allocation 102.8 million SDR 50.585 million SDR Environment and Social Satisfactory
Disbursed 102.78 million US$ 0
Grant Funds 2 GPOBA SHS SIDA
(TF098472)
GPOBA Mini-
Grid (TF096552)
USAID
(TF015034)
BCCRF
(TF015077)
Signing 03/02/2011 05/12/2010 07/10/2013 09/30/2013
Effectiveness 04/28/2011 08/09/2010 07/28/2013 12/18/2013
Grant Amount (US$ million) 6.75 1.1 3.765 10
Disbursed (US$ million) 6.75 0.456 3.061 0.644
Disbursement % 100% 41.42% 81% 6.44%
Grant Closing 6/30/2014 6/30/2015 06/30/2016 12/31/2016
1 The mission members were: Messrs. Zubair K M Sadeque (Senior Energy Finance Specialist and Task Team Leader), Ashok
Sarkar (Senior Energy Specialist), Koffi Ekouevi (Senior Economist), Christopher Purcell (Renewable Energy Consultant), Dr.
M. Khaliquzzamn (Technical Consultant), Ishtiak Siddique (Procurement Specialist), Mohammed Atikuzzaman (Financial
Management Specialist), Iqbal Ahmed (Environment Specialist), Sabah Moyeen (Social Safeguards Specialist), and Md. Tafazzal
Hossain (Program Assistant).
2 Grant financing amounting to US$3.565 million is made available from the US Agency for International Development
(USAID) as the first tranche to support the access to electricity component of the project. An amount of US$10 million is made
available from the Bangladesh Climate Change Resilience Fund (BCCRF) for grant support to the solar irrigation pumps under
the access to electricity component. Two GPOBA Grants (TF096552 and TF098472) have been providing matching grant to the
Solar Home Systems (SHS) and mini-grid schemes supported under the project.
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III. Achievement of Development Objectives
2. The original project development objectives (PDO) were to increase access to clean energy in
rural areas through renewable energy and promote more efficient energy consumption. A project
restructuring was approved by IDA board in June 2014 (along with an additional financing to support
further scale-up of the SHS program) that involved dropping the Efficient Lighting component of the
project and revising the PDO as ‘to increase access to clean energy in rural areas through renewable
energy’. The project has provided access to electricity to about 590,000 households by September 2014.
The PDO is likely to be achieved and the overall rating for achievement of the PDO is Satisfactory.
Annex 2 provides the results framework of the project and progress achieved to date.
IV. Current Implementation Status
3. Overall implementation is on track. The SHS program continues satisfactorily. The SHS
installation continues at over 50,000 systems per month supported by IDA and other development
partners. A total of 6 mini-grids for a combined capacity of 0.86 MW are under construction. A total
about 191 solar irrigation pumps have been approved by IDCOL for financing and 69 have been installed
funded from USAID, GPOBA and other financing sources. Out of the remaining 122 pumps, 70 are
expected to be financed from BCCRF. Another 230 pumps are in the pipeline for consideration for
BCCRF financing. The overall implementation progress of the project is Moderately Satisfactory given
the slow initial uptake in the mini-grids, solar irrigation pumps, and the household energy component.
4. Disbursement Progress. The project already disbursed US$102.8 million in IDA credit (68% of
the original credit). To meet the funding needs of the fast growing SHS program, an additional financing
of US$78.4 million was approved with a target to reach an additional 480,000 SHS (beyond the original
target of 550,000) by the project closing of December 2018. Disbursement projection for FY15 is
US$47.5 million (including additional financing), which is expected to be met. The additional financing
also included a project restructuring that included dropping the efficient lighting component and re-
allocating to access to electricity (US$12 million) and to sector technical assistance component (US$5
million). An additional US$15 million in grant financing is being processed from the Global Partnership
for Output Based Aid (GPOBA) trust funds to meet the capital buy-down grant requirements for the
access to electricity component.
5. Against the first tranche of US$3.765 million of USAID trust fund (TF05134) for access to
electricity component, US$3.06 million has been disbursed providing grant support to 113,858 SHS.
Total commitment from USAID is US$7.565 million and a second tranche of US$1.5 million is in the
processing from USAID. Some re-allocation to SHS from other renewable options will be needed from
this second tranche to meet the needs of the growing SHS program. An amount of US$0.45 million has
been disbursed against GPOBA trust fund for mini-grid (TF096552) supporting 20 irrigation pumps. The
remaining amount is expected to be fully utilized by the closing date of June 30, 2015 that would support
a total of 36 irrigation pumps and one mini-grid (currently under construction). After the special account
was opened, an initial advance of US$0.644 million was processed in June 2014 against the BCCRF trust
fund (TF015077). Some 4 irrigation pumps have been so far been supported under the fund with another
70 pumps under construction that would utilize about US$1 million. The allocation of US$10 million
from the BCCRF funds is expected to be fully utilized by the closing date of December 2016.
6. GAAP Implementation. The Governance and Accountability Action Plan (GAAP) was revised
dropping the actions related to the dropped efficient lighting component. The major activities under the
matrix of actions outlined in the GAAP are continuing (Annex 3) to mitigate the risk of inadequate
competition that could result in poor quality and service to SHS customers. The SHS market
competitiveness survey indicated adequate competition by the POs in the market. An impact evaluation
survey conducted earlier did not find any discernible difference in the quality of service delivery across
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the POs. IDCOL continues to focus on strong inspection and monitoring to ensure quality installations. A
follow-up survey under a Bank-administered trust fund (CARTA program) to seek beneficiary feedback
is on-going (the first survey indicated a customer satisfaction rate of 97%).
Component-wise Implementation Status
7. The restructured project now has three main components: i) access to electricity (total cost
US$374 million, IDA US$128 million from original credit and US$78.4 million from additional
financing); ii) household energy (total cost US$46 million, IDA US$12 million); and iii) sector technical
assistance (total cost US$10 million, IDA US$10 million). The following section summarizes the
component-wise implementation issues.
Component 1: Access to Electricity
8. The access to electricity component is providing continued support to the solar home systems
(SHS) program and also supporting other renewable energy options (mini-grids, solar irrigation pumps,
captive biogas plants for electricity etc) implemented by IDCOL.
9. Increased share of smaller SHS. There has been an increased uptake of smaller SHS ever since
the capital buy-down grants were limited to smaller systems only. In order to better understand the
market dynamics (whether it is the result of the demand pull from the poorer households who are only
able to afford smaller systems, or the sales push by the POs as only the smaller systems are eligible for
subsidies), market surveys have been initiated by IDCOL through call centers. A recent pilot on ICT
based customer surveys was done under a Bank-executed trust fund that had established call centers to be
the most cost-effective channel for collecting feedback from SHS customers.
10. Pico-solar kits: There has been interest recently from some development partners on introducing
pico-solar kits in the IDCOL program. Globally, in the many places outside of Bangladesh where SHS
programs have been less than successful for reasons of unaffordability, upfront costs barriers, lack of
access to finance, poor quality, high supply chain costs, lack of access to installation and maintenance
services etc, the solutions being promoted are plug & play pico-solar kits (and solar lanterns). The
characteristics of pico-kits are typically: no complex installation requirements, small system components
due to ultra-high efficiency LEDs, enabling use of small long life Li-Ion batteries, kits quality tested and
certified (usually) to Lighting Global standards with 2 year warrantee. Sizes range from 5-10Wp. The
introduction of pico-solar to Bangladesh raises several questions particularly on the cost-effectiveness of
the pico-solar when compared to smaller (10Wp) SHS in the IDCOL program. IDCOL will need to
explore answers to these carefully before introducing such pico-solar kits. Details are in Annex 4.
11. Solar lanterns: Lanterns are also seen, globally, as part of a solution to the challenges of failed
or challenged SHS programs, as they have almost all the characteristics of pico-solar kits, except they are
integrated units providing for one lamp only and usually cellphone charging. Since they cost much less
than $50 in almost all cases, they cannot be financed by IDCOL and are intended for cash sales only. IFC
and GIZ have jointly launched the ‘Lighting Bangladesh’ program on October 29, 2014 that is aimed at
providing support to private sector to reach the poorest of the poor who cannot afford even IDCOL
financed-SHS. IDCOL is coordinating closely the SHS program with the IFC-GIZ lighting Bangladesh
program.
12. Service level of older SHS. Given the fact that there are a large number of systems that are
already paid off with older CFL light packages, it would be important to understand to what extent they
are still being used or maintained by the customers. It will also be important to understand the
effectiveness of the battery recycling process that IDCOL introducing by surveying older customers if
they had recently replaced their batteries through the IDCOL POs or through others. The customer
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surveys through call centers have been initiated recently.
13. Mini-grids. A total of 6 mini-grids are at various stages of construction. Given the site-specific
nature of the mini-grids, uptake has been slow. The mission reiterated the need for IDCOL to identify
potential sites (in discussion with Power Division) and carry out feasibility studies for such sites. The
potential sites can then be offered through bidding for private sponsors interested in setting up mini-grids.
IDCOL agreed to initiate selection of the feasibility study consultant by December 15, 2014.
14. The mission visited the site of one 141 kWp solar Mini Grid at Paratoli Island, Raipura Upazila,
Narshingdi District by Souro Bangla (SBL). The project was approved in January 2014 with the targeted
commercial operation by June 2014. There have been delays and the project is now due for commercial
operation by end-Nov. The civil construction, electrical works, and distribution network construction
were all found to be of high quality. Possible concerns include some spatial planning issues that should
have been anticipated (battery room layout, array shading). The mission reiterated the need to keep a
close supervision by IDCOL on the battery and control room installations, which will ultimately
determine the actual quality of services.
15. Solar irrigation pumps. After some initial delays, the pace of installation of irrigation pumps are
finally picking up. Out of 191 pumps that were approved by IDCOL for financing, 69 have been installed
already with support from USAID, GPOBA and other funding sources. Out of the remaining 122 pumps,
70 are expected to be financed from BCCRF. Another 236 are in the pipeline for consideration for
BCCRF financing. These are in the 7-11kWp sizes that would require 30 acres of 3-crops irrigation
needs. Such large areas require agreements with 25-30 farmers for each pump location, which is a time-
consuming and difficult task. IDCOL is currently assessing the feasibility of smaller (3 kWp) sized
pumps that would require smaller land sizes with agreements with 2-3 farmers for each pump. Once such
smaller sized pumps are found to be economically cost-effective compared to diesel pumps, these will be
considered for financing contributing to faster pace of installation. With the continued panel price decline
and increased diesel costs, there is a possibility that individually owned pumps will be most economical
in the near future that will allow for replication of the ownership model of SHS in the irrigation pumps.
16. IDCOL has been using funds from GPOBA, USAID and kFW for the irrigation pumps that have
been installed so far. Going forward, mostly BCCRF funds will be utilized for the irrigation pumps to
fully utilize the allocation of US$10 million by the fund closing date of December 31, 2016.
17. Captive biogas generation: Three captive biogas generation proposals have been reviewed by
IDA and were cleared for financing. Biogas formed from cattle or poultry farms is used within those
farms to offset grid electricity consumption or diesel consumption – with benefits to the greater economy.
There are several thousand such captive generation opportunities, which can be explored.
18. Technical Assistance (TA) Progress and Actions. a. Transition to Commercial Financing Study: The task got delayed due to the non-availability of
the international consultant. IDCOL is exploring the option of finishing the study with a new
consultant that will identify options for introducing commercial financing to the SHS program
while ensuring poorer segments of the market are not left out of the program due to increased
costs. The mission reiterated the need to engage an appropriate consultant by January 31, 2015
and complete the study by June 30, 2015.
b. PV Testing Laboratory: Agreement has been signed with the Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology (BUET) for operating and maintaining the testing laboratory while
the lab equipment will be supported under the project funds. The technical specifications for the
equipment are being finalized in consultation with the technical consultant of IDCOL, IFC
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consultants, and BUET. The equipment will include test equipment for small/pico PV systems
that would be supporting IFC-GIZ Lighting Bangladesh program.
c. 220 V DC Mini-grid Testing Facility: The revised proposal from the United international
University (UIU) has been finalized and agreements reached. UIU agreed to initiate the civil
works for such lab immediately with a target to establish the facility by June 30, 2015.
d. SHS Technical Standards Upgrade: The standards now include specifications for LED lamps.
The LED lamp specifications are rudimentary and could benefit from the work done to develop
solar LED lighting standards under the Lighting Global Program, which are now incorporated
into the international IEC Standard, IEC TS 62257-9-5 Ed. 2. IDCOL will request the Technical
Standards Committee to review the IEC standard for low voltage LED lights, and incorporate
appropriate elements into the IDCOL SHS Specification by December 31, 2014. SHS using
better ultra-high specification LED of 90lumen/watt could significantly reduce system size and
cost.
e. Audits: Several audits have been initiated: i) audit of procurement practices of POs to check if the
procurement comply with economy and efficiency principals is on-going; ii) selection of auditor
is at final stage for the environment and social audit to monitor the environmental and social
compliance in field level implementation as well as compliance with the battery recycling
process; and iii) technical audit is on-going.
f. Baseline Surveys for Impact Evaluation. Contract negotiation with the first ranked survey firm is
on-going. An IDCOL team participated in a workshop in Lisbon on impact evaluation surveys
sponsored under a Bank-executed trust fund. The team has benefited from a better understanding
of the scope and methodology to be used in the impact evaluation for the different activities
(mini-grids, solar irrigation pumps, improved cookstoves, and biogas plants for cooking). It was
agreed that some modifications in the TOR will be incorporated based on the workshop learning
and contract negotiation will be done based on the revised TOR.
g. Technician training program. The rapid growth of the program resulted in a shortages of trained
technicians. IDCOL has recently contracted several technical institutes to offer certification
courses for technicians. The task team introduced IDCOL team with the Project Director of the
Bank-funded education project (Skills and Training Enhancement Project) who showed keen
interest to work with IDCOL to introduce certification courses in the curricula of the Technical
Education Training Institutes. IDCOL’s own curriculum has been shared with the education
project. IDCOL agreed to follow-up with the education project.
Component 2: Household Energy Component.
19. Improved Cookstoves: Overall, the implementation progress of the dissemination of improved
cookstoves is satisfactory. A call for expression of interest for selection of partner organizations (POs) for
dissemination of ICS has resulted in responses from 198 POs. IDCOL shortlisted 102 and selected 33 POs
for the first round launched in December 2013 and 16 others for a second round expected to be launched
in December 2014. Consultations, adjustment of operational modalities, ICS selection, testing and
certification delayed the physical dissemination of the ICS. However, the initial round is now under
effective implementation with about 2,800 ICS already purchased by households. The ICS
implementation rate is currently low for timely achievement of the project target. The mission
acknowledges initial difficulties in setting up production facilities and supply chains. A higher
implementation rate is expected in the next six months. The mission noted the operationalization of
SREDA and recommended that IDCOL takes up the support of SREDA the for mobilizing support from
local government agencies to promote ICS in the communities.
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20. Biogas Plants: Implementation of the biogas plants is also progressing satisfactorily. The biogas
program is benefiting from the organizational modalities initiated earlier under SNV financing. Overall
about 1,453 biogas plants have being constructed under the project. A cluster construction approach is
also adopted for the biogas component to help POs concentrate their activities, to increase efficiency in
collecting revenues, to reduce operating expenses, and to provide smooth after sales services. It was
agreed that POs will make the best use of dry season starting from November and increase monthly plant
construction.
21. Detailed implementation progress and an action plan for the next six months appear as Annex 5.
Component 3: Sector Technical Assistance.
22. The component is continuing satisfactorily. An amount of US$2.7 million already disbursed
against the original allocation of US$5 million. During the additional financing and project restructuring
in June 2014, an amount of US$5 million was re-allocated from the cancelled allocation for the efficient
lighting component.
23. The mission was pleased to note the operationalization of SREDA with the appointment of a full-
time Chairman, members, and other key staff. The mission met with the new SREDA officials and
agreed to explore options to develop a national-level Energy Efficiency (EE) Implementation/Financing
Strategy linked to the EE Action Plan. The potential of earmarking some dedicated TA funds
(implemented by Power Cell) to SREDA for EE activities was also discussed. SREDA will work with
Power Cell and Power Division for such earmarking. SREDA could benefit from knowledge sharing
with some global experts in the field of EE, which can be funded from the TA component. Details for the
potential EE engagement are in Annex 6.
24. It was further agreed that a comprehensive approach will be designed including development of a
large scale household level LED lamp deployment program through a Demand Side Management (DSM)
modality; formulation of an Incandescent Lamp Phase out Policy; and design of a comprehensive
consumer awareness program on promoting LEDs and other energy efficient appliances. A feasibility
study and options analysis needs to be undertaken that will identify the most effective means of
addressing the market barriers for LED. Details are in Annex 6.
25. Re-fund of CDM preparation costs for the efficient lighting component. IDCOL signed an
Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement (ERPA) with the Bank as the trustee for a carbon finance fund
for the emission reductions from the efficient lighting component (now dropped). The ERPA stipulated
that the preparation costs for Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project would be borne by the Bank
as the trustee that would be recovered from the carbon revenues generated from the CFLs distributed
under the component. In the event of a failure to generate the carbon revenues, IDCOL was liable to
refund the preparation costs. Accordingly, an amount of Euro 315,000 is claimed by the Bank as the
carbon finance trustee. The mission discussed the issue in detail and requested IDCOL to explore options
for such refund. IDCOL agreed to revert back by December 15, 2014.
V. Fiduciary and Safeguards
Environment and Social Safeguards
26. Recycling of SHS Batteries. IDCOL is continuing to monitor the collection of warranty expired
batteries with the working committee meeting regularly. The database for tracking of warranty expired
batteries has been developed. The on-going customer surveys will also provide more information on the
status of the warranty expired batteries. IDCOL is continuing to monitor the progress in establishing
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recycling facilities in all the remaining 14 battery suppliers with a June 30, 2016 target date. Only 3
currently have their own facilities.
27. Mini-grids, irrigation pumps and biogas plant. It was informed that the site-specific
environment assessment/screening (EA) for 6 mini-grids, 110 solar irrigation pumps and 5 captive biogas
plant were carried by the proponent and duly reviewed and cleared by the IDCOL. The Bank also
reviewed the EAs of 2 mini-grids, 8 irrigation pump and 2 biogas plants on sample basis, and found these
to be in compliance with Bank requirements.
28. Institutional Strengthening on Safeguards. With a view to strengthen the institutional capacity
of IDCOL on environment safeguards, a new Environment Specialist has been appointed who has
commenced work from May 1, 2014.
29. Development of National Guidelines for CFL disposal. A draft guideline has been developed by
the consultant. The Bank reviewed the draft and suggested for further consultations with the stakeholders
including the Department of Environment (DoE) to ensure their buy-in for implementation of the action
plan. Despite dropping the efficient lighting component from the project, this work of developing the
national guideline would continue to ensure safe disposal of CFLs throughout the country.
30. Updating of ESMF. The ESMF has been updated for the additional financing, which was
disclosed in-country on April 20, 2014 and in the World Bank Infoshop on April 21, 2014. The ESMF is
now applicable for the whole renewable energy program of IDCOL incorporating the requirements of all
the different development partners supporting the program.
Fiduciary
31. The fiduciary performance is rated Satisfactory. The financial monitoring reports (FMRs) are
being submitted on time. The audited accounts for the project and of IDCOL are expected to be submitted
by the due date of December 31, 2014. The procurement performance of Power Cell (sector technical
assistance) and IDCOL (for technical assistance under access to electricity and household energy
components) is satisfactory. IDCOL and Power Cell have agreed to update their procurement plans using
the electronic procurement plan monitoring system (SEPA) by December 15, 2014; which will enable
real-time monitoring by the implementing agencies as well as the Bank of implementation of procurement
activities under the project.
VI. Agreed actions to address issues.
Annex 7 has the list of agreed actions.
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Annex 1
List of Officials Met
Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral resources (MPEMR)
1. Mr. Taposh Kumar Roy, Additional Secretary, Power Division, and Head, SREDA Cell
2. Mr. Mohammad Hossain, Director General, Power Cell
3. Mr. Md. Monwar Hasan Khan, Senior Assistant Chief, Power Division
Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL)
1. Mr. Mahmood Malik Executive Director and CEO
2. Mr. S.M. Formanul Islam, Deputy Chief Executive Officer
3. Mr. S. M. Monirul Islam, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Operations
4. Mr. Md. Enamul Karim Pavel, Director (Loans) and Head of Renewable Energy
5. Mr. Md. Wahidur Rahman, Unit Head (Technical), Renewable Energy
6. Mr. Nazmul Haque Faisal, Unit Head, Household Energy
7. Mr. A F M Shahed, Monitoring Officer, ICS
8. Mr. Md. Abdullah Hell Baki, Monitoring Officer, ICS
9. Mr. Molla Anisur Rahman, Senior Field Coordinator, ICS 10. Dr. A M Hasan Rashid Khan, Consultant, ICS
Partner Organizations (POs) and Others
1. Dr. M Shahidul Islam, Consultant, Grameen Shakti 2. Mr. Md. Belayet Hossain Miah, Deputy Director, VARD
3. Mr. Chandan Bose Mukto, Program Coordiantor, AID
4. Mr. Md. Abdul Mannan Sarkar, AGM, AVA
5. Mr. ABM Masudunnabi, Coordinator, SMS
6. Mr. Robiul Islam, Executive Director, DESHA
7. Mr. Mr. Md. Mominur Rahman, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, BUET
8. Mr. Craig VanDevelde, Chief of Party, USAID CCEB Program
9. Mr. A.K.M. Anowar Hossain Mollah, Senior ICS Advisor, USAID CCEB Program
10. Mr. Md. Masud Hassan, Coordinator, VERC
11. Ms. Laila Ishrat Jahan, Assistant Coordinator, VERC
12. Ms. Lila Gomez, Field Worker, VERC
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Annex 2
Results Framework for RERED II Project
(Figures in parenthesis are achievements)
Project Development Objectives
The proposed project development objective is to increase access to clean energy in rural areas through renewable energy
Project Development Objective Indicators
Indicator Name Core Unit of
Measure
Baseline
(Dec 2012)
Cumulative Target Values
2013 2014
2015
(As of Sept
2014)
2016 2017
2018
Number of households,
farmers, and businesses having access to clean
energy services
Number 0 100,200
529,000
935,000
1,322,000 1,663,000 2,069,000
Achievements 183,066 499,529 590,183
Generation Capacity of
Renewable Energy (other
than hydropower) constructed- Solar
MW 0 6 20 33 43 49 56
Achievements 6.42 16.73 19.87
Direct project beneficiaries
Million 0 0.5 2.4 3.8 4.8 5.3 5.7
Achievements 0.9 2.73 3.12
Female beneficiaries
Percentage 0 44 51 50 54 55 59
Achievements 44.73 43.17 45.48
People provided with
access to electricity by
household connections Million 2.4 3.7 4.5 4.7 4.7
Achievements 2.73 3.12
People who gained access
to more energy-efficient
cooking and/or heating facilities
Million 0 0 0 0.1 0.3 0.6 1.0
Achievements 0 0.005
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Intermediate Results Indicators
Cumulative Target Values
Indicator Name Core Unit of
Measure Baseline
(Dec 2012) 2013 2014
2015
(As of Sept
2014)
2016 2017 2018
Number of solar home systems installed
Number 0 100,000 524,000 824,000 1,001,000 1,030,000 1,030,000
Achievements 182,550 497,855 586,525
Number of connections
made through mini-grid
systems and captive plants
Number
0 150 250 1,000 2,500 4,500 7,500
Achievements 0 0 3
Number of solar irrigation pumps installed
Number 0 30 40 190 440 790 1,250
Achievements 2 9 25
Number of improved cook stoves purchased by
households Number 0 0 0 100,000 300,000 600,000 1,000,000
Achievements 0 0 2,800
Number of biogas plants
installed Number 0 100 4,400 10,220 18,340 29,700 33,000
Achievements 301 1,453 1,453
Collection efficiency of the
SHS POs Percentage 90% 90% 90% 90% 90% 90%
Achievements 96% 96%
Enabling policy for renewable energy
development Text
SREDA
not operational
SREDA not operational
SREDA established
SREDA
operational with
core staff appointed
SREDA
operational with core staff
appointed
SREDA operational
with core
staff appointed
SREDA operational
with core
staff appointed
Achievements
SREDA
Chairman appointed
SREDA operational with
core staff
appointed
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Annex 3
Matrix of Actions
Governance and Accountability Action Plan
Issues/Risks/
Objective
Actions Agency
responsible
Timeline Early Warning
Indicators to Trigger
Additional Action
Current Status
Service Delivery Risk
Ensure
adequately
competitive
market for
effective service
delivery
Carry out a market assessment to
gauge the extent to which
customers have options in
choosing the service provider
IDCOL
Early in project
implementation
Delays in initiating the
assessment
Assessment completed. It
indicates adequate competition in
the market.
Complete impact evaluation study
that includes an assessment of PO
performance
Study
consultant
Early in project
implementation
Delays in report
submission
Study completed. The study did
not indicate any discernible
differences in service delivery
quality across the POs.
Based on the assessments, take
appropriate interventions for
ensuring an adequately
competitive market
IDCOL Early in project
implementation
Delays in implementing
appropriate
interventions
IDCOL has strengthened its focus
on ensuring quality particularly
given the growth of the program
and introduction of new POs.
Conduct Technical audit by an
independent auditor on installation
quality
IDCOL
appointed
auditor
Every year during
project
implementation
Delays in appointing
auditor, non-
cooperation by the POs
BUET has been contracted.
Inception report expected shortly.
Ensure
enhanced
reporting and
feedback
Undertake regular reporting by the
implementing agencies on
implementation
IDCOL/
BREB/ Power
Cell
Quarterly Lack of focal point or
frequent replacement
The financial monitoring reports
are submitted timely by the
agencies.
Ensure RTI Designated Officer in
place and proactive information
dissemination conducted
IDCOL/BREB
/Power Cell
Within three
months of
effectiveness
No designated officers
in place; check of
websites reveals lack of
information
Designated officers have been
appointed.
Introduce third party monitoring
system
IDCOL Within the first
year of project
implementation
No initiative by the
implementing agency
A third party monitoring under a
Bank-executed trust fund
submitted its report indicating
12
Issues/Risks/
Objective
Actions Agency
responsible
Timeline Early Warning
Indicators to Trigger
Additional Action
Current Status
97% satisfaction rate amongst
consumers. Follow-up survey is
ongoing.
Introduce IT based systems for
reporting installation data and for
collecting customer feedback
IDCOL/POs Within the first
year of project
implementation
No initiative by the
implementing agency,
non-cooperation by the
POs
A small pilot from a Bank-
executed trust fund was
completed. A call center has been
contracted for customer surveys.
Survey is on-going.
Capacity Risk
Strengthen
institutional
capacity for
effective
implementation
Complete review of the
organization structure of IDCOL
Institutional
Development
Consultant
Early in project
implementation
Delays in
implementation of the
study recommendations
A separate department for
renewable energy is now
adequately staffed.
Develop a credible and time-bound
action plan for strengthening
BREB/PBS program
BREB Within the first
year of project
implementation
Delays in finalizing the
action plan
Action plan developed and under
implementation. This is being
followed up under a separate
project (T&D). The action item
is dropped from this project as
BREB is no longer an
implementing agency in this
project.
Appointment of Assistant Director
(Accounts)
Power Cell Before
disbursement of
the component
Delays in initiating
selection process
Appointment completed.
Reduce risk of
corruption in
procurement.
Conduct procurement audit by an
independent auditor on PO
procurement practices
IDCOL
appointed
auditor
Every alternate
year during
implementation
Delays in appointing
auditor, non-
cooperation by the POs
Procurement audit on-going.
For the energy-efficient lighting
component, develop i) a time
bound action plan with close
monitoring by REB and the Power
BREB
Before initiating
CFL procurement
Delays in developing
the action plan and
terms of reference,
delays in appointment
The action item is dropped as the
efficient lighting component is
cancelled.
13
Issues/Risks/
Objective
Actions Agency
responsible
Timeline Early Warning
Indicators to Trigger
Additional Action
Current Status
Division; (ii) a thorough terms of
reference for the bid evaluation
committee; (iii) appointment of a
competent international technical
specialist to support REB during
bid invitation, evaluation, and
post-award inspections; iv)
appointment of a competent
international procurement
consultant to support REB during
bid invitation and evaluation; v)
selection of competent bid
evaluation committee members
with inclusion of the international
procurement specialist; and (vi)
establishing strict confidentiality
arrangements for bid evaluation.
of the international
technical specialist,
complaints received
Appointment of a procurement
consultant and training for
procurement focal point
Power Cell Early in project
implementation
Delays in initiating
selection process
Procurement consultant on board.
14
Annex 4
Pico-solar PV systems in the context of IDCOL SHS program
The global niche for pico-solar PV
1. SHS provide many potential benefits to off-grid end-users, with services ranging from quality
lighting, cell-phone charging, radio, and TV. SHS of different sizes may provide important steps up
the energy ladder: from traditional smoky fuels and kerosene, disposable torches, rechargeable
batteries on the one hand, en-route to grid comparable electricity by mini-grids and main utility
connection services on the top of the ladder.
2. But globally, in many places outside of Bangladesh, SHS delivery programs have often been
less than successful, or have not reached desired levels of scale-up for a variety reasons now well
documented, including the usual suspect list of:
high imported equipment costs exacerbated by long supply chains and supply chain mark-ups
unaffordability and upfront costs barriers for potential consumers
lack of access to consumer finance in the project areas
poor quality of equipment and high failure rates of key components, including batteries
lack of spares and replacement components in rural areas
lack of access to installation and maintenance services etc.
3. One of the solutions being widely promoted to begin to address many of these challenges is
the plug & play pico-solar PV kit and solar lanterns. These are lower in absolute cost than small SHS.
4. Pico-solar PV kits3 are good quality lighting products that are small enough not to present a
very high upfront cost barrier and thus not require much financing, which can be self-installed by the
consumer. They are small but scalable - if more lights are required, then the consumer can
incrementally purchase more of these units as and when affordable. Cost can range from $70-$200,
average $140. The physical characteristics of pico-solar PV kits are typically:
no complex installation requirements – simply plug and play,
2-4 lights and cellphone charging outlet using USB
ultra-high efficiency LEDs, low power draw, resulting in smaller system component
requirements
enabling use of small, long-life Li-Ion batteries
quality tested and certified (usually) to Lighting Global standards with 2 year warrantee.
fully imported fully assembled - manufactured typically in China, with some kits assembly
elsewhere (e.g. Kenya)
Sizes range from 1-10Wp typically.
5. Pico-solar PV capacity is not normally measured in terms of Wp, but rather in terms of output
performance based on the light brightness for a measured number of hours per day (lumen-hr/day).
This has been done for various reasons, and avoids awkward simple cost or Wp comparisons with
some less efficient SHS.
6. The highly efficient technical characteristics often result in lower cost, higher performing
pico-solar PV system systems, than competing commercially available small SHS in the 15-20Wp
range which might use lower efficiency CFLs and lead-acid batteries.
Bangladesh context for pico-solar PV
3 For a short paper on pico-solar promotion refer to “Pico Solar PV Systems for Remote Homes, A new
generation of small PV systems for lighting and communication, IEA PVPS Task 9, Report IEA-PVPS T9-12:
2012”
15
7. Bangladesh SHS program of IDCOL has overcome all known barriers to SHS implementation
making it the fastest growing program the world. The considered introduction of pico-solar PV to
IDCOL program raises several questions:
Is there even a market for the smaller 10Wp SHS or pico-solar? The IDCOL program
currently markets 20Wp as its smallest offering, with high efficiency LED.
Is there a need for pico-solar kits in order to reach these “customers”? Can pico-solar
compete on price/performance basis with an equally performing Bangladesh IDCOL SHS?
How much effort and grant money should be spent getting these to market? IDCOL currently
provides small grant of less than $0.6-1/Wp for upto 30Wp systems.
Is pico-solar actually a step up the energy ladder in Bangladesh context? Can this step be
skipped?
Why introduce Li-Ion battery recycling challenges when Bangladesh has innovated low cost
tubular lead-acid batteries that are recycled, and why import when there is a buoyant local PV
manufacturing industry?
Can small SHS and pico-solar financing transaction costs be accommodated in the highly
efficient IDCOL financing schemes, or are fixed transaction costs too high to make them cost
competitive?
There are many questions as to whether pico-solar PV present a real economic opportunity for
Bangladesh, or will simply displace potential local economic production activities in SHS
with imported problems.
8. Solar lanterns: Lanterns are also seen, globally, as part of a solution to the challenges of
failed or challenged SHS programs, as they have almost all the characteristics of pico-solar kits,
except they are integrated units providing for one lamp only and usually cellphone charging. Since
they cost much less than $50 in almost all cases, they cannot be financed by IDCOL and are intended
for cash sales only. Lighting Bangladesh launched in 29th October with IFC, and will provide support
to private sector to reach the poorest of the poor who cannot afford even IDCOL financed-SHS.
Technical challenge is primarily, the recycling of the Li-Ion batteries.
Fixed costs of PO in IDCOL program
9. One of the key success factors of the IDCOL program is the huge networks of the PO’s for
sales, delivery, fee-collection and maintenance. Analysis of PO costs and margins indicates that a
significant part of PO costs is sales and marketing, and a significant part of their cost and risk is fee
collection – both of these are more or less independent of system sizes. Therefore there is a fixed cost
per system that needs to be covered for POs to consider any systems profitable. 20Wp systems
estimate these to be at least BDT 4,000- 5,000 per system.
IDCOL costs
10. IDCOL too has fixed transaction costs which are independent on system size. These include
the cost of capturing the PO financing transaction, and ongoing monitoring costs. Therefore, it is
probable that even in the most efficient SHS programme globally, there is a minimum system size
below which transactions are not attractive for either PO or financier IDCOL.
Grants approach in Pico-solar PV programs
11. The level of grant is typically based on the certified lumenr-hr/day. GIZ- financed programs
(SNV in Tanzania and 7 other global locations) and World Bank financed programs (SSMP2 in
Tanzania) offer generous grants, sometimes fixed for the program duration, or decreasing as the
program matures.
16
Program Year 1 Years 2 Years 3 Year 4
SSMP2
(World Bank)
$0.019/lm-hr/day $0.019/lm-hr/day $0.019/lm-hr/day 0
SNV (GIZ) $0.056/lm-hr/day $0.042/lm-hr/day $0.028/lm-hr/day $0.014/lm-hr/day
12. When converted to a $/Wp grant, these pico-solar program grants are high, translating to
about an equivalent $7/Wp-$23/Wp, averaging $10/Wp (compared to typical global SHS program
grants of $2.5/Wp to $5/Wp). In comparison, the IDCOL SHS program offers a grant of $0.6-1/Wp
for upto 30Wp systems only. No other IDCOL systems receive any grants, and thus the IDCOL
program is run practically on a full cost recovery basis.
Comparison of pico-solar and SHS performance in Bangladesh program
13. In the table at the end of the annex, the cost/performance of pico-solar PV systems is
compared with the existing IDCOL product offering. Included for comparison are possible new
IDCOL program offerings comprising of smaller SHS (5-15Wp) using smaller recyclable lead-acid
batteries and very high efficiency LED of 80lumen/watt and 120lumen/watt, all of which could be
locally manufactured and assembled.
14. The table below illustrates the likely trade-offs, but there are several assumption that need to
be confirmed, these are:
Capital costs of the pico-solar PV (assumed $75-$140 for 2.5 to 5Wp), but may be higher
Battery costs for the small solar SHS
Fixed mark-up for pico-solar and small SHS alike assumed to be about BDT4,000 ($50)
Grant for pico-solar as per GIZ proposals. Grant for small SHS fixed at $20
Lumen/watt for small LED for small SHS is 80 lumen/watt.
Discussion of costs and performance
15. Absolute costs of 5Wp pico-solar after all costs but before grant are very comparable with
10Wp SHS, although application of a large grant portion may make pico-solar appear cheaper.
Mark-ups are percentage-wise much more for smaller systems, due to the fixed cost aspects.
Grants for pico-solar are very high on a $/Wp basis.
Relative costs ($/Wp comparisons):
$/Wp cost for any SHS below 20Wp begins to climb dramatically with decreasing size from
$6/Wp, and this trend continues into the pico-solar range up to more than $20/Wp.
Even the higher grant levels assumed may not make sales price/Wp lower for pico-solar.
16. The efficient 5Wp pico-solar provides only a little less light (lumen-hr/day) than the 10Wp
SHS at assumed 80 lumen/watt. But comparing cost/lumen-hr/day, the 10Wp system seems to be
cost effective against the pico-solar, before grant application. By attending to LED efficiencies in the
SHS, and if the SHS were simply to improve to 120lumen/watt (similar to the pico-solar LED), then
the lumen-hr/day output of the 5Wp and 10Wp SHS rise dramatically, and appear to cost less than the
pico-solar in absolute terms, as well as providing far better value for money in terms of cost/lumen-
hr/day. In fact, if the pico-solar grant of about BDT 4,000 were applied to the efficient 10Wp SHS,
then these would seem to be the best solution by quite some way in absolute and relative cost terms.
They could reach the poorest of the poor almost as cost effectively as pico-solar based on the
calculations.
17. Given the above, in the Bangladesh context, a 10Wp SHS with efficient components could
17
deliver almost twice the performance of a 5Wp pico-solar, for almost the same price. And therefore it
could be argued that these grants would be better applied to the 10Wp SHS. This may in part answer
the questions: How much effort and grant money should be spent getting the pico-solar systems to
market?
Unquantified costs
18. The introduction of Li-ion batteries remains an unquantified environmental and recycling
challenge.
19. The economic benefits of locally assembled SHS versus imported pico-solar PV have not
been quantified at this stage.
Conclusion
20. Based on the assumptions listed above (that would need to be verified), but appears that the
space for pico-solar PV in Bangladesh is very small compared to some other countries in Africa for
example. There may be limited benefits on introducing pico-solar kits compared to developing home-
grown 10Wp SHS.
18
ParticularsAzzuri indigo
(2.5Wp)
Barefoot
Power pack
5W
Fosera pico
5Wp5Wp 10Wp 15 Wp 20 Wp 30 Wp 40 Wp 50 Wp 60 Wp 75 Wp 85 Wp 100 Wp 130 Wp
Solar panel 390 780 1170 1,500 2,250 3,000 3,750 4,500 5,625 6,375 7,500 9,750
Battery 2,000 3,000 3,000 3,690 3,690 4,800 5,900 5,900 8,000 9,800 9,800 12,800
Charge Controller 450 450 450 550 550 550 550 550 550 550 550 550
Lamp 500 500 500 750 750 1,000 1,250 1,750 1,750 1,750 1,750 2,000
Other accessories, mobile charger,
transportion, etc. 2,000 2,000 2,000 2,326 2,528 2,820 2,970 4,494 4,037 3,775 3,775 4,067
Mark-up (profit, and fixed costs for
marketting & distribution, cost/risk
related to monthly fee collection)
4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,000 4,944 5,732 6,820 5,768 7,396 9,028 9,740 14,315 12,523
Sub-total 9,460 11,800 11,000 9,340 10,730 11,120 13,760 15,500 18,990 20,188 24,590 28,990 31,990 37,690 41,690
Subsidy / grant portion 4,269 4,964 4,964 3,000 3,000 1,560 1,560 - - - - - - - -
Total 5,191 6,836 6,036 6,340 7,730 9,560 12,200 15,500 18,990 20,188 24,590 28,990 31,990 37,690 41,690
markup % 73% 51% 57% 75% 59% 56% 56% 59% 56% 40% 43% 45% 44% 61% 43%
Grant equivalent ($/Wp) 21.9 $/Wp 12.7 $/Wp 12.7 $/Wp 7.7 $/Wp 3.8 $/Wp 1.3 $/Wp 1.0 $/Wp
BDT cost /Wp 2,184 1,560 1,400 1,068 673 475 441 326 304 288 287 266 262 234 224
BDT marked up/Wp 3,784 2,360 2,200 1,868 1,073 741 688 517 475 404 410 387 376 377 321
BDT Sales price/Wp 2,077 1,367 1,207 1,268 773 637 610 517 475 404 410 387 376 377 321
USD cost/Wp 28.00 20.00 17.95 13.69 8.63 6.09 5.65 4.17 3.90 3.70 3.67 3.41 3.36 3.00 2.88
USD marked up/Wp 48.51 30.26 28.21 23.95 13.76 9.50 8.82 6.62 6.09 5.18 5.25 4.96 4.83 4.83 4.11
USD sales price/Wp 26.62 17.53 15.48 16.26 9.91 8.17 7.82 6.62 6.09 5.18 5.25 4.96 4.83 4.83 4.11
lights 2 2 2 3 3 4 5 7 7 7 7 8
power 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
lumen/watt 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80 80
Wh/day calculated 16 32 48 64 96 128 160 192 240 272 320 416
lumen-hr/day 1,176 1,340 1,980 1,280 2,560 3,840 5,120 7,680 10,240 12,800 15,360 19,200 21,760 25,600 33,280
BDT/lumen-hr/day
cost 4.64 5.82 3.54 4.17 2.63 1.85 1.72 1.27 1.19 1.13 1.12 1.04 1.02 0.91 0.88
marked-up 8.04 8.81 5.56 7.30 4.19 2.90 2.69 2.02 1.85 1.58 1.60 1.51 1.47 1.47 1.25
sold 4.41 5.10 3.05 4.95 3.02 2.49 2.38 2.02 1.85 1.58 1.60 1.51 1.47 1.47 1.25
USD/lumen-hr/day
cost 0.0595 0.0746 0.0453 0.0535 0.0337 0.0238 0.0221 0.0163 0.0152 0.0144 0.0144 0.0133 0.0131 0.0117 0.0112
marked-up 0.1031 0.1129 0.0712 0.0935 0.0537 0.0371 0.0345 0.0259 0.0238 0.0202 0.0205 0.0194 0.0188 0.0189 0.0161
sold 0.0566 0.0654 0.0391 0.0635 0.0387 0.0319 0.0305 0.0259 0.0238 0.0202 0.0205 0.0194 0.0188 0.0189 0.0161
lumen-hr/day 1,176 1,340 1,980 1,920 3,840 5,760 7,680 11,520 15,360 19,200 23,040 28,800 32,640 38,400 49,920
BDT/lumen-hr/day
cost 4.64 5.82 3.54 2.91 1.82 1.28 1.20 0.88 0.82 0.78 0.78 0.72 0.71 0.63 0.60
marked-up 8.04 8.81 5.56 4.99 2.86 1.97 1.84 1.38 1.27 1.08 1.11 1.04 1.01 1.00 0.86
sold 4.41 5.10 3.05 3.43 2.08 1.70 1.64 1.38 1.27 1.08 1.11 1.04 1.01 1.00 0.86
USD/lumen-hr/day
cost 0.0595 0.0746 0.0453 0.0373 0.0233 0.0164 0.0153 0.0113 0.0106 0.0100 0.0101 0.0093 0.0091 0.0081 0.0077
marked-up 0.1031 0.1129 0.0712 0.0640 0.0367 0.0253 0.0236 0.0177 0.0163 0.0139 0.0142 0.0133 0.0129 0.0129 0.0110
sold 0.0566 0.0654 0.0391 0.0440 0.0266 0.0218 0.0210 0.0177 0.0163 0.0139 0.0142 0.0133 0.0129 0.0129 0.0110
with 80 lumen/watt LED's
with 120 lumen/watt LED's - ultra high efficiency
5,460 7,000
Current IDCOL SHS offerings with LEDSmaller SHS (new)Pico-solar kits
Certified results
7,800
19
Annex 5
Detailed Implementation Progress of Household Energy Component
21. Preparatory Activities. The consultation process of the POs was elaborate as the clustering
approach adopted by the RERED-II project is new. This approach is based on a principle of developing
small and medium size entrepreneurship to deliver clean cooking solutions to communities with in-depth
coverage. Each PO is required to conduct a baseline survey of its assigned cluster before starting the
dissemination of the ICS. A total sample of 251,141 respondents participated in the baseline survey from
97 upazilas. Some key results are the following: i) about half of the respondents are involved in
agricultural work; ii) more than half of the respondents monthly household income is less than 10,000
Takas ; iii) over 90 percent of respondents currently use traditional cookstoves; iv) about 67 percent of the
respondents use mixed fuel in the form of fuel wood, agricultural residues, straw, and cow dung cake; v)
only 19 percent of respondents purchase fuelwood for cooking; and vi) most of the respondents are
willing to purchase an ICS but do not want to purchase it now. During the course of the project, follow
up survey would be conducted to assess trends from this baseline.
22. IDCOL has conducted training activities to familiarize the POs with the operating guidelines of
the project. About 17 training sessions have been organized so far with about 455 participants.
Preparatory activities involving the POs also included adjustments of operating modalities to account for
perceived field realities.
23. The mission had discussions with a selected group of POs and participated on an Operational
Committee meeting involving all selected POs of the first round. After an initial preparatory phase that
involved many adjustments, POs are now proceeding to sales of the ICS and their physical installation in
households. Key implementation challenges reported are: i) the competition faced by POs from other ICS
programs such as the Grammen Shakti and the GIZ programs; ii) high transportation costs for POs that
do not have cluster based production facilities; iii) difficulties in implementing the cluster approach by
some POs.
24. The mission recommended an adaptive approach in coordinating activities. Basically, it was
suggested that IDCOL remains open minded to adapt monitoring and administrative requirements to field
realities and implementation constraints. In view of the time needed for preparatory activities, the
mission recommended a call for the second round of POs to be initiated as soon as possible to engage
with them early in the process to minimize implementation delays.
25. Technical Committee, Testing and Standards. IDCOL’s Technical Committee in charge of
providing technical oversight of ICS standards, testing, and certification is now fully operational. The
Technical Committee provided its insights and recommendations to IDCOL in the selection of a first
wave of 7 ICS models that are being disseminated by the POs. This selection was made based on
screening of 72 initial models and test results of 11 models. The testing was made at the Village
Education Resource Center (VERC) and at the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.
26. The mission visited the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to review
progress in the on-going work as part of agreement signed with IDCOL. Currently, two models of ICS
approved by IDCOL have been installed at the BUET. They have been tested using Water Boiling Test
(WBT) protocols. Two incrementally improved designs are almost ready to be tested. These are
designs with cast-able creaming lining and with ceramic sleeve lining. With better insulated hot surface,
these designs are expected to give incrementally higher efficiency in WBT tests. The mission noted the
progress in the R&D program for incremental improvement of current models of ICS and pellet fuels at
BUET.
27. The BUET laboratory is however handicapped by lack of appropriate equipment especially an
20
emission measurement set-up of international standards. The mission recommended that project resources
should be eventually allocated to finance BUET laboratory facilities so that a reasonable quality of work
on ICS related R&D can be performed. The estimated resource requirement is about $300,000. This
should be done upon satisfactorily completion of the current contract with the BUET.
28. The mission also visited the Ceramics Department of BUET. It has an excellent facility to
characterize materials using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry and Electron microscopy. The mission
encouraged the BUET teams to continue collaboration to help IDCOL implement its quality tier
improvement plan. The plan stipulates that the percentage of the current generation of “improved” stoves
will increase gradually every year: goals would be 0% first year (current year), 5% second year, 20%
third year, 50% fourth year, and 100% fifth year. ”The definition of an improved stove will be one that
meets the benchmarks of tier 2 stove (fuel use): tier 3 (indoor air pollution): tier 3 (total emissions).
29. The mission was briefed on the take-away lessons from the knowledge exchange visit organized
in June 2014 for 3 cookstove experts supporting the IDCOL program at the Energy Institute of the
Colorado State University in USA. The mission recommended remaining in contact with the researchers
of the Institute to pursue research and development opportunities.
30. Selection of Additional ICS models. POs are currently disseminating a first set of ICS model
recommended by the IDCOL Technical Committee. This initial set of ICS will be supplemented by a
second set that will be factory produced ICS. The set could include rocket stoves and gasifier cookstoves
proven to be of higher quality than the ICS commonly used in Bangladesh. The idea is to provide a menu
of solutions and choice to households. It is expected that households will eventually decide on the type of
ICS that are suitable to their cooking needs. The market will therefore decide on the level of uptake of
these cookstoves. IDCOL and the Bank supervision team will continue to closely monitor quality,
performance and testing aspects to ensure that the agreed tier graduation plan is effectively being
implemented.
31. National awareness raising. The mission noted satisfactorily that work is being done by many
POs on awareness raising on the benefits of clean cooking to health outcomes, environmental protection,
and climate change. Awareness level at the level of clusters is one of the key activities of the household
energy component as behavior change is imperative for adoption and sustained use of new cooking
appliances. The mission was also informed that IDCOL is at an advanced procurement stage to contract
for a large scale awareness raising campaign. The mission encouraged IDCOL to follow up closely this
activity as it will reinforce work done by the POs and help stimulate demand for ICS in the country. As
recommended in the last December 2013 aide memoire, a close collaboration between IDCOL, GIZ, the
CCEB program and Grammen Shakti to coordinate messaging is necessary to avoid creating confusion at
the level of households.
32. Capacity development of the POs. The mission recommended that IDCOL continue the
implementation of capacity development activities to strengthen managerial, technical, and monitoring
skills of POs. Contents of capacity development activities need to be periodically reviewed based on
feedback received from POs and also from findings of IDCOL monitoring team.
33. Donor coordination. The mission noted satisfactorily that IDCOL and the USAID Catalyzing
Clean Energy in Bangladesh (CCEB) program have signed a letter of collaboration. A meeting was held
between IDCOL and the CCEB during the mission. When IDCOL introduces higher quality cookstoves in
its program, the convergence of objectives between the two programs will become more apparent. The
mission encouraged the two teams to articulate their collaboration on specific activities. The mission
recommended a similar collaboration with other donors involved in the clean cooking sector in
Bangladesh. In particular, it was suggested that IDCOL fully capitalizes on the opportunities offered by
the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL). This Initiative has now completed an investment prospectus
21
and it is attracting many investors to the energy access sector in Bangladesh. The mission participated at
the opening of the Bangladesh SE4ALL Investor Forum and noted the importance given to clean cooking
issues as part of the universal energy access by 2030 goal.
34. Field Trip Observations. The mission visited VERC’s concrete ICS production center at
Anandapur and dissemination site at Kamalpur on October 25th. The findings of the team are given
below.
(i) At the production center at Anadapur, about 30 units of all types of approved models are
produced per day. With the newer molds (i.e., casting frames), the problems encountered
earlier (i.e., dimensional accuracy) has now been resolved. One mason and a helper are
employed at the facility currently. The curing facility consisted of a large water tank with
sufficient volume to match the production level. The production capacity of the center is
more than the current dissemination requirements. In fact, some of the productions are being
offered to non-allocated areas in the project without IDCOL marking and serial number. So,
here is the opportunity for the POs with limited production capacity to get their supplies as
pure business proposition; subsidy being not involved in production and distribution.
(ii) The ICS dissemination area visited was a small community in Kamalpur, which is located in
one of the assigned clusters of VERC. The community consists of 30 households. Two lady
volunteers were found to be working in the area on behalf of VERC. They appeared to have
proceeded quite systematically by doing a household mapping of the community and then
even doing a poverty mapping (i.e., rich, middle class, poor and ultra-poor). On enquiry, it
was found that they were trained prior to their assignment to the community. They succeeded
in involving local community leaders in the motivation program. The demand generated is
100% i.e., all the households has agreed to enlist for the purchase of the ICS of different
models (mostly two mouth ones). ICS have now been installed 15 households (i.e., 50%) and
the rest are expected to be installed in next one month.
(iii) The team visited several households to inspect the installed ICS. Most of them were found to
be in actual use. The kitchens appeared to be clean with no smoke and ladies were found to
be happy with the ICS use. While some of the ladies said that less fuel was required in the
ICS, others were not sure. All of them agreed that cooking was faster with ICS. In one
kitchen, rice was found to be cooked in the 2nd mouth in the simmering mode after initial
boiling in the first mouth which is fueled. In one case, smoke could be seen from the
chimney although kitchen was smoke free. It is possible that wet fuel was being used which
produces more smoke. It was interesting to note that the household in the community has
supply of fuel wood from their own sources.
(iv) In one case, the kitchen had an opening/ window on the side of the chimney. This could
result in the chimney take out the smoke out of the kitchen with the possibility of some
smoke coming back through the window. It will be important to sensitize households on this
aspect.
35. Following is the agreed work plan for the next six months for the ICS.
22
November – 2014 to April – 2015 Work Plan for ICS
Sl# Activity Description Deadline
1 Onboarding NEW
POs
IDCOL will sign participation agreement
with 16 selected organizations. The
clusters will be allocated to these
organizations after due consultation.
December 17, 2014
2 Training Programs
for NEW POs
Initially the new POs will be provided with
one mason training, one technician
training, one IT training and one field
promotion training.
December 12, 2014
3 Baseline Survey in
NEW clusters
The new POs will conduct baseline
surveys in the allocated clusters and
IDCOL will assign installation targets after
verification.
January 31, 2015
4
Inclusion of Tier – 2
ICS under the
program
To include tier – 2 ICS under the program
IDCOL will rely on two streams of efforts:
As per the contract, BUET will
produce a Tier – 2 concrete stove by
January, 2015.
CCEB will facilitate the testing of
manufactured stoves in collaboration with
IDCOL.
February 28, 2015
5 Promotional
Activities by POs
IDCOL staffs will attend at least 50
courtyard meetings, 15 school sessions, 15
CBO meetings, 10 mike announcements
and 10 Exhibitions conducted by the POs.
April 30, 2015
6 Refresher Trainings
IDCOL will conduct one mason training,
one technician training, one IT training and
one field promotion training for all of the
POs.
April 30, 2015
7 OC Meeting IDCOL will conduct six OC Meeting. April 30, 2015
8 Installation
Inspection
IDCOL will inspect more than 50% of the
ICS installed by the POs. April 30, 2015
9 ICS Installation
IDCOL will facilitate POs to ensure
installation of following numbers of ICS
per cluster per month:
October, 14: 50
November, 14: 75
December, 14: 100
January, 15: 125
February, 15: 125
March, 15: 125
April, 15: 125
April 30, 2015
10 Production Center
Visits
All of the production centers
established/contracted by the POs will be
visited twice to ensure the quality of
production. First round of visits will be
conducted within January, 2015.
April 30, 2015
23
Annex 6
Support to SREDA and Energy Efficiency Engagement
1. The mission met with the Chairman and Member (Energy Efficiency) of Sustainable and
Renewable Energy Development Agency (SREDA) to discuss about the status and plans of SREDA
Action Plan, and progress made on various fronts, including energy efficiency (EE) policies, programs
and initiatives. SREDA staffing has been approved and is under way, with nine staff already started and a
total of sixty-one to be on board by June 2015. SREDA has been established as a nodal organization
under the Power Division of Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) and is
empowered through the SREDA Act of December 2012. Although there is an enormous potential for EE
across all sectors – both supply and demand side - which can play an effective role in Bangladesh’s
energy sector and its energy security, and the momentum for formulation of new EE policies and
regulations and their implementation have picked up with the emergence of SREDA, there remains
barriers to large scale EE adoption and market transformation, particularly across various demand side
sectors.
2. There are several development partners, main ones being GIZ and JICA, which are currently
already supporting specific EE activities and programs. Of significance is the JICA- supported Energy
Efficiency Master Plan which is currently under way and the draft Report is expected by December 2014.
SREDA team expressed to the mission that there is a need for support in various areas and actions from
the Bank to support the actions under the SREDA’s EE Action Plan, as well as developing SREDA’s own
organization development and strategic business plan, particularly in the area of EE policy
implementation and financing. In the meantime, the mission also followed up with SREDA and
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) on the latter’s recent formal request to World Bank
(through ERD) to provide financial support for the setting up of new more efficient urea fertilizer plants
(in lieu of Ghorashal and Palash Fertilizer Units). The mission responded to BCIC by agreeing to support
an investment-grade feasibility study from the TA component of the project without any commitment for
investment in increasing efficiency of the fertilizer plants (details in para 8 below).
3. The mission agreed in principal to support SREDA to help develop a national-level EE
Implementation/Financing Strategy linked to the EE Action Plan that SREDA would pursue. This
intervention will draw from global experiences and practices adopting a comprehensive approach along
the four pillars that could covert much of this potential into investments, that is, (i) through EE policies
(appliance EE standards and labels, EE building codes) (ii) financial incentives (through EE credit lines or
EE funds, in terms of soft loans or even risk sharing) (iii) EE awareness and capacity building and (iv)
institutional framework for implementation (e.g., for utility DSM, or market-based EE through ESCOs ,
energy auditor certification program, etc.)
4. The mission agreed with SREDA to engage in specific EE areas on several fronts under the
purview of the RERED II project. The potential of earmarking some dedicated TA funds from RERED II,
which is with the Power Cell, to SREDA for EE activities was also discussed. SREDA will take up this
option internally with Power Division/Power Cell of earmarking a portion of that TA to SREDA. In
addition, it was also agreed that the AAA on Bangladesh’s overall energy sector strategy being pursued
by the World Bank (with AusAid support) would include a component on Energy Efficiency which will
complimentary to the work under the TA components of RERED II project.
5. Institutional Strengthening, Capacity Building and Implementation of Action Plan of
SREDA: SREDA could benefit from global experiences and best practices in EE institutional
development in other developing and developed countries like South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan,
India, etc. A SREDA Organization Development and Strategic Business Plan is the next logical step and
should be developed. It was agreed to have the following as next steps in coordination with activities
being supported by other development partners like GIZ: (i) Explore the potential for organizing South-
24
South Knowledge and Operational Exchanges with EE Agencies like Korea Energy Management
Corporation (KEMCO) in South Korea and Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) in India for helping with
institutional development and capacity building of SREDA. This would include visits of EE officials from
SREDA and other organizations in Bangladesh to KEMCO, BEE, etc. to exchange information and best
practices in implementation and financing strategies linked to specific EE areas of EE policy, financing,
marketing, and market development; (ii) Under the RERED II TA, SREDA plans to have long-term
advisors (one EE Institutional Development Expert and second one EE Sector Consultant) who will be
based in SREDA for a duration of 9-12 months. Based on initial, separate discussions between KEMCO
and the World Bank in September 2014, wherein KEMCO has expressed interest in assisting SREDA and
Bangladesh on the energy efficiency front, it was agreed that the TOR for the Institutional Development
long term advisor consultant will be prepared by SREDA and will be shared with KEMCO to pursue this
option.
6. LED Lighting Deployment Program and Incandescent Lamps Phase Out Policy
Development: While the large scale CFL distribution (and incandescent lamp replacement) program by
REB and other utilities in 2010 was successful in terms of demonstrating implementation approach, the
CFL quality became a problem. Several attempts for bidding for the second phase failed due to various
reasons. Thanks to the awareness campaigns for the first phase CFLs, there was an increased uptake of
CFLs by customers making a free distribution of CFLs by the government not necessary. Government
decided to drop the CFL second phase and instead explore the possibility of implementing an LED lamp-
based pilot DSM program for households. This would be a household EE program (door-to-door
replacement) with the possibility of partial cost recovery through electricity billing systems similar to the
programs done elsewhere like in Puducherry and AP in India, or in Mexico (where procurement was done
for both the supply of lamps and their distribution also), along with developing an incandescent lamp
phase out policy. Over recent years, LED lamp costs have dropped dramatically and efficacy levels have
improved significantly making them as a financially attractive and feasible alternative to both ILs and
CFLs. Based on global experiences with such programs, including World Bank’s several programs in the
past, it was agreed that under RERED II a comprehensive approach will be designed including
development of a large scale household level LED lamp deployment program through a DSM modality;
formulation of an IL Phase out Policy; and design of a comprehensive consumer awareness program on
promoting LEDs and other energy efficient appliances. A feasibility study and options analysis needs to
be undertaken that will identify the most effective means of addressing the market barriers for LED.
7. Energy Efficiency Component under the Bangladesh Energy Sector AAA: The EE
Component under the AAA (Bank-executed AAA funded by AusAid) would be used to review the
ongoing studies, including the JICA-supported Energy Master Plan (the draft for which is expected to be
available in December 2014), SREDA’s own EE Action Plan, and to update the work done under the
Bank-supported “Road Map for Energy Efficiency Improvements and Demand Side Management”
prepared in 2009. The objective is to have a better and more robust understanding of the full landscape of
EE opportunities, using best practice, systematic sectoral and main end-use EE improvement assessment
involving comparisons across indicators such as Energy Intensity (Energy/GDP), Cost of Energy Savings
(Taka/KWh saved), etc between existing stock and regional/global benchmarks. One this is done,
specific sectoral end use (demand side) EE measures can be identified, interventions prioritized based on
their costs and benefits, the size of energy savings and the practical feasibility of large scale
implementation. This analysis will provide a refined estimate of the aggregate potential energy savings
(ideally in the form of a common metric) from implementing energy efficiency measures in Bangladesh
vis-à-vis regional and global benchmarks, and prioritize among the top interventions (based on total
potential savings or potential savings/unit of investment in EE) so that they may form part of the
Government's action agenda on energy efficiency as well as inform the strategy for investment in
additions to generation capacity. This work will be complemented with bottom up survey evidence on
usage to actually calculate the total amount of energy that can be saved and develop a basis for
prioritizing among industries/processes and interventions so as to generate both power savings and
25
savings in the use of gas and diesel. This AAA work will also attempt to capture the economic and fiscal
benefits of demand side energy efficiency, in terms of employment benefits, increased competitiveness,
etc. The TOR for the EE Component of AAA will be finalized after the JICA- funded EE Master Plan
Report is available to avoid any redundancies. This work would also inform the bank’s future lending
program in the area of EE in Bangladesh, and could lead to the next logical step on developing a PCN for
a potential EE financial intervention (FY16-17) by the Bank in the future (such as EE investment loan
or a EE Line of Credit)
8. Fertilizer Industry Energy Efficiency: Fertilizer industry EE improvement is one of the most
important priorities from both energy security and gas sector perspective. The mission learnt during
meetings with BCIC that an in-house preparation of a complete feasibility study is already under way, by
an inter-ministerial Committee led by BCIC/ Ministry of Industry. It was agreed that the Scope and ToR
of this Feasbility Study will be shared with the World Bank by BCIC. Furthermore, under RERED II,
with SREDA as the focal point in coordination with BCIC, a review of the Feasibility Study could be
done by an international expert, and then the study could be expanded and updated with the TA support to
include sensitivity analysis, additional economic analysis, environmental and social impact analysis,
and assessment of alternative options (such as importing fertilizer for outside Bangladesh) to make it
more comprehensive and investment-grade for BCIC to explore financing options more effectively. The
update will also identify measures related to elements of ISO 50001, the new internationally accepted
global benchmark for energy management in industrial enterprises
9. The following table summarizes the short-term and medium term EE actions that will be pursued
in the future, as agreed with SREDA.
Proposed EE Activity Responsibility Funding Source
and Support
Start
Date
South South Knowledge Exchange
(KEMCO, BEE, etc)
SREDA, World Bank RERED II TA
ESMAP
(potential)
Feb 2015
Long Term Advisor (EE Institutional
Development)
SREDA, World Bank RERED II TA,
ESMAP
(potential)
Apr 2015
LED Lighting Deployment Program –
Feasibility Study and Options Analysis
SREDA, REB, Utilities,
World Bank
RERED II TA Mar 2015
Incandescent Lamps Phase Out Policy
Development
SREDA, World Bank RERED II TA Aug 2015
Consumer EE Awareness Program SREDA, World Bank RERED II TA Mar 2015
Energy Efficiency Component under the
Bangladesh Energy Sector AAA
World Bank World Bank
(AusAid)
Jan 2015
Fertilizer Industry Energy Efficiency
Feasibility Study
BCIC, SREDA, World
Bank
RERED II TA Mar 2015
26
Annex 7
List of Agreed Actions
N Actions Responsibility Agreed Date Revised Date Status as of December 31, 2013
Access to Electricity Component
1. Initiate Procurement Audit of the
POs
IDCOL April 30,
2012
April 30, 2014 Audit ongoing.
2. Initiate technical audit IDCOL July 1, 2013 April 30, 2014 Audit ongoing.
3. Setting-up Environmental and
Social Safeguards Management
Unit
IDCOL June 30, 2012 June, 2014 Organogram approved. A new
environment specialist joined from
May 1, 2014.
4. Six-monthly monitoring report of
expired battery collection of SHS
IDCOL June 30, 2012 June 30, 2014 IDCOL is collecting reports through
its regional offices on monthly basis
and sharing those in each OC meeting.
Database completed and being
updated.
5. Half-yearly monitoring report on
working condition of battery
recycling plant
IDCOL March 15,
2012
Every six
months
Reports are submitted.
6. Appointment of a consultant for
Environmental and Social Audit
IDCOL March 31,
2012
December 31,
2014
Consultant at final stage of selection.
Household Energy Component
1. Signing agreement with
BCSIR/VERC/BUET/ICDDRB for
testing and other R & D activities
IDCOL August 2013 May 15, 2014 BUET was selected after an
assessment by the international
consultant. Agreement signed in June
2014.
2. Execution of Bangladeshi stove
Camp
Local
consultant Sept 2013 April 30, 2014 An IDCOL team visited the Colorado
State University and exchanged their
views with the cookstove experts of
the university
Technical Assistance to Access to Electricity Component
1. Testing Center equipment
procurement, installation and
training
IDCOL Nov 2012 December
2014
Participation Agreement between
IDCOL and BUET signed. Technical
specifications for equipment at final
stage of development.
2. Access to Commercial Financing IDCOL Dec 2012 June,
2015 A new consultant will be appointed.
3. Accreditation program for
technicians
IDCOL June 15, 2012 June 30, 2013 Completed. A total of 1,618
technicians have been trained so far.
4. 220 V DC Mini-grid testing facility IDCOL June 30, 2013 November,
2014
Agreement signed between IDCOL
and UIU.
5. Initiate impact evaluation baseline
survey
IDCOL June 30, 2013 December,
2014 Contract negotiation with the selected
firm on-going. Scope to be finalized
based on learning from DIME impact
evaluation workshop.
Efficient Lighting Component
1. Development of national guideline
for safe disposal of CFLs
Power Cell June 15, 2012 June 2014 Draft guidelines prepared and under
review by Power Cell.
Sector Technical Assistance
1. Process TAPP revision Power Cell June 30, 2014 Completed.
27
N Actions Responsibility Agreed Date Revised Date Status as of December 31, 2013
2. Revised organogram of BERC Energy
Division
Existing staff of BERC to be
regularized.