Environmental and social management framework for South African Power Pool
The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), established in 1995, was the first formal international power pool in Africa. SAPP’s primary aim is to provide a reliable and economical electricity supply to the consumers of each of the sixteen SAPP utilities and independent power producers (IPPs), consistent with the reasonable utilisation of natural resources and effects on the environment, and a stable interconnected electrical system. The SAPP coordination centre (SAPP-CC) requested financial support from cooperating development partners to secure project preparation funds, resulting in a grant from the World Bank International Development Association (IDA) to set up a project advisory unit (PAU) that would accelerate the implementation of priority power projects in the region. One of the first tasks of the SAPP-PAU was to commission technical specialists to assist in preparing an environmental and social management framework (ESMF). The ESMF will act as a reference manual to assist in the high-level environmental and social screening of projects to strengthen the assessment, mitigation, and management of risks and impacts. This tool is particularly relevant where project loans are required from international financial institutions that apply policies, standards, and guidelines to safeguard environmental and social sustainability. The ESMF provides guidance for priority power projects of different categories based on the extent and significance of the likely impacts and risks. The ESMF for the SAPP acceleration programme was prepared in an iterative manner in the following two broad phases: phase 1 involving targeted missions and site visits, stakeholder engagement, and drafting of the ESMF followed by disclosure; and phase 2 involving the update to the ESMF and additional stakeholder engagement. The ESMF aims to assist project proponents to identify and manage the environmental and social risks and impacts through appropriate mitigation measures that may arise with the assessment of the priority power projects, in order to inform the design and engineering feasibility options. The ESMF aligns the development cycle of projects with environmental and social assessment procedures to ensure that: (1) there is early engagement between project planners and compliance staff responsible for environmental and social management; and (2) the requirements of relevant financial institutions are identified prior to commencing an environmental and social assessment. The ESMF will be implemented through SAPP structures to ensure a coordinated and systematic approach to the development and implementation of priority power projects. The SAPP-PAU will provide guidance and technical support for the implementation of the ESMF.
