The African Development Bank Experience

The African Development Bank Experience

Strategic Environmental and Social AssessmentConsultative Meeting

March 21-22, 2011

Beyond Project Sustainability

Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment: Beyond Project Sustainability

• Reference to SESA in the environmental policy

• ESAP refer to SESA– When to use SESA– Provision for sectoral and regional cumulative plans and

programs– Annex 1 step-by-step guide

• SIA guidelines – Created in 2003 Generic

AfDB Tools


• Green Growth: SESA as an instrument

– For promoting sustainability and incorporating environmental and social considerations into the policy decision-making system at the national level.

– For enhancing the sustainability of interventions identified at the policy and sector levels

Broader Picture for SESA at AfDB

A Case Study

Regional Integration Strategy Papers


Regional Integration Strategy Papers• SESA for RISPs – Means to address the cumulative effects of multiple

initiatives within a region, including induced development – Alternative forum to debate broader policy issues – Potential to streamline subsequent project-based EA and

regulatory decision-making processes

• The process is more important than the final output– Intent is not to add another layer of “bureaucracy” but to

provide a methodology in support of strategic planning and decision-making in a regional context


• RISP key dimension: How to address regional public goods (such as environment)

• Overall structure- Region overview- Identification of regional

initiatives- Description of challenges and

opportunities

North and West African RISPs


Opportunities• Most vulnerable sectors to climate change in North Africa are water resources, agriculture,

and coastal zones. Adaptation efforts are limited and small-scale.• Enormous wind and solar resource potential that, if tapped, could lead to large greenhouse

gas emission reductions. However, barriers exist to effective diffusion of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.

• Limited management systems and capacity in the region to understand climate change risks, address clean energy barriers, and develop effective solutions.

Potential Areas for Regional Integration with Bank Support • Strengthening existing arrangements on climate change and environment issues through

stronger regional cooperation links• Reducing market barriers that limit the development of renewable energy• Integrating climate risks into national/regional investment decisions• Identifying strategic regional priorities• Promoting effective regional/national ownership systems• Developing effective coordination protocols• Enhancing region-level capacity and targeted infrastructure investment for clean energy

delivery

North Africa RISP: Main Findings


Next Steps

• ISS and SESA

• Cross-deparmental working group on SESA

• Update of AfDB guidelines on SESA

• SESA checklists that are tailored as to address specific issues for all Bank strategic sectoral fields

• Pilots

A Case Study

Suez Power Plant Project


Context

• The African Development Bank is financing the New Suez 650 MW Thermal Power Project

• An existing Ettaqa thermal power plant 3 km SW of the new plant

• In the future, other thermal projects will be developed in the zone


• The site is located on the northern coast of the Gulf of Suez, which is a part of the Red Sea.

• Approximately 3 kilometers south of Suez City and 3 km northeast of the existing Ettaqa thermal power plant.

Location


• The power plant consists of one gas/oil-fired traditional unit designed for a rated capacity of 650 MWe.

• The boiler contained within this unit is designed for dual firing using natural gas as primary fuel and heavy fuel oil (mazout) as backup.

The Project


• Natural gas will be delivered to the power plant via an existing underground pipeline

• The emergency fuel oil-mazout and light fuel for use in the auxiliary boiler will be delivered to the power plant from Suez oil refineries by pipeline or trucks and stored on site

Power Plant Fuel


• Incorporates a direct cooling system using water abstracted from the Suez Gulf.

• Following pre-treatment desalination and demineralization, abstracted water will also provide process water make-up in the boiler system.

• Sea water will be pumped through an intake pipeline buried under the shoreline whilst heated cooling water will be returned to the sea via a discharge pipeline and released approximately 1km from the shoreline.

• The electricity generated will be exported by the EETC electricity network, via the existing transmission system.

Water Intake and Discharge


• Covered following areas affected by construction and operation of the proposed power plant:

– within the perimeters of the proposed site;– areas immediately bordering and in the vicinity of the

proposed site;– aquatic ecosystems that might be affected;– transmission lines; – gas pipelines, etc.

Environmental Impact Assessment


• 1 Suez steam unit (1x650 Mwe);

• 4 Ettaqa steam units (2x150 + 2x300 Mwe);

• Burning natural gas.

These pollutant concentrations still remain below the Egyptian requirements and the World Bank guidelines.

NO2-Maximum 1 Hr (Hourly) Average Concentrations in g/m3

Atmospheric Pollution


• Main impacts to aquatic flora and fauna during power plant construction and operation.

• Impacts on physical aquagraphy, water quality and disturbance to, aquatic habitats, flora and fauna.

Impact on Aquatic Environment


• Cooling water will be returned to the Suez Gulf via a discharge structure

• Waste process water will treated and used for irrigation and city sewer system.

• Power plant operation will result in a heated plume of waste cooling water being discharged into the Suez Gulf.

Sea Water Intake and Discharge


• The excess temperature at the outfall above the ambient water is 8oC.

• These values were taken from earlier studies for El-Ain Al-Sokhna Power Plant, south of the project site.

• NW is the prevailing wind condition.

• Thermal modeling of the discharge plume shows that, during lowest flow at full load operation, the point at which the plume has decreased in temperature to 3°C above ambient, lies at less than 100 m from the point of discharge.

Discharge Temperatures


• It was recommended to use offshore pipeline intake system with a length of about 1.5 km to avoid the high recirculation at the intake.

• It is recommended to create a shoreline morphological model to investigate the impact of the intake/outfall structures on the shoreline.

Recommendations for Water Discharge


• The only habitat existing within the project area with significant ecological value is the aquatic habitat including the Suez Gulf.

• Ecological impacts usually arise through direct damage to biotic diversity or indirect disturbances to their habitats or their qualitative characteristics.

• Impacts on aquatic ecology during plant operation will largely be due to increased water temperatures and the quality of the discharged water.

• Once constructed, the intake and discharge structures will be buried in a pipeline across the shoreline to the Suez Gulf.

Impacts on Flora and Fauna


• The Gulf of Suez is in the form of an open ellipse, having its opening facing south.

• The distance between the two shores ranges from a minimum of 11km to a maximum of 17km.

Gulf of Suez


• Compared to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba, known for their rich coral reefs, the Gulf of Suez is shallow, with a predominantly sandy substrate and only scattered coral reefs.

• Some stretches of reef (which may include coral) exist in the area.

• Small numbers of dolphins are seen on a regular basis.

• Fishing is not considered an important activity in the project area.

• There has been immense alteration of the natural ecology.

Gulf of Suez: Threats and Opportunities


• Heavy shipping traffic through the Suez Canal.

• The development of petrochemical and other industries in the Suez and Ettaqa areas (Iron & Steel and cement industries).

• Intensive oil exploration and production in the Gulf of Suez.

• Recent coastal tourist developments.

These activities produce various sources of pollution (oil spills, atmospheric emissions, wastes, etc.).

Impact of External Activities


Both of the investment map of Egypt and the Suez Region Master Scheme, 2007 update designate Suez area for industrial activities.

The proposed land uses around the project site includes new industrial, tourist and residential development areas.

Industrial Designation


• The SESA should be focused on assessing the cumulative impacts for the past projects and potential of the future in different sectors (chemical, industrial, power).

• The objective of the SEA is to ensure that significant environmental effects are identified, assessed, mitigated, communicated to decision-makers, monitored and that opportunities for public involvement are provided.

Assessment Objectives


• The Government of Egypt represented by EEHC and MIC were very sensitive to the SEA for Suez Gulf.

• A scoping workshop involving all the stakeholders (the Ministries of Environment, Energy, Industry, Transportation, etc) will be organized soon.

• These stakeholders will be the members of the technical committee for the supervision of the SESA.

• Terms of reference will be finalised during this scoping workshop.

Next Steps

The African Development Bank Experience

Documents

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