Uganda - Energy for Rural Transformation Project

Report No. PID9031 Project Name Uganda-Energy for Rural Transformation ... @ Project Region Africa Sector CC - Telecommunications & Informatics; DI - Private Infrastructure; PP - Electric Power & Other Energy Adjustment Project ID UGPE69996 Supplemental Project UGGE70222 Borrower(s) Government Of Uganda Implementing Agency Multiple Agencies Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and Rural Electrification Agency (lead for energy), Uganda Communications Commission (lead for ICT), Bank of Uganda, Private Sector Foundation, private sector, Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education, Water, and Local Government Contact Person: Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Energy & Mineral Development Tel: 256-41-342-550 Fax: 256-41-349-342 Email: psmemd.upppre@infocom.co.ug Environment Category F Date PID Prepared November 29, 2001 Projected Appraisal Date May 30, 2001 Projected Board Date December 13, 2001 1. Country and Sector Background 2a. Power sector reforms and capacity additions on the main grid The Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) was established in 1948 as a quasi independent vertically integrated monopoly to generate, transmit, distribute and supply electricity within Uganda and other countries in the region. UEB is a public enterprise 100t owned by the Government. With enactment of the Electricity Act of 1999, UEB no longer has a legal monopoly in the power sector. UEB has for long suffered from poor financial performance and operating efficiency, low productivity, inadequate funds for required investments, low tariffs, poor collection, and high losses. As a result, UEB is in a weak position and, by normal standards, close to insolvency. Strategy: Realizing the negative impact on economic growth of the weakness of the power sector, Government approved a power sector restructuring strategy in June 1999. The strategy entails the unbundling of UEB's generation, transmission, and distribution businesses into separate companies, the establishment of a legal and regulatory  framework necessary for private sector participation, and the creation of an independent power sector regulator. The Bank is supporting the Government through the Privatization and Utility Sector Reform and Power IV Projects. Inadequate and Unreliable Electricity Supply. Inadequate and unreliable electricity supply caused by shortage of generating capacity is stifling economic growth. Recent surveys indicate that the quality and adequacy of power supply is perceived by private sector managers as the most binding constraint to private investment. Strategy: Government's long-term strategy is to develop Uganda's large hydro power resourcesthrough Independent Power Producers (IPPs), in particular, the Bujagali Private Hydropower Project which would build and operate a 200 MW run-of-the-river power plant on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer(BOOT) basis at Bujagali Falls in Jinja Province, as well as construction of transmission lines andassociated substations. The US$600 million Bujagali project, expected to come online by 2006, would bepartly funded by IFC, with the support of an IDA Partial Risk Guarantee.To meet the growing demand until Bujagali is commissioned, UEB has constructed a new hydroelectricgeneration plant (Kiira) adjacent to, but not connected to the existing Owen Falls plant. The plant isdesigned for 5 x 40 MW generating units. The Third Power project financed the construction of a newdam, a power house, a diversion canal, a spillway, civil works for generating units 11 through 15, and theinstallation of 80 MW (Units 11 & 12) of generating capacity. The Swedish International DevelopmentAgency and Norwegian Agency for Development Corporation are financing the installation of Unit 13. The addition of this unit by the end of 2002, will increase the installed system capacity to 300 MW.2b. Low rural access to electricity.In Uganda today, with a population of about 22.6 million, an estimated 4.5 million households out of a total of about 4.7 million, remain "in the dark," without access to electricity. The overwhelming majority of these unserved households are in the rural areas. Only an estimated 5t of the total population - and less than 1 percent of the rural population -- has access to grid supplied electricity; Uganda currently has one of the lowest per capita electricity consumption (44 kWh/year) in the world (India 300, China 580, USA 11,000 in 1996). About 72t of the total grid supplied electricity is consumed by 12t of the domestic population concentrated in the Kampala metropolitan area, and in the nearby towns of Entebbe and Jinja.Adverse impact. The rural areas are seriously constrained by the lack of access to electricity. The potential for rapid and broad-based rural economic growth and job creation is being seriously constrained by the lack of adequate investment for the provision of rural infrastructure services, of which electricity is a key component. Further, the quality of rural life is cramped by lack of electricity, particularly as rural public institutions such as health, educational and water facilities would be able to provide better services if they had access to electricity. Need for a paradigm shift.Limited future impact of a restructured Uganda Electricity Board (UEB) in rural areas. UEB today has well under 200,000 customers, the majority of whom, about 128,000, are in the urban areas. At present, UEB connects well under an additional 10,000 customers per year, which implies that Uganda is losing the access race, as population growth at the rate of 2t per year which would add 90,000 or more new households per year. Even under the best of circumstances, with UEB now restructured into Generation, Transmission, and Distribution Companies with the latter to be awarded to a private concessionaire, the rural access picture is unlikely to improve perceptibly. For instance, under the optimistic assumption that the number -2 -  of rural households connected to the main grid would increase at a sustained, compound annual growth rate of 159 over 2001-2010, the total number of rural households connected to the main grid would increase from about 30,000 in 2001 to about 125,000 in 2010. This would imply a rural access rate of about 3t based on the current rural population, and much lower once population growth and other demographic changes are taken into account.The irony is that by various indicators of revealed preference, a substantial segment of the unserved rural firms and households are willing and able to pay significant sums for electricity. Some rural businesses have resorted to self-provision of electricity, at a unit cost that is far higher than would prevail in an organized, commercial delivery system. Most rural businesses and households simply make do without electricity or have devised make-shift arrangements, which are vastly inferior substitutes for electricity, again at high unit costs. It is important to recognize that an increase in electricity by itself will not lead to transformation of rural areas in a timely manner. For this, it is critical to be on both sides of the meter, i.e., work with potential consumers, particularly rural enterprises and rural public institutions, and not just rural households, so that they begin to utilize electricity once it becomes available, as this would lead to accelerated income generation and improved service delivery by end-user sectors such as health, education and water.It follows that a paradigm shift in the organization and approach used hitherto in rural electrification is needed to meet Uganda's aspirations for off-farm led economic growth along with increases in the rural living standards.Strategy. The government has adopted, in consultation with the Bank, a commercially-oriented approach - with the government playing the role of a market enabler - towards rural electrification. A Rural Electrification Strategy Paper - which forms the basis of the Letter of Sector Development Policy - was prepared by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development with assistance from the Bank, and approved by Cabinet. The main elements of this strategy are:(i) Level playing field for private sector participants. This implies a market/sector structure that will: I Permit private sector entry for supply of electricity - generation, transmission, distribution/retailing - from the interconnected grid system as well as stand-alone, independent mini-grid systems. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999).I Ensure fair competition for all suppliers with respect to UEB and its successors, in particular, all necessary steps will be taken to ensure that UEB does not have an unfair advantage over potential private sector participants in competing for distribution/retailing of electricity purchased in bulk from the UEB-operated grid system. (To be implemented as part of power sector reforms). (ii) Enabling regulatory framework. There is a need for a suitable regulatory framework that has: I Clear separation of responsibilities of: (i) planning, monitoring, policy setting, licensing and permits, establishing/promulgating regulations, (ii) compliance ("regulator"), and (iii) conflict/resolution, arbitration, and adjudication in cases where an involved party wishes to appeal a finding of the regulator. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999)I "Light-handed regulation" procedures and processes for small, stand-alone grid-based power system systems. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999, with details to be developed during project implementation).(iii) Cost recovery and cost-based tariffs, to facilitate private entry and local initiatives, recognizing that this will imply that consumers in different parts of the country will pay different retail tariffs with the exception that there would be a uniform tariff on the - 3 -  existing grid, and that the tariffs for some consumers will be significantly higher than for others, even after subsidies (see below) have been provided for. In particular, there is a need for:I Regionally differentiated retail tariffs, for all suppliers, including UEB and its successors, which vary according to the cost of service delivery. Further, the benefits of the low-cost, big hydropower resources will be allocated on a national basis, and not restricted to main grid consumers only. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999, with details to be developed during project implementation) I Bulk-supply tariffs based upon the cost of supply at the delivery point in the main grid system. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999, with details still to be developed)i Non-discriminatory wheeling tariff (and access) to facilitate power transactions between distribution concessionaires and third-party generators. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999, with details still to be developed)(iv) Subsidy transfer and financing mechanism, i.e., a Rural Electrification Fund to take account of regional and other considerations, with due consideration to efficiency and sustainability under a regime of cost-based regionally-differentiated tariffs and multiple service providers in the future. In particular, the Government will design subsidy schemes and allocation procedures that: i Follow pre-established clear, explicit rules thatg Are transparent, i.e., avoid implicit (and operating) subsidies that frequently lead to waste and non-accountability.9 Are linked to results, i.e., maintain the focus on expanding access by subsidizing the initial cost of investment rather than the cost of operation.9 Provide strong cost-minimization incentives, i.e., retain the commercial orientation to reduce costs even though subsidies are being provided.I Ensure good governance, i.e., the institutional responsibility for policy and rule setting for the REF will be clearly separated from the administration of the Fund, and an independent entity will be responsible for requisite checks and balances, monitoring performance, and ensuring compliance. (Already provided for in the Electricity Act of 1999, and further detailed in the Rural Electrification Strategy and Plan).2c. Renewable energy resource potential is under-utilized.Apart from large-scale hydropower schemes, only a small fraction of Uganda's renewable energy resource potential - which includes (i) power generation from a variety of sources such as biomass residues, small hydro, wind, and geothermal and (ii) solar energy for stand-alone photovoltaic systems - has been tapped to date. While several small/mini-hydro and biomass projects have been proposed in the past several years, their development has been constrained by a number of factors including: i) a widely held belief that only UEB was permitted to sell power; ii) lack of access to long-term financing; iii) undeveloped local capacity for planning and implementing such projects. The prospects of utilizing solar energy have been given a boost by the ongoing UNDP-GEF Uganda Pilot Project for Photovoltaic Rural Electrification. Strategy. The Government has formulated, in consultation with the Bank, a strategy to establish a regulatory and investment climate within Uganda that promotes private sector led, commercially-oriented development of these resources. In addition, the Government will seek financial support from various multilateral, primarily GEF and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) sources such as the Bank's Prototype Carbon Fund (PCF), and bilateral agencies that are interested in supporting renewable energy.2d. ICT sector issues and strategy.Teledensity. As a result of the recent telecommunications sector reform in Uganda, telephone coverage has grown dramatically with the number of (fixed plus cellular) lines more than doubling over the two - 4 -  year period from 1998-2000. National teledensity has reached 0.99 telephones per 100 population, when both fixed and cellular lines are taken into account. This puts Uganda above the average teledensity for Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa) which stood at 0.60 in 1999. However, the vast majority of these lines are concentrated in the Kampala area. Thus, as of mid-2001, fewer than half of Uganda's 920 sub-counties (each of which has an average population of 20,000) have telephone service.Internet access. The market for Internet access in Uganda is competitive but currently small with some 6,000 subscribers and six principal Internet Service Providers (ISP), the two largest of which are Infocom and Africa Online with 4,000 and 1,500 customers respectively. ISP services are currently limited to the Kampala area due to the absence of Points of Presence elsewhere in the country. However, AFSAT provides satellite based access to corporate clients throughout the country, while Bushnet provides HF Radio based email accounts for users in remote rural areas. Commercial cybercafes have become commonplace in Kampala, but are virtually unheard of in rural areas. The cost of Internet access at these establishments has been coming down and is currently U.Sh.50 per minute (equivalent to US$1.80 per hour).Sector reform. The GOU has recently undertaken substantial and successful structural reforms in the telecommunications sector, with WB assistance under the recently completed 'Enterprise Development' Technical Assistance Loan (Number 23150). The 1997 Uganda Communications Act provided for the incorporation and privatization of Uganda Telecommunications Limited (UTL), and required the introduction of competition in basic telecommunications service provision, initially through a licensed duopoly with a 'dual' exclusivity period running through until July 2005. In 1998, a license was awarded to MTN Uganda to become the country's second national operator. The 1997 Act also led to the creation the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) as the regulatory agency charged with licensing and monitoring the ICT sector. An integral element of the sector reform is the focus on improving access in rural areas. Thus, the licenses of the two national operators incorporate significant 'rollout' obligations. UTL is committed to providing 100,000 new land lines by July 2005, of which 30,000 must be rural and 3,000 must be public telephones. MTN Uganda has a minimum target of nearly 88,000 lines over the same period, of which 2,000 must be public telephones. Furthermore, both operators are required to have a presence in every county in the exclusivity area. However, in recognition that telephone services would not necessarily be commercially viable in all parts of the country, the two operators have been given one year since the start of the exclusivity period (that is from July 2000 to July 2001) to declare which of the country's 170 counties they do and do not wish to serve. In the counties they wish to serve, they will be required to provide at least one telephone line by July 2002. While in the remaining counties the two national operators will forfeit their exclusivity, and responsibility for licensing services will revert to the UCC. The 1997 Uganda Communications Act provided for the establishment of a Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) for financing access in areas not considered to be commercially viable by the private sector. In line with international best practice, the UCC plans to competitively tender the provision of ICT infrastructure in unserved areas to private sector operators using the minimum subsidy concession vehicle.Strategy. The UCC has set itself the objective of extending access to voice telephony and Internet services into the rural areas.Access to voice telephony at sub-county level. The policy objective has been defined as the provision of at least one public - 5-  telephone per 5,000 inhabitants at the sub-county level, throughout Uganda. Given that the average population of a sub-county is around 20,000 people, this is equivalent to 4 telephones per sub-county. Moreover, given that sub-counties typically represent an area 10km in radius, the achievement of this objective would put most of the population within 5km of a telephone. This distance objective is similar to that adopted in other countries, such as Peru and Nepal.Internet access at District level. For Internet, the policy objective is to ensure reliable access at local call rates in each of the country's 56 District Headquarters. This will be achieved by providing Internet Points of Presence at District Headquarters, together with some kind of public Internet access facility. In addition, support will also be provided for the use of Internet by a select number of 'vanguard institutions' in rural areas (such as schools and hospitals, as well as agricultural and business associations), that may have particular potential to benefit from the service.In line with international best practice, the UCC plans to competitively tender the provision of ICT infrastructure in unserved areas to private sector operators. Although the number of unserved areas will not be known exactly until July 2001, the current estimates that there may be 230 unserved sub-counties. Since these areas are considered not to be commercially viable, contracts will be awarded to those operators requiring the minimum subsidy to undertake the specified investments. These 'one time' capital subsidies will be financed from the RCDF. Subsidizing rural access. The Rural Communications Development Fund (RCDF) is intended to serve as a mechanism for financing the achievement of universal service objectives in areas not considered to be commercially viable by the private sector. The main source of revenue into the fund is the Universal Service Levy (USL), which is levied on the turnover of the telecommunications and postal sectors, although the fund may also receive contributions from multilateral and bilateral agencies. By law the USL can be up to 2.5% of gross operator revenues (excluding sale of equipment). In the year 2000 the Minister of Communications chose to set the USL at 1% of gross revenues. The fund will start to collect revenues from the year 2001/02, and is expected to accumulate between US$1-2 million each year thereafter.It is estimated that the subsidy cost of meeting the rural access objectives defined above - which depend on the extent of the area which the current incumbents are unwilling to serve and the share of the subsidy in the capital costs - would be around US$6 million. Given the flow of USL revenues into the RCDF, the estimated subsidy required to meet the three priority objectives defined above could not be expected to accumulate in the RCDF before the year 2005. On this basis, IDA seed-financing of US$5 million would lead to a significant acceleration of rural access. 2. Objectives The development objective of the proposed 10-year APL is to develop Uganda's rural energy and information/communication technologies (ICT) sectors - with the focus on the energy sector - so that they make a significant contribution to bringing about rural transformation. That is, that these sectors facilitate a significant change in the productivity of rural enterprises as well as the quality of life of rural households.In addition, the global objective of the proposed program is contribute to global environmental protection by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through promotion of stand-alone solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and the generation of conventional power from small renewable energy resources. n - 6 -  First phase: Development of requisite framework and limited investmentsThe central objective of the first phase (i.e. the current project) is to put in place -on-the-ground- a functioning conducive environment and related capacity for commercially oriented service delivery of energy and ICTs and small-scale renewable energy power generation by private enterprises, which can effectively support scale-up of electricity to underserved areas and on a sustainable basis. In addition, in the energy sector, there would be limited investment, treating each sub-project on a case-by-case basis, to test (and refine, as necessary) and prove the readiness of business models and associated support systems for commercially oriented rural electrification and for meeting essential community needs, for scaled-up delivery in subsequent phases. For the ICT sector, where the institutional framework is relatively more ready, the main activities will be support for the Government's program for accelerated rural access to basic telephone service and the spread of Internet to district capitals, with a few pilot telecenters in deep rural areas. Second phase: Accelerating/building momentum for investment and continuing capacity building The central objectives of the second phase of the APL would be to:(i) accelerate investments and increase the regional coverage by shifting from the case-by-case approach of the first phase to processing sub-projects through the institutional framework, with continuing business development assistance, including making available generic packages, which individual entrepreneurs would tailor to their particular situation, of proven, low-cost technologies, workable financing modalities, and guidelines for community participation/acceptance developed in the first phase. The present ICT rural access objectives are expected to fully met by the end of Phase 2. (ii) fine tune and strengthen the institutional framework in light of any difficulties encountered by sub-project developers, and increase the extent of decentralization in terms of responsibilities for program support and management, monitoring, and expansion,(iii) mainstreaming of successful pilots, with any necessary adjustments, undertaken in the first phase, and implement fresh pilots that reflect fresh opportunities as well as the experience with earlier pilots. The activities specific to renewable energy would follow from those initiated in the first phase, and would consist of building in-country capabilities, resource data dissemination, and continuing dissemination and promotion of international best practices.n Third phase: Rapid scale-up and consolidation of institution build-up The third phase's central objective would be to shift the focus to exponential growth in investments so as to reach the Government's long-term targets for rural electrification and renewable energy development, with rural transformation facilitated by scale-up of the successful pilots from the earlier phases. While capacity building would continue, its focus would shift from fresh initiation to consolidation of the outcomes of the first and second phase activities. The ERT program would be fully operational on a national scale and functioning in a highly decentralized mode. 3. Rationale for Bank's Involvement Uganda sees the Bank as a major strategic partner in development, and this project, with its focus on rural transformation, is a an important element of this partnership. The Bank is supporting power sector reforms and UEB restructuring, which will initially benefit mainly the urban areas; it is important that Bank also support rural electrification and renewable energy development, so that the Bank's support extends beyond the minority who will be served by the main grid.One of the main contributions of the -7 -  Bank to this project is its ability to function as a "knowledge bank" that helps Uganda develop fresh approaches to solving its problems, incorporating the experience of and key lessons learned in other countries. For instance, the Bank has helped the Government to shift its focus from rural electrification per se to rural transformation, including cross-sectoral links; similarly, the Bank can bring to bear its accumulated significant experience in the development of rural telecommunications funds through its active support in a number of countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. A second major Bank contribution is to work with the various donors in Uganda in relation to rural electrification and renewable energy development. Bilateral donors will provide grant funds for a number of the activities envisaged under this project, including the RE Fund. Bilateral donors, particularly Denmark, Sweden and Norway have provided significant support for this project in the form of grants for the Bank's Africa Rural and Renewable Energy Initiative (AFFREI), which has financed the bulk of the higher-than-average project preparation costs. For renewable energy development, this project includes grant support from the GEF and the PCF, though there will be no commingling of GEF and PCF funds. Use of such resources is anticipated to be an important part of the sustainable transition to commercial replication and sustainability. GEF support for this project will follow and build on the ongoing UNDP-GEF Uganda Pilot Project for Photovoltaic Rural Electrification, which is limited to solar PV.In this project, GEF will broaden its support in two ways: one, by going beyond solar PV to include renewable energy power generation, and two, by providing support in an APL format under the Bank-GEF Strategic Partnership for Renewable Energy. As a result, GEF resources will be allocated on the basis of agreed long-term renewable energy development plans, shifting from single transactions to more continuous strategic development of the most promising technology and market opportunities, and targeted at building effective bridges to private sector market development and financing.Leverage of GEF Resources. The principle of significant leverage of GEF resources with other financial resources, combined with the decline in the need for concessional financing requirements over time and the transition to a fully functioning commercial RE market is one of the key objectives of the World Bank-GEF Strategic Partnership for Renewable Energy and is applicable to this project. In terms of investments, the GEF supported activities fall into two groups: renewable energy power generation for the main grid and for independent grids, and stand-alone solar PV systems. In the first phase of the APL, a large part of the GEF support will be for sugar mill power cogeneration; it is expected that the GEF share of the total costs will be of the order of 20%. For solar PV, and power generation for isolated grids, the GEF share is expected to be of the order of 20-25%. These leverage levels are believed to be at the margin of what can be effectively achieved given current renewable energy market barriers in Uganda, and the level of financial leverage is expected to increase over the three tranches. Actual leveraging will depend upon decisions of private sector investors who have not yet finalized their business plans, at this stage it is possible to give only indicative assessments of the leveraging and project costs.Within the total project costs, it is expected that costs for the renewable energy investments and corresponding GEF support will be about $ 135 million (GEF $ 23.5 million) overall, broken down as: Phase 1: $ 51.35 million (GEF $ 9.5 million)Phase 2: $ 48 million (GEF $ 6 million)Phase 3: $ 50 million (GEF $ 5.25 - 8 -  million)It is expected that the GEF supported investments will lead to additional renewable energy investments, which will not be supported by GEF grants (multiplier effects). GEF investments will generally be in support of power generation capacity only. Costs for ancillary investments in transmission and distribution (which are potentially significant) and could be considered as leverage on investments, are not included in the above leverage indications as they would be required regardless of whether the power was from conventional or renewable sources. 4. Description A 10-year Adaptable Program Loan (APL) is proposed. The APL would consist of three loans (three phases). Project Components for the first of the three phases is given here. 1- Main Grid related power Distribution & Generation - The power distribution would be to presently unserved rural areas that would be connected to the main grid. The power generation would also be from small, renewable energy resources, such as sugar mills, that are close, or already connected, to the main grid. 2 - Independent Grid Systems - for relatively concentrated isolated areas with a potential for the use of electricity by rural enterprises. This component would support relatively larger systems that may require some transmission (such as in the West Nile region) and smaller systems, such as those located in rural trading centers that require only generation and distribution facilities. It is expected that a significant part of the power generation would be from renewable energy resources. 3 - Solar PV Systems - This would support private sector provision of Individual/institutional solar PV systems, for relatively dispersed areas where even small independent grid systems are not viable. Support will include capacity building, linkages with financial intermediaries, and limited grant support from the GEF. 4 - Cross Sectoral Linkages - Cross-sectoral linkages with health, agriculture, education, and water.. This would include both technical assistance as well as partial financial support for energy packages at rural facilities. 5 - Energy Sector Capacity Building, Technical Assistance, Training - This would include support to both public and private sector to implement their respective roles, including establishment and training of the RE Board, RE Agency, and RE Fund, building of local project development capacity, low cost rural electrification designs, renewable energy development, and light-handed regulation to be undertaken at the local level. 6 - ICT - Information and Communication Technology. Technical assistance would include preparation of tender packages for provision of rural ICT services. Investments would be supported through the project by means of a the Rural Telecommunications Development Fund - a capital subsidy fund operated by the Uganda Communication Commission. 5. Financing Total ( US$m) Total Project Cost 123.31 9  6. Implementation Institutional and Implementation Arrangements:Power sector reform, as provided in the Electricity Act of 1999 means that the Government, through UEB, will no longer be the implementing agent for Rural Electrification. Instead, the private sector is now to be the primary provider, with Government adopting an enabling role. This project will support the new entities called for in the Act - the Electricity Regulatory Authority, whose primary functions are licensing, tariff setting, and creation and enforcement of performance and safety standards, and the Rural Electrification Fund which will provide investment subsidies for investments. In addition, the project will support other key actors in developing their roles to ensure that the new structure functions efficiently: MEMD, Rural Electrification Board, and Rural Electrification Agency;Uganda Communications Commission;Ministries of Finance, Health, Education, Water Agriculture and Local Government;Bank of Uganda;Project sponsors, a Business-to-Business Advisory Facility operated by the Private Sector Foundation, and financial institutions;End users, including small and medium enterprises.Ministry of Energy and Minerals Development (MEMD). In keeping with power sector reforms, MEMD's role is shifting to market enabler. MEMD will have primary responsibility for all energy policy related issues, such as overall sector goals and strategies, including for renewable energy, though in specific situations it would draw upon the expertise and capacity of other Ministries and agencies. In particular, MEMD would have the primary responsibility for developing the broad elements of the Indicative Rural Electrification Master Plan, while including the Rural Electrification Agency in the process. Further, MEMD would have primary responsibility for dissemination of the Government's rural electrification policy, while drawing upon the outreach of the Ministry of Local Government in rural areas. MEMD would also have a lead role in planning for technical capacity building.Rural Electrification Board (RE Board) will have the following primary responsibilities:Discuss and approve the annual rural electrification report prepared by the Rural Electrification Agency (described below) for submission to the Minister of Energy;Define the policies for subsidy levels, project eligibility criteria and application processing and other procedures based on proposals made by the RE Agency. The rules on this are included as part of the annual rural electrification report, which is submitted to the Cabinet; and Oversee the management of the Rural Electrification Fund to disburse rural electrification grants (subsidy) to qualified sub-projects. Rural Electrification Agency (RE Agency) will act as a secretariat for the Rural Electrification Board. In this capacity it will review subsidy applications from rural electrification project sponsors and provide recommendations to the RE Board for action. The Agency will also responsible for identifying priority projects, and information dissemination. Finally, the Agency will also be the focal point, particularly when there are implementation difficulties, for coordinating all the energy-related activities undertaken under this project by various agencies, but without administrative authorities over the other agencies. The RE Agency will have a small staff, who will be hired on private sector salary scales. Rural Electrification Fund (RE Fund) will be the primary channel for rural electrification subsidies. The RE Fund will be overseen by the RE Board, with day-to-day operation by the RE Agency. Processing of funding applications from subproject sponsors will be undertaken by the RE Agency, which will forward recommendations to the RE Board. Once the funding has been approved by the RE Board, the Trust Agent for the RE Fund - 10 -  will administer the payments of funds to the applicant. The process will be subjected to close auditing of the flow of funds, of compliance with the criteria for the awarding of grants that are fixed by the RE Board, and of efficiency in the processing of applications and requests for funding. The results of the audits would be presented to the RE Board and be summarized in the annual report by the MEMD to the Cabinet on the status of rural electrification.Subsidy allocation for the RE Fund will be established by the RE Board through open and public discussion based on the guiding objective of maximizing access per invested subsidy amount subject to the satisfaction of regional equity requirements. Criteria for subsidy levels will include the institutional, financial and commercial viability of the project. Project selection criteria will, in addition include the satisfaction of economic development, social and regional development goals for rural electrification. The criteria for fund allocation will be fixed in the annual report to the Cabinet on rural electrification. The grant support will include a focus on providing electricity to local administration centers, health facilities and community/social centers. The appraisal and financing of the sub-projects will be the responsibility of commercial financial intermediaries such as banks, and possibly other financing agents, to enable access by sub-project developers for long-term financing - at market terms and commercial discipline - as well as working capital for dealers. In turn, the commercial intermediaries will be able to avail of the credit enhancement, first loss guarantee or other facilities provided in support of rural electrification investments. Initial investments, prepared during ERT preparation and also prior to operationalization of the Credit Support Facility (see Section E2), would be eligible for refinancing channeled through the Bank of Uganda.Some projects involving renewable energy investments will be eligible for GEF grants, which will not be commingled with the grants from the RE Fund - though it is expected that some projects will receive grants from both sources - to ensure that each of type of grant serves its own objectives and meets the requirements of the source of funds.Electricity Regulatory Authority In conformance with the Electricity Act of 1999, the Authority has now been established and is beginning to develop the regulations by which it will discharge its responsibilities under the law. The primary duties of the Authority are licensing, tariff setting, and development and enforcement of performance & safety standards. For any small systems with generation of less than 2 MW or sales of less than 4 GWh, the Electricity Act contains provisions which allow ERA to delegate its regulatory powers to competent local authorities. The Government recognizes that most local authorities will not have the required level of competence to act as regulators. In the longer term, the capacity building is expected to enable local authorities to perform an appropriate role. A Business-to-Business Advisory Facility will be established and operated by the Private Sector Foundation, to channel assistance to subproject sponsors. The facility would agree with a potential subproject sponsor on the type of consultant assistance needed to prepare a bankable business plan. This could include technical design, market assessment, management or administrative advice, financial expertise, social intermediation, load promotion, etc. The facility would then provide cost-shared support of consultants selected by the sponsor provided the consultants were appropriately qualified.Project sponsors, primarily private sector firms and NGOs, who may form partnerships with local government authorities and/or the community concerned, will receive support from the business-to-business advisory facility described above. - 11 -  Financial support to project sponsors will come through two paths: the RE Fund which will provide investment subsidies based on well-defined criteria and procedures, and debt/equity financing from financial institutions.Awareness raising among end users will be undertaken by the RE Agency to increase general acceptance of the overall program. Businesses in areas slated for electrification will receive support in assessing the benefits of "electrifying" their operation. The program also will offer capacity building assistance to micro-finance organizations interested in offering credit for small and medium enterprise electrification as well as to households to cover the initial connection fee.Line ministries (Agriculture, Health, Education, and Water) will receive capacity building and technical assistance support to optimize the delivery of energy services to their rural operations. The Ministry of Local Government will provide an important link with local governments, acting as a convener and facilitator of informational and promotional activities undertaken by MEMD.Rural telecommunications will be specifically targeted for support in view of the high value synergy between telecomm and energy. This support will be channeled through the Uganda Communications Commission's rural communications program the RCDF. The fund would operate in a manner similar to the RE Fund, and provide limited one-time subsidies, to be awarded through a competitive process, with the objective of accelerating the roll-out of telephone and Internet services in rural areas of Uganda which are proven not to be commercially viable for ICT services, but where these services nonetheless promise to yield significant social benefits. 7. Sustainability The main concern about sustainability is whether the project is too large and too complex, given Uganda's limited absorptive capacity. Since none of the sub-components of this project is particularly complex and/or risky on its own, the "complexity" concern arises from the (i) number of sub-components, which represent different service delivery modes, included in the project, and (ii) stretching of the project's boundaries to include ICTs and cross-sectoral linkages to health, agriculture, education, and water. In other words, "complexity" and scale are linked together, and both arise directly from the project's objective of a significant development impact in terms of rural transformation.The project design incorporates several features to mitigate this sustainability risk. First, it is clear that the risk implications of the complexity are the greatest in Phase I of the APL, in which a number of innovative concepts and procedures will be introduced, and that the risks will be reduced over time as the familiarity increases. In recognition of this, within Phase I the cross-sectoral links, a significant source of the complexity, are present in the form of pilots only in order to keep the risks manageable, and further, the investment scale is the smallest of the three phases. Correspondingly, in Phases II and III, as the familiarity with the various sub-components increases, and the concomitant risks reduce, the investment scale increases in an exponential manner. In short, complexity and investment scale have been counter-balanced in the three phases.Second, the outcomes of the various investment sub-components are not inter-linked, so that the sub-components can proceed at their own pace, and there is no concern that delays and/or difficulties in any one investment sub-component would adversely affect any other sub-component. Third, while there are a number of entities - private sector, financial institutions, NGOs, local governments - involved in project - 12 -  implementation, all of them will play a "natural" role that is within the scope of their usual activities. This arrangement does not overstretch the capabilities of any particular entity, nor does it require any entity to take on functions that are outside its customary ambit.Fourth, it is recognized that this project will require above-average human and financial resources to prepare and supervise, particularly in Phase I. Bilateral donors have already made available significant funds for this purpose in the form of support to the Africa Rural and Renewable Energy Initiative (AFRREI), and it is expected that this support will continue. A second concern relates to the sustainability of the various sub-projects supported under this project. In particular, it is important that the individual sub-projects continue to provide adequate and reliable service over the years, meeting the demand as it grows over time, and that renewable energy development continue even after GEF grants are no longer available.The basic approach to ensuring sustainability is to root service provision along commercial lines and introduce low cost technologies and processes, so that the incentive and ability to make profits makes it worthwhile for the service provider to continue in business. In addition, business development assistance would be provided not just in the initial stages of service provision, but also at critical growth junctures, so that increasing demand would not overwhelm the service providers. A third concern is sustainability for renewable energy after the project, when GEF grants would not longer be available. The overall approach is that, over time, sustainability will come from barrier removal, cost reductions, rising incomes, and declining GEF grants. For renewable energy power generation, the key to sustainability will be barrier removal and declining costs, as familiarity with the technologies and institutional framework increases, and the GEF grant per unit is slated to decline over time. For solar PV systems, the decline in costs will come from: (i) economies of scale -which are often realized when a credible expectation of a large market has been created, (ii) formation of links to suppliers in Asia, where are prices of high-quality systems are much lower than in Africa, and (iii) rising incomes, which would increase the affordability of the systems. Further, the GEF grant per unit for solar PV systems is also slated to decline over time.A fourth concern is the absorptive capacity of the emerging Uganda renewable energy market. The issue of absorptive capacity is considered separately for solar PV and renewable energy power generation. For solar PV, the absorptive capacity depends heavily upon (i) the price and nature of the PV systems to be sold to households, and (ii) the ability to put together financing packages (over and above the GEF incremental cost-based support) that make it possible for rural public institutions such as health facilities and schools to purchase these systems. It is recognized that exponential sales growth rates will be required for the Ugandan market to reach the ERT project targets; such rates are achievable when the initial base is small, with clear possibilities of significant price reductions. Though the Kenyan situation is not directly applicable to Uganda, the exponential sales growth achieved there, even in the absence of any form of subsidies and grants, indicates that the absorptive capacity is present in East Africa.For renewable energy power generation for the main grid, the main issue is the absorptive capacity after large-scale hydropower capacity additions (Bujugali), at which time there may be a surplus of generating capacity for a period of time. The Government of Uganda is firmly of the view that there will be no excess capacity, i.e., there will be sufficient absorptive capacity in the domestic market coupled with export demand from - 13 -  neighboring countries; the Government has already initiated discussions with neighboring countries for power sales to ensure a market for power produced in Uganda. This issue has to be seen in the context of the transition in Uganda from a "single-buyer" model, under which the market could be ascertained with a high degree of certainty, particularly as the single buyer was a Government agency, to a "multiple-buyer, multiple-seller" model, under which the normal market risks present for any commodity are also applicable to the power sector, including renewable energy power generation.For renewable energy power generation for independent grids, there are few concerns about absorptive capacity, as the grids will be set up in areas of high demand near vibrant trading centers. 8. Lessons learned from past operations in the country/sector Grid-based rural electrificationAn OED review - Rural Electrification: A Hard Look at Costs and Benefits, OED Precis No. 90, May 1995 - of Asian RE programs noted that most of them had higher costs and yielded fewer benefits than expected. Among the review's recommendations were:"project appraisal needs to focus more attention on identifying the economic limits of extensions to the grid and on the economic potential of alternative energy sources, particularly solar energy." The project design fully incorporates this approach to cost reduction, in addition to the introduction of lower-cost technologies and processes."RE reduces rural poverty only through a general rise in income obtained by productive uses." Consistent with this, and based on the experience of the Rural Business Services program of the Indonesia Second Rural Electrification Project, this project will assist suitable SMEs in enhancing productivity and incomes by switching over to electricity."a rational system of cost recovery is a key policy ingredient of any RE project." This project calls for a system of transparent and explicit subsidies along with an emphasis on cost recovery via commercially-oriented rural electrification.More recent reviews and reports of selected country experiences with rural electrification - Thailand, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Chile, Mexico, Cote d' Ivoire, South Africa, the Philippines, and Bangladesh - provides a broader diverse base for understanding what makes RE programs successful. While the various countries used a variety of institutional models and approaches, and there are no fixed blueprints to follow, there are some common guiding principles:Decentralization of decision-making, with demand-driven selection criteria for service expansion rather than top-down "RE Master Plans"RE should be set up on a commercially viable basis, with some subsidies generally required, but recurrent cost subsidies undermine sustainability.Development impact can be increased by subsidizing access, (i.e., low connection charges instead of consumption), cost-recovery based tariffs, and working with rural enterprises to enhance their productivity.Reduce costs by promoting low-cost equipment and technical specifications. At present, the only ongoing Bank-financed grid-based rural electrification project in Africa is the Ghana National Electrification Project, which is expected to meet its target of 97,000 new customers in 13 district capitals, 33 towns and several townships, along with privatization of distribution. Here, the use of transmission line "shield wire" technology for rural distribution has led to as much as 50t cost reduction in this aspect.Independent gridsThere has been only limited experience with independent grids; overall, the early results are encouraging. Two independent grids were financed under a recently completed project in Mozambique, which is the only Bank-supported project - 14 -  in Africa to feature such grids. These grids are working well, cost recovery is high, and the Government has recently contracted out their management, following a bid process, to private sector firms.Bank-supported projects in Sri Lanka and Lao PDR also include village-level independent grids; in both cases, design and implementation have been highly participatory. This emerges as a key lesson to enhance sustainability of the independent grids, and is reflected in the social intermediation in this project. Outside the Bank, there is some experience with local mini-grids, both in terms of technical implementation, management, and collective management, in Nepal and Tanzania. The project team has close links and good working relationships with the key individuals and entities (SIDA, NRECA) involved in these projects.Solar PV A recent review World Bank Solar Home Systems Projects: Experiences and Lessons Learned 1993-2000 - of the Bank's experience with solar home systems projects derives some lessons from the early implementation experience.The initial pace of implementation is likely to be slow, as it takes time to develop and fine tune effective business models (operations, servicing and financing) for operating a solar PV business in rural areas. Some of the ways to accelerate implementation are to: (i) provide flexibility in project design in terms of delivery mechanisms/model and technical specifications about size and nature of systems supported, (ii) focus initially on cash sales, as credit collection can be costly and risky, (iii) introduce systems of various sizes, so that consumers have a choice of models, (iv) and provide business development assistance to solar PV dealers.Adequate after-sales service, including consumer education in proper maintenance and operating procedures, is important for consumer satisfaction, minimizing maintenance costs and enhancing overall system reliability.While marketing campaigns are important, in order to enlarge the market, consumer awareness must be combined with other factors such as affordability, demonstrations, opinions of neighbors, and service presence. The nature of marketing campaigns should be carefully tailored to the local conditions, but, in any case, should be sure to include potential consumers, and not just local leaders or business developers.Consumer credit is key to expanding the market beyond cash salesICT sectorFollowing the recent joint OED/OEG review of the Bank Group's experience with ICT, the Bank's new Sector Strategy Paper has identified universal access as a major new strategic direction and has broadened the concept of access to include the Internet; the Paper cites this project as one of the pioneering projects in this sphere.Increasingly, Bank projects offer support for the creation of rural telecommunications funds. Initially, this support was confined to technical assistance (Peru, Guatemala and Mauritania), it has now expanded (Nicaragua, Nepal, Bolivia) to provide seed-finance for the subsidized component of rural investments, while a new project in Guatemala involves the creation of a network of telecenters in rural areas targeted at small businesses.The promotion of auctions for minimum subsidy concessions in these operations draws on the approach pioneered by Chile in 1994, and subsequently been adopted or being considered by about twenty countries around the world. 9. Program of Targeted Intervention (PTI) N 10. Environment Aspects (including any public consultation) Issues : (distinguish between major issues and less important ones)During project preparation, an Environmental and Social - 15 -  Management Framework (ESMF) was prepared. The ESMF, which applies to all investments financed by the Credit and Grant, provides a clear framework for environmental and social safeguard screening, assessment, and mitigation as appropriate. While Bank and Ugandan standards are broadly consistent, there are a few areas where they differ. In view of this fact, the ESMF is specifically designed to satisfy both Bank and Ugandan requirements and will be applied to ensure this result. In particular, the responsibilities of the Rural Electrification Agency will include ensuring that the ESMF is properly complied with, and the Agency will require evidence of an adequate safeguard assessment and mitigation plan approved by NEMA covering all appropriate safeguards before forwarding an application to the Rural Electrification Board for action on a grant application. Initial assessments will also be reviewed by the Bank (see Section 5.3). Due to the small number of ICT transactions, the RE Agency will also ensure that these transactions comply with the ESMF. Monitoring of safeguard compliance will be undertaken by the RE Agency in connection with the overall monitoring of project activities. Consultation with affected people and communities as well as a structure for addressing complaints and grievances is an integral element of the ESMF. In particular, the ESMF calls for public consultation between the community and the prospective project sponsor throughout the environmental assessment process as well as for public hearings if the Lead Agency - in this case the RE Agency - determines they are necessary.In general, there are no major negative environmental issues expected. However, the project can be expected to contribute to environmental improvement in several ways:Use of renewable energy (sugar mill cogeneration, small & mini-hydro, coffee-husk gasification, solar PV, possibly geothermal and wind) will displace generation which otherwise would have been fossil-fuel based. This would result in local and global environmental benefits from reduction of atmospheric emissions of SOx, NOx, particulates, and carbon.Sugar mill cogeneration will provide for controlled and more efficient combustion of bagasse which would otherwise be burned in the field.Widespread use of solar home systems should markedly reduce indoor use of kerosene and other lighting fuels, improving the indoor environment.Increased efficiency in use of traditional fuels should lead to a reduction in biomass harvesting, which is currently at unsustainable levels at least in some regions.However, there are some concerns:Construction and operation of generation plants (small hydro, bagasse cogeneration, biomass gasification, diesel) as well as electricity distribution systems (poles and wires) will have some potential for adverse environmental impacts on the biophysical environment, including habitat disturbance, vegetation change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation/erosion/siltation, and air and water pollution.Subprojects may also result in impacts on the human environment, including possible loss of agricultural lands, resettlement, increase in water-borne diseases, population influx, and loss of aesthetic values.Management, recycling, disposal, and of batteries for PV systems requires attention, particularly when the industry growth accelerate over time. Regional recycling, education and buy-back plans are the options that will be investigated to mitigate this concern. 11. Contact Point: Task Manager Arun P. Sanghvi - 16 -  The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington D.C. 20433 Telephone: 202-458-2504 Fax: 202-473-5123 12. For information on other project related documents contact: The InfoShop The World Bank 1818 H Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20433 Telephone: (202) 458-5454 Fax: (202) 522-1500 Web: http:// www.worldbank.org/infoshop Note: This is information on an evolving project. Certain components may not be necessarily included in the final project. This PID was processed by the InfoShop during the week ending Decemeber 7,2001 - 17 -