Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project YEEAP II

Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project- PHASE II  (YEEAP-II):

The Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project seeks to improve access to electricity in rural and peri-urban areas within the Republic of Yemen. The project is financed by the World Bank (grant from IDA), and implemented by UNOPS. As the need for targeted interventions to improve electricity access to rural and peri-urban households and critical services facilities continues to be huge, the Yemen Emergency Electricity Access Project-Phase II was approved.

The four-year project will finance distributed solar solutions to provide urgently-needed access to electricity in Yemen

Project Components:

Component 1: Electricity in Rural and Peri-urban Areas

Subcomponent 1.1: Electricity for households:

• Scale up the provision of basic pico-solar systems for vulnerable rural and peri-urban households, building on the success of both the in-kind grant support mechanism targeting smaller, more working capital-constrained MFIs and the results-based financing mechanism targeting larger, less capital-constrained MFIs.
• Where applicable, introduce a new component for larger, medium-sized household solar systems.

The provision of solar power will avoid using fossil fuel-based energy sources like candles and kerosene lamps which will result in mitigation of climate change co-benefits. 

Subcomponent 1.2: Electricity for Critical Services Facilities: 

The project will scale up the delivery of lifesaving off-grid access to electricity interventions to address the humanitarian crisis in rural and peri-urban areas across Yemen and seek to broaden collaboration with health; education; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for greater impact and sustainability of interventions by:

• Providing solar systems to more primary health centers/units, including maternal and reproductive health facilities, and expanding to health facilities in districts that require larger budgets per facility (health facilities will be crucial for treating more complicated and inpatient cases that health centers/units cannot handle) and might require additional interventions including, but not limited to, building dedicated rooms for batteries and rewiring and retrofitting existing electric components in the facilities.
• Scaling up the provision of solar solutions for drinking water wells as the demand for clean, potable water is huge and urgent and requires additional interventions all over Yemen, including supporting activities, such as the provision of submersible pumps, solar panels, water storage tanks, small desalination units, small water networks, and water meters, as well as capacity-building support to water user associations (WUAs) in collaboration with WASH and women collaboratives.
• Providing solar systems to additional girls’ and boys’ schools, in collaboration with ongoing education sector interventions. 

The provision of solar power will avoid using fossil fuel-based energy sources like gasoline and diesel electricity generating sets and will result in the mitigation of climate change co-benefits. In addition, scaling up the provision of solar solutions for drinking water wells to address the drinking water issues that are affected by climate change will bring associated adaptation co-benefits.

Subcomponent 1.3: Support to COVID-19 Isolation and Vaccine Cold Chain Units:

This sub-component will focus specifically on scaling up the support to isolation units and vaccine cold chain units through the provision of solar power to these units.

Component 2: Implementation Support, Market Development, and Technical Assistance for Power Sector Sustainability

Subcomponent 2.1: Project Implementation Support:

This sub-component will finance:

• General management support (indirect) costs for UNOPS.
• Direct management and supervision costs which are required to support the implementation of the project (including the use of remote monitoring technology).
• Independent audits of project activities, if required.
• The establishment of a Grievance Mechanism (GM) in the UNOPS Sana’a Office to document complaints and ensure follow-up.

Subcomponent 2.2: Technical Assistance to Support Solar-PV Market:

The project will lay the foundations for the sustainability and scale-up of the solar market through a series of market, and sector needs assessments, scoping studies, and TA/capacity-building activities for MFIs, solar PV suppliers, and beneficiaries. The recommendations of some of the activities may be incorporated into Components 1 and 2 as pilots, subject to the necessary ESF

adjustments. 

• Off-grid solar PAYG pilot. Quality-verified PAYG off-grid solar systems, and corresponding business models, have the potential to address the challenges faced by customers (especially females) while helping overcome affordability barriers and enabling customers to access larger systems providing a higher level of service. Considering the findings of the RY-EEAP I market assessment, if appropriate, will design, develop, and implement a PAYG pilot with interested MFIs, for inclusion as part of sub-component 1.1.
• Off-grid solar market assessment. The project will undertake a market assessment to provide a comprehensive analysis of (i) the current PUE market and the key stakeholders active in the market; (ii) the potential market; (iii) the main market barriers; and (iv) the institutional and regulatory framework for renewable energy, clarifying the role of renewables, and the need for legislation to promote renewable energy and incentives and measures to facilitate the access of financing schemes for renewable power for PUE. 
• Mini-grid market assessment. This assessment will (i) Advise on the needed sectoral legal, policy, and regulatory reforms and evaluate the current market and the potential market, identifying the main barriers to establishing a mini-grid market and how these might be overcome; (ii) take complete account of plans for grid extension and the work of other stakeholders in this area before seeking to identify a specific geographical area where a potential project might be developed; (iii) take stock of international best practices and innovative solutions regarding support to the regulated and unregulated mini-grid sectors in other FCV or humanitarian settings, such as Gaza, and Somalia.
• Quality standards and capacity building. Under this assessment, the project will build on the existing quality guidelines by developing a comprehensive quality assurance framework for component-based off-grid solar systems and related PUE appliances. Contractors will then be trained to meet these requirements. Adjustments to the Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) will be developed, if required, incorporating component-based off-grid solar systems and PUE appliances, so that off-grid solar PUE can be supported either under this operation or from the outset in future operations, depending upon findings.
• Batteries management scoping and capacity building. An assessment under the project will be conducted to explore the options related to incentivizing and financing product/component takeback from end users to MFIs (for solar home systems) and operation and maintenance contract holders (for public facilities), as well as reverse logistics for MFIs/contractors to return products and components to facilities where they can be recycled or safely disposed of. Once a viable, sustainable solution has been identified, MFIs and contractors may be provided with technical support to implement the solution, as part of Component 1.
• Sector electricity needs assessments. A series of need assessments will be carried out covering priority sectors for public service delivery such as water supply, education, and vaccine cold chains. Each will assess the sector’s electricity needs, and the status of the current supply, and make recommendations for how sub-component 1.2 can best be targeted to deliver impact at scale. All sector needs assessments will map what activities other stakeholders such as government agencies, aid agencies, and nongovernmental organizations are currently delivering or have planned, to ensure strong coordination and maximize the added value of the project’s activities.
• Gender impact assessment. Women and girls have been major beneficiaries of RY-EEAP, benefiting from lighting at home as well as in public facilities. They have also benefited from increased employment by MFIs, which were provided with a small additional incentive for reaching females. This assessment will seek to drill down further into the data to better understand the experience of women and girls through the project and develop a strategy to further enhance the project’s impact on women and girls in terms of electricity access; financial inclusion; market access and job creation; and potential health, education, and water outcomes. 

Subcomponent 2.3: Technical Assistance for Power Sector Recovery:

The aim of sub-component 2.3 is for the government to be prepared for policy discussion on the recovery of the power sector as the country emerges from conflict. 

Given the crisis, the selection of activities must be flexible, achievable, and respond to critical needs. They would include: 

1. Power sector reform and policy, institutional, and regulatory aspects.
2. Rapid studies on rehabilitation, reconstruction, and expansion of generation, transmission, and distribution systems and, to the extent possible, the preparation of associated pre-feasibility studies.
3. Preparation of a geospatial-based electrification plan consisting of grid-based expansion, mini-grids, and stand-alone systems and assessing the suitability of public sector and private sector delivery models.
4. A diagnostic of the PEC to assess performance improvement needs including capacity building and structural and system enhancements such as improvements in metering, billing, and collection.

Component 3: Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC)

The objective of this component is to provide an immediate response to an eligible crisis or emergency following the procedures governed by paragraph 12, Section III of the World Bank Policy, Investment Project Financing.