AfDB Strengthens Power Grid In Comoros

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Comoros Energy Sector Support Project which is driven by the African Development Bank has help to improve the country’s power grid in recent years, the Bank said in a statement on Thursday.

Approved in 2013, the project aims to respond to a twofold challenge in the energy sector in the Comoros. At the time, electricity access was around 50 percent of the population, and unevenly split between the three islands (10 percent in Moheli, 50 percent in Anjouan and 60 percent in Grande Comore).

In addition, the distribution networks were unreliable, with technical and commercial losses estimated at around 40 percent. These losses have been reduced to 30 percent with a final target of 25 percent.

Meanwhile, a shortage of supply used to lead to frequent power cuts for around five hours every four days in rural areas, between eight and 12 hours a day in Grande Comore, and around 10 hours a day in Anjouan.

Implementation of the project, according to the Bank, is scheduled to be completed in 2023.

Notably, the AfDB’s report on the project’s progress and results, published in Abidjan on 30 May 2022, indicates that the project has benefited from two tranches of funding, an initial tranche of $8.06 million from the African Development Fund (ADF), the Bank Group’s concessional window, and a second tranche of $11.99 million from the Bank Group’s Transition Support Facility.

To date, additional energy production capacity rehabilitated or installed in the Comoros, thanks to the project, is estimated at 5.4 megawatts. This target has been achieved following the rehabilitation of three hydroelectric power plants (0.6 MW) and four thermal power stations including the installation of three new electricity generation units commissioned in 2015 (4.8 MW).

Moreover, another 74 kilometres of medium-voltage lines have been repaired and two loops created have given the power grid an unprecedented level of operational flexibility. Fuel storage capacity has been increased to 700 cubic metres, well above the target of 90 cubic metres.

The report also acknowledged that the project is making good progress towards achieving its development objective.

Director General, East Africa Region, Nnenna Nwabufo said the project is an important project that has allowed the government to implement critical reforms in the energy sector. “We are satisfied with what has been achieved”, she stressed.