The Comoros Energy Sector Support Project has assisted in enhancing the nation’s electrical infrastructure.
The project, which was approved in 2013, aims to address two challenges in the Comoros’ energy industry.
Around 50% of the population at the time had access to electricity, which was distributed unevenly throughout the three islands (10 percent in Moheli, 50 percent in Anjouan and 60 percent in Grande Comore).
Additionally, the distribution networks lacked dependability, with technical and business losses estimated to be around 40%.
With a 25 percent end goal, these losses have been cut to 30 percent. In the past, power outages were common and lasted for about five hours every four days in rural areas, between eight and twelve hours per day in Grande Comore, and about ten hours per day in Anjouan due to a lack of supply.
The project’s implementation is expected to be finished in 2023.
The project has benefited from two funding influxes, according to an African Development Bank report (https://bit.ly/3NQemz5) on the project’s progress and outcomes, which was released in Abidjan on May 30, 2022: an initial influx of $8.06 million from the African Development Fund, the Bank Group’s concessional window, and a second influx of $11.99 million from the Bank Group’s Transition Support Facility.
The project is credited with restoring or installing an additional 5.4 megawatts of energy production capacity in the Comoros to date.
Following the restoration of three hydroelectric power plants (0.6 MW) and four thermal power stations, which included the installation of three new electricity producing units launched in 2015, this goal has been met (4.8 MW).
The power grid now has an unheard-of degree of operating flexibility thanks to the creation of two loops and the restoration of an additional 74 kilometers of medium-voltage lines.
The aim of 90 cubic meters for fuel storage has been exceeded by 700 cubic meters.
According to the Bank’s analysis, “the project is making solid progress toward attaining its development aim.”
“This is a significant project that has made it possible for the administration to carry out fundamental reforms in the energy industry.
Nnenna Nwabufo, director general of the African Development Bank’s East Africa Region, expressed satisfaction with what had been accomplished.