Kyrgyzstan

The objective of the Electricity Supply Accountability and Reliability Improvement Project for Kyrgyz Republic is to improve the reliability of electricity supply in the project area and strengthen the governance of Severelectro’s operations. There are three components to the project, the first component being distribution infrastructure strengthening. This component will help improve power supply reliability and reduce losses in the distribution network by supporting priority investments to strengthen the distribution infrastructure of SE. The targeted assets are part of a comprehensive investment plan prepared during the project preparation, and are selected based on their potential for reducing losses and improving power supply reliability. The second component is the customer service and corporate management system improvement. This component will provide SE with information tools to improve quality of services provided to its customers (power supply and commercial matters), and to enhance overall efficiency of its performance in all business areas. Finally, the third component is the institutional strengthening and project implementation support. This component will support two key activities for the smooth implementation of the project and sustainability of project outcomes: (i) implementation support for project management, including monitoring and evaluation and incremental operating expenses of the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) under SE; and (ii) technical assistance to SE to improve its business processes, strengthen its governance and make the company more customer focused.

The Energy Sector Development Policy Operation for Kyrgyz is requesting financing to improve the financial viability of the energy sector, enhance its governance and accountability while managing the impact of power shortages on poor regions. Accordingly, the proposed operation supports government efforts in the following three areas: 1. Improving financial viability of the sector; 2. Enhancing sector governance, transparency and accountability; and 3. Managing the impact of power shortages on poor regions. The program is at the core of the national Power Sector Development Strategy 2012-2017 and is fully aligned with the objectives of the Country Partnership Strategy for 2013-2017 and the World Bank’s objective to reduce poverty and promote shared prosperity. The proposed operation incorporates the following key lessons: (i) support complex and politically difficult reforms through a dedicated sector DPO; (ii) concentrate on few policy areas that are fundamental for addressing sector key challenges and have full ownership of the Government; and (iii) complement the DPO with other instruments for Bank support, including investment project financing, technical assistance and economic and sector work.

The development objective of Heat Supply Improvement Project for Kyrgyz Republic is to improve the efficiency and quality of heating in selected Project areas. This project consists of three components. 1) The first component, Improving supply efficiency and quality of the District Heating (DH) system in Bishkek, aims to support priority investments and capacity building activities aimed at improving the supply efficiency and quality of the DH system in Bishkek. It has the following two subcomponents: (i) Priority investment program for DH rehabilitation; and (ii) Operational capacity strengthening and Project implementation support for Bishkekteploset (BTS). 2) The second component, Piloting efficient and clean heating stoves, aims to pilot efficient and clean heating solutions for households that don’t have access to DH and are relying on traditional, inefficient and polluting solid fuel-fired heating stoves and Low pressure boilers (LPBs). It has the following two subcomponents: (i) Incentive program for low income households; and (ii) Stimulation of production and use of efficient and clean stoves. 3) The third component, Demonstrating the benefits of energy efficiency improvements in public buildings, aims to support the Government’s Action Plan on reducing electricity consumption in public buildings by improving their energy efficiency and will help to build local market capacity in preparing and implementing energy efficient and seismic building retrofits. It has the following two subcomponents: (i) Energy efficiency investments in public buildings; and (ii) Project implementation support for Agentstvo Razvitiya I Investirovanya Soobschtv Kyrgyzkoi Respubliki (ARIS).

The Project Development Objective is to improve the efficiency and quality of heating in selected Project areas.