AfDB approves IRM recommendations of First Monitoring Report on Sendou power plant in Senegal
The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved recommendations of the First Monitoring Report of the Independent Review Mechanism (IRM) on the Sendou Coal-Fired Power Plant Project in Senegal. The Report was approved together with an updated Action Plan prepared by the Bank’s Management to address the pending environmental and social concerns posed by the project.
With the ongoing restructuring of the project following the closure of the plant since July 2019, the IRM has recommended the establishment of a Preservation Action Plan. The objective of this plan is to protect the Bank’s assets as well as to mitigate the environmental issues related to ash management, coal storage facility, water drainage system and the wastewater treatment.
These recommendations and others on the governance and social issues are covered in the updated Management Action Plan. The implementation of the action plan can only start in 2021, owing to the ongoing restructuring of the Project.
On 25 November 2009, the Board of Directors of the Bank approved a senior loan of Euros 55 million for Compagnie d’Electricite de Senegal (CES) to develop and operate Senegal’s first coal-based plant. The Board also approved a supplemental loan of Euros 5 million in 2015.
The project is a public private partnership initiative, which is also co- financed by Banque Ouest Africaine de Developpement (BOAD), CBAO Senegal (a subsidiary of Attijariwafa Bank - Morocco) and the Netherlands Development Bank (Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO).
