Energy Service Improvement Project

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The development objective of the Energy Service Improvement Project for Benin is to improve power utility operational performance; expand electricity access in targeted areas; and promote community-based management of forest resources. The project comprises of four components. The first component, improvement of SBEE’s commercial performance will help SBEE reduce commercial losses and adopt a customer-oriented perspective. The second component, distribution network strengthening in targeted areas aims to reduce SBEE’s technical losses while tapping into low-hanging fruit opportunities to improve the reliability of electricity service and provide new access to dark pockets in peri-urban areas. The third component, community-based management of wood fuels will contribute to reducing the pressure on northern Benin forests by building on and expanding into new regions the successful gender-sensitive, community-based, forest management practices financed under the Energy Services Delivery Project (ESDP) and Increased Access to Modern Energy (IAME) Project. It consists of following sub-components: (i) sustainable management of forestry resources in the Moyen and Haut Ouémé basin regions; and (ii) development of quality standards for improved cook stoves. The fourth component, sector development and implementation support will contribute to better planning for electricity access rollout in the country, support the development of key power sector institutions, and ensure effective implementation of the project. It consists of following sub-components: (i) sector planning; (ii) institutional strengthening; and (iii) project management.