The Sub-Committee of the Scaling up Renewable Energy Program for Low Income Countries (SREP) under the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) endorsed the Investment Plan of Armenia (IP) and approved provision of concessional funding to expand renewable energy generation and usage in the country in June, 2014. The IP includes three projects: a) geothermal power; b) solar PV; c) heat pump and solar collectors. Each of the project is subject to approval by the same Sub-Committee after preparation.
The preparatory activities of the first project were supported by the SREP/IBRD grant provided to the R2E2 Fund in September 2014. These activities include preparation of Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, Resettlement Policy Framework, engineering design of access road and construction of drilling platform, water supply system, preparation of bidding documents for civil works and for drilling works, etc. These activities are supported by the World Bank team of experts. The results of preparation and design of the project are acceptable for the SREP board and it was approved to provide a grant in amount of $8,550,000 to Armenia for Geothermal Exploratory Drilling Project on February 22, 2015. The Government of Armenia will finance about 20 percent of expenses.
The Grant is allocated through the IBRD and the Project shall be implemented according to the IBRD rules and procedures.
This Operational Manual (OM) provides information about the Project objectives, activities envisaged, developments and procedures that will be used during the implementation of the Project. Although all mentioned activities are regulated by other legal and operational documents, however it is more effective to present all necessary data and information in a single document that will be used during the Project implementation. It also provides additional details on specific aspects of implementation.
The OM is approved by the WB and the Board of Trusties of the Fund, and it may not be amended, abrogated, waived or failed to enforce without the prior written approval of the World Bank.