Environmental and Social Risk Screening and Mapping Study

Assignment Name:

Environmental and Social Risk Screening and Mapping Study of Potential Sites for Utility Scale Floating Solar PV (FSPV) in Bangladesh (Funded by IFC)

Name of Client:

RINA Consulting S.P.A. (RINA)

---

Country:

Bangladesh

Assignment Location within country:

Dhaka

---

Start Date (Month/Year):

June 2022

Completion Date (Month/Year):

December 2022

---

Duration of Assignment (Months):

06

Total No. of staff-month of the assignment:

06

Name of Joint Venture Consultants, if any:

NA

No. of Staff-Months of Key Professional Staff provided by Joint Venture /Associated Consultants:

0

Name of Senior Staff (Project Director/Coordinator, Team Leader) Involved and Functions Performed:

Kh. Khairul Matin: Team Leader/Implementation Specialist

Detailed Narrative Description of Project:

The main Environmental and Social (E&S) risks of the FSPV projects relate to: land acquisition resulting in potential impact on agricultural land, resettlement and ecosystem services for the T-lines towers, storage area and substation area and potential impact on livelihood related to fishing activities of those using the waterbed where the Project components will be installed; impaction indigenous people; changes in water quality with reduction in light penetration and surface temperatures dependent on the layout and density of the array; biodiversity; Occupational Health and Safety; Community Health and Safety; forced labor risks in the supply chain; water use during operation; waste management during construction; and stakeholder reactions. IFC plans to explore opportunities and proposes to map the market potential of FSPV in Bangladesh, screening riverbed, lake, reservoir & lagoon sites, considering also key E&S dimensions and risks in the identification of potential FSPV sites in line with IFC Performance Standards (PS). The E&S screening study including two phases. Phase 1 covers screening and mapping of water reservoirs/riverbed sites against IFC PS requirements related to the following key indicators: natural hazards, land and water body use, risk of resettlement (physical and economic displacement), impact on livelihood, conflicts areas, land legacy issues (if any), presence of indigenous people (IP) including IP land or place of interests, and biodiversity. As the outcome of Phase 1, Phase 2 E&S study will allow RINA to shorten the longlist to three sites. Depending on the actual situation at the time of Phase 1 completion, field observation and stakeholder engagement will be confirmed if required for RINA to conclude the shortlisted three sites.

Detailed Description of Actual Services Provided by our Staff:

• Desktop Review of Existing Information and GIS Data to learn in detail about the current situation of the ten project sites.
• Information to be collected and analyzed by the E&S Consultant along with GIS, remote sensing and mapping capturing E&S dimensions and ranking, for presenting the results to IFC.
• Stakeholder Engagement and Field Observation
• Phase 1 screening report for the 10 sites covering:
  - Introduction of the sites.
  -Process and sources of secondary data obtaining and processing.
  -Impact screening process and risk allocation of the sites (including risk mapping to be presented in PPT format and included in an annex of the report); and
  -Conclusion and recommendation on the next steps – proposing the Phase 2 sites.
• Phase 2 report, focusing on the E&S discussion for the shortlisted three sites.