NEWS RELEASE

EXPANSION OF POWER GENERATION TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS PROJECT (SUR-1033)

Paramaribo, Suriname – The electricity sector in Suriname is currently facing significant challenges due to the strong growth in energy demand. These challenges include the inadequate financial sustainability of the electricity service, financial stress on N.V. EnergieBedrijven Suriname (NV EBS), and limited technical, institutional, and financial capacity to service the grid areas and hinterlands. NV EBS provides electricity to Paramaribo and surrounding districts through the EPAR system and to Nickerie through the ENIC system.

To address these issues, NV EBS has partnered with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group and the Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) together with the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID) to finance the project titled "Expansion of Transmission and Distribution Systems." This project aims to increase the transmission capacity, enhance the stability and reliability of electricity service supply through the EPAR and ENIC systems. The primary objective is to expand the electricity transmission and distribution network in Paramaribo and Nickerie, thereby increasing capacity, redundancy and efficiency in the electricity sector.

The "Expansion of Transmission and Distribution Systems Project" is designed to transmit and distribute electricity more effectively, contributing to the overall welfare and living conditions of the Surinamese population. The project, which will be located in Paramaribo and Nickerie, consists of four key components with a total budget of USD 105,695,000. It is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2028.

To cover the total project cost:

·        The IsDB will contribute with a total amount of USD 47,685,000

·        The SFD will contribute with a total amount of USD 20,240,000

·        The OFID will contribute with a total amount of USD 25,300,000

·        The GoS will contribute with a total amount of USD 12,470,000

This initiative is a significant effort to improve the welfare of the population in greater Paramaribo with the surrounding districts and Nickerie in the western part of the country, and to enhance the competitiveness of domestic producers and exporters by ensuring reliable electricity delivery. The project aims to increase electricity evacuation capacity and more efficient transmission and distribution to a growing number of household and commercial users annually. This will be achieved by developing, maintaining, and operating the electricity network, which is crucial for the future spinoff of the country due to oil and gas development.

Key components of the project include:

·        Further development of the transmission grid to transmit generated power from the southern to the northern and western areas of Paramaribo.

·        Enhancing transmission from the central part to the eastern area of Henar in Nickerie, as part of the further interconnection to Wageningen, which is vital for the rice agriculture development.

The expected outcomes of the project include the availability of firm power to customers, facilitate new customer connections, increased redundancy, and the SAIFI (System Average Interruption Frequency Index) to be reduced from 4 to 3 interruption per customer per year for EPAR system and 13 to 8 interruptions per customer per year for ENIC system. Also the SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) to be reduced from 8 to 6 hours per customer per year for EPAR system and from 26 to 18 hours per customer per year for ENIC system, which are indicators of the frequency and duration of failures.

The project will be managed by a Project Management Unit PMU to implement the project, consisting primarily with EBS experts, expierenced with similar projects. Furthermore reporting will be done to the loaning institution on regular basis to monitor the progress.