K&M was contracted by the World Bank to work on an assignment that aims to review and update the status and progress of private sector participation in small hydropower development in the Kyrgyz Republic since 2017 (the “2017 Report”). This includes evaluating the legal and regulatory environment, actual project development, and identifying barriers to scale-up. The findings will help inform government policies, recommend actions to enhance private sector engagement, and assess how Development Finance Institutions such as the World Bank could support private sector participation in small hydropower project (“SHPP”) development.

The primary objectives of this Study are to (i) update the status and progress on private sector participation in the development of small hydropower in the Kyrgyz Republic since 2017, and (ii) based on such update and K&M’s assessment thereof, provide recommendations to overcome the barriers and challenges that small hydro development continues to face. K&M’s scope of work includes the following:

• Review and assess the current legal, regulatory, and policy framework for private sector participation in SHPP and then compare the results against the recommendations included in the 2017 Report, including assessment of financial incentives, administrative procedures, social and environmental regulations, and mechanisms for data availability and stakeholder coordination.
• Carry out a detailed review and analysis of SHPPs that have been implemented since 2016 with private sector participation.
• Review and update pipeline projects for SHPP, including (i) review the Kyrgyz Republic project implementation pipeline, (ii) update the project inventory that was included in the 2017 Report, (iii) conduct an updated analysis of the economics for SHPP projects in the Kyrgyz Republic, (iv) identify and rank up to 5 projects that are best positioned for implementation in the short to medium term, and (v) conduct a more detailed assessment for the top one to two ranked projects.
• Identify key barriers and challenges to private sector participation in SHPP projects
• Hold a one-day knowledge sharing workshop for stakeholders in the Kyrgyz Republic