1. Activities and Achievements of the Month
1.1 Summary of Progress
Much of the Project activities are now conducted through discussions between SREDA PIU members and the Project Implementation (PI) Consultant Team’s national experts. A series of technical briefings, demonstration of MIS DASH functions, and joint preparation for trainings are good examples of such collaborative activities.
There were also active communications between the PI Consultant Team and the implementing financial institutions (IFIs). The environmental and social performance report tutorials and NOC request documentation submission supports are the activities which fall under this category. Other forms of communications during the month include the PI Consultant Team’s direct communication with the EE&C equipment manufacturers/suppliers, as well as interactions with the other development partners.
Having received a request from the Project Director to have the international consultant members returning to their field activities in Bangladesh, the PI Consultant Team continued their preparation for their earliest possible return. The team is now preparing for the resumption of the international consultants’ work in Bangladesh from November. With their return, it is expected to encourage the convening of important meetings, namely the Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meting, and more casual Project Coordination Committee (PCC) meeting.
During the month, there was one NOC request submission from IDCOL. There were no progress relevant to NOC issuing with BIFFL. It is expected that a NOC will be issues soon after the end of the month.
1.2 Technical Briefings on Newly-Proposed Eligible EE&C
The proposed revision to the eligible technologies and equipment list was submitted from the PI Consultant Team to SREDA PIU at the end of June 2020. With the absence of the international members of the PI Consultant Team, explanations on this proposed revision could not be conducted thoroughly up to now. The national experts (technical) of the team, namely Mr. Masoodur Rahman Khan, Associate Professor, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Mr. Ershed Jaman Khan and Mr. Zakir Hossain, both from E4-Tech Engineering Ltd., conducted a series of briefing sessions for SREDA PIU to explain why the proposed technologies and equipment contribute to further energy saving in the country.
Having conducted the briefings on all newly proposed equipment, SREDA PIU and the PI Consultant Team are now ready to make a presentation to the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) members. Simultaneously with the briefings for SREDA, there were some internal meetings among the Team members to update some of the equipment information including bipolar electrolyser and endless bar rolling system.
1.3 MIS DASH Briefings for SREDA PIU, and Internal Improvement Discussions
Dr Mahady Hasan, Head of Department of Computer Science & Engineering at Independent University, Bangladesh, attended discussions with the SREDA PIU members to explain on the current features of the MIS DASH (data analysis and statistics handling), which is yet to perform its full function. Dr Mahady demonstrated the major functions including statistical data management, sub-project energy saving performance analysis, and bulletin publishing functions. Suggestions for further improvements were received from the SREDA PIU members for the PI Consultant Team to consider.
Further, the PI Consultant Team continued their internal discussions on the MIS improvement including purchase and installation data management and interface customisation ideas.
1.4 Support for NOC request processing (including eligibility checking)
On the 8th of October, IDCOL submitted their 15th NOC request, for application AD19102201. It was received by SREDA on 13th October. The PI Consultant team supported SREDA PIU in checking that the documents are in good order to be received, and also provided advices on eligibility checking. All of the requested set of equipment were found to be eligible. There was, however communication with IDCOL on the conformity of a manufacturer’s certificate and also on the appropriateness of an equipment model to be operating in Bangladesh (which was not relevant to eligibility but needed to be understood from the viewpoint of compatibility with the Bangladeshi environment). The NOC has not been issued yet as of the end of the month.
1.5 Energy Conservation Calculation and Standardisation
After having completed their internal discussions on the energy conservation calculation standardisation, it was found that; (i) missing data for some of the equipment will have to be obtained, and (ii) energy calorific value definition will have to be revised, both for the improvement of accuracy of the calculation. The Team communicated with one manufacturer (JUKI) to obtain equipment capacity data and went through re-calculation.
1.6 ESPR Tutorial for IDCOL and BIFFL
The environmental and social performance report (ESPR) should be prepared by each IFI on the Project MIS. It was in September that the MIS went through minor updating to have appropriate report to be prepared automatically. The PI Consultant team, having received requests from the IFIs to demonstrate the new function, conducted tailored tutorials each for IDCOL (13 October) and BIFFL (07 October). The tutorials were supervised by the Team’s environmental and social considerations experts, Mr Subrata Kumar Mondal, and Mr Amith Dutta, both from Center for Environmental and Geographical Information Services (CEGIS). After conducting the tutorial sessions, there were also some follow-up works such as arrangement for user acceptance tests (UATs) and also creation of backdated reports based on data obtained. Both IFIs are now well-prepared to make use of this new function from the next quarterly progress reporting.
1.7 Follow-up of PaCT II Meeting
To follow up last month’s technical meeting with the IFC-led advisory activity, PaCT II (Partnership for Cleaner Textile II), The Project Administrator and an energy audit expert of the Team communicated with PaCT II advisory members. With the support of the Team, PaCT II members had an extensive discussion with one of the EEC equipment manufacturers, Miura, on some technical aspects of once-through boilers. The Team ensured their continued support to bridge PaCT II with the EE&C technology suppliers and manufacturers.
1.8 Support for GoB Trainings and Advertising
The Team’s project administrator, through continuous discussions with the SREDA PIU members, supported the GoB training planning by drafting some programme proposals and also by liaising with the suggested lecturers. The energy audit expert of the Team further supported the preparation by listing up the proposed attendees to the training activities. Additionally, there was also an opportunity to discuss on the advertising for EE&C promotion, to be conducted as a part of the Project activities.
Due to the effect of COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided to further wait for a better timing for the advertising activities to be actually deployed utilising billboards.
1.9 Project Administration Works
The project administrator of the Team communicated closely with the project director to facilitate various joint activities being conducted with SREDA PIU. The work included support for updating the publication archives (library) at SREDA, reviewing of various documents, and the PD’s communication with JICA. Further, as October is the first month of Q4 2020, the quarterly progress report for July-September 2020 (QPR17) was compiled and submitted to JICA Bangladesh Office as one of the routine tasks under project administration.
Another major task to be conducted by the project administrator included logistic arrangements for project office equipment, PC and other office automation equipment, and mobility management of the team members.
2. Appendices
There is no appendix to this month’s progress report.