Project Description
According to the domestic legislation, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food (the “Ministry”, “Public Partner” or “Client”) has the main responsibility of ensuring rural development in Greece. In order to promote this responsibility, the Ministry implements several actions regarding the development and improvement of the production conditions and of the business environment of the agricultural sector. The Ministry also ensures the protection of the environment while promoting sustainability in the use of natural resources within the agricultural and the fishing industries.
To this end, the Ministry is responsible for ensuring that irrigation needs of areas in Greece are met. Water is the main natural resource and a significant factor for the production levels in agriculture. In the past years, there have been various efforts either from the state or from the private sector to develop the relevant infrastructure in order to irrigate a significant part of the land to be cultivated. The total arable land in Greece is approximately 34,700,000 acres out of which the 14,300,000 acres are irrigated. The 6,300,000 acres are irrigated via public infrastructure that has been granted to the farmers yet, currently, irrigation infrastructure in Greece is considered rather old and poorly maintained.
The general objective of the project is to transport and distribute water from the Nestos River to the Xanthi plains for irrigation purposes.
The construction aims at fulfilling a dual objective:
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Construction of the main works for the transport and distribution of water from Eastern feeder canal (itself fed by an intake on Toxotes dam across the river Nestos) in the Eastern plain of Xanthi for the irrigation of five (5) areas, covering a total area of circa 25 000 ha (primary irrigation infrastructure only ). It is intended to facilitate the agricultural development of the covered areas using surface water to allow for the restoration of underground water aquifers. This part of the project forms the backbone of the water transmission network required to serve the irrigation needs of the region.
- Construction of the transmission and distribution projects in an area that has the most serious salinization problems.
The area to be supplied with irrigation water is already agricultural land, locally irrigated from wells or from drainage channels – the project does not entail conversion of non-cultivated land into irrigated agricultural land, but it might offer such possibility in future. Hilly land, very fragmented land plots.
The Project will allow crop conversion, with an expected development of cash crops such as cotton, corn, kiwi and sunflower being targeted. The Project is needed because of both a lack of water in the upper cultivated hills, and to stop the present use of drainage channels water (with very poor quality) for irrigation in low lands. The Project was conceived long time ago but never implemented - it was revived in 2021.
The main project's components include, as described in the documents provided by the Ministry:
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Water abstraction – de-sanding / dissipation arrangement from the eastern feeder canal (the eastern feeder canal is an existing irrigation canal, fed from a lateral intake on Toxotes dam, on Nestos river. These structures are already existing: the Project will therefore not involve the construction of a new dam or any other works on Nestos river.
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Central Pumping Station A0 and electromechanical works.
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Twin pressure pipeline 2Φ2000 (270 meter long) between the pumping station and the open canal.
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Transmission canal A0 of trapezoidal cross-section with variable flow, total length 10.5 km.
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Pumping station A0.6 at the end of the canal, pressure pipeline Φ1400 (670 meter long), and reservoir D0.6 with a capacity of 2 600 m3.
- From the reservoir will start the transmission pipeline that will connect the agricultural areas of Myrodatou, Avdiron, Veloni, Pezoula and Mandra. The main distribution components include:
o Five (5) pumping stations;
o Six (6) Interconnecting pipelines (5 compression pipelines);
o Seven (7) Central main pipelines; and
o Other infrastructure works.
The Private partner will build the primary and secondary irrigation network. This will make water available to water users next to their fields. Improved water quality and reliability are likely to be the main incentives for farmers to use the irrigation network, provided that the necessary subsidies (water tariff, irrigation equipment etc.) are put in place: returns arising from the project implementation are indirect and insufficient for its financing by the users.
According to the PPP structure, as a non-compensatory PPP, the Private Sector Partner of the Partnership will not be paid via revenues generated from the project but via availability payments by the Public Partner during Operations.
The Private sector partner will design, built, finance, operate, and transfer (DBFOT) the project for a predetermined duration of 25 years.
The overall objective of the project preparation assignment in support of the Project will focus on the following:
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Comprehensive Gap Analysis of the existing feasibility study.
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Preparation and finalisation of procurement documents including the RFQ (Prequalification Questionnaire, if necessary, Request for the Expression of Interest etc.) RFP (including competitive dialogue phase (Phase B.I), if chosen, and the Invitation to Submit Binding Offers (Phase B.II)), Partnership Agreement, and its annexes including Technical Specifications and any other agreement relevant to a Project.
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Assistance in obtaining all necessary approvals of project documents.
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Undertake Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (“ESIA”) scoping and develop a detailed Terms of Reference for ESIA implementation by the successful bidder, as required.
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Support in conducting a competitive PPP procurement process. Such procurements shall meet both the local legislation and the EBRD Procurement Policy.
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Active participation in structuring of the PPP for well-balanced risk allocation and bankability
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Active participation in competitive dialogue, bid review and scoring and provision of guidance, wherever needed, in particular during the dialogue with bidders and their lenders
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Commercial close entailing signing of Project agreements.
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Support in achievement of financial close entailing signing of the financing agreements.
- Provision of the workshops for training of the counterpart personnel (management and other key staff) for PPP procurement, monitoring and management to international standard in the respective areas.
The Project preparation must meet all the relevant requirements and standards established by the EBRD.
Understanding Transition
Further information regarding the EBRD’s approach to measuring transition impact is available here.
Business opportunities
For business opportunities or procurement, contact the client company.
For business opportunities with EBRD (not related to procurement) contact:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com
For state-sector projects, visit EBRD Procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 6794
Email: procurement@ebrd.com
Any competitive selections for business opportunities relating to this project will be published on the EBRD's website: Consultancy Procurement Opportunities.
General enquiries
EBRD project enquiries not related to procurement:
Tel: +44 20 7338 7168
Email: projectenquiries@ebrd.com
Access to Information Policy (AIP)
The AIP sets out how the EBRD discloses information and consults with its stakeholders so as to promote better awareness and understanding of its strategies, policies and operations following its entry into force on 1 January 2020. Please visit the Access to Information Policy page to find out what information is available from the EBRD website.
Specific requests for information can be made using the EBRD Enquiries form
Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM)
If efforts to address environmental, social or public disclosure concerns with the Client or the Bank are unsuccessful (e.g. through the Client’s Project-level grievance mechanism or through direct engagement with Bank management), individuals and organisations may seek to address their concerns through the EBRD’s Independent Project Accountability Mechanism (IPAM).
IPAM independently reviews Project issues that are believed to have caused (or to be likely to cause) harm. The purpose of the Mechanism is: to support dialogue between Project stakeholders to resolve environmental, social and public disclosure issues; to determine whether the Bank has complied with its Environmental and Social Policy or Project-specific provisions of its Access to Information Policy; and where applicable, to address any existing non-compliance with these policies, while preventing future non-compliance by the Bank.
Please visit the Independent Project Accountability Mechanism webpage to find out more about IPAM and its mandate; how to submit a Request for review; or contact IPAM via email ipam@ebrd.com to get guidance and more information on IPAM and how to submit a request.
