Red flag and screening
Environmental and social red flag reviews for hydropower
A short, focused review that tells you whether a hydropower site, portfolio or acquisition target has environmental or social issues serious enough to change the investment decision, before you commit to full due diligence or a full ESIA.
Quick to commission, usually a few weeks’ work, and written for the people making the investment decision.
What it includes
Finding the show-stoppers early
A red flag review is not a cut-down ESDD. It concentrates on the small number of issues that can stop a hydropower project, delay its financing or change its value.
Desk review
Review of the available studies, permits, project documents and mapping, without the cost of a full field programme.
Sensitivity screening
Protected areas, critical habitat, Indigenous peoples, the resettlement footprint and cultural heritage.
River-scale issues
Transboundary rivers, cascades, downstream users and cumulative impacts that a site-level view can miss.
Clear ratings
A red, amber and green summary of each issue, with the reasoning behind it and what would be needed to resolve it.
Next steps
A scope for the ESIA or full due diligence that follows, so the next stage starts from the right questions.
Portfolio screening
Ranking several sites or options against agreed criteria, so investment goes to the most promising projects.
When you need it
When a red flag review pays for itself
- Before bidding for an operating hydropower asset or a development company
- Before committing to the cost of a full ESIA
- Choosing between candidate sites in a portfolio or river basin
- Early in a lender’s pipeline, before mandating full ESDD
- Reviewing an existing ESIA and action plan to see whether they meet good international practice
Standards
What we assess against
- IFC Performance Standards, with particular attention to Performance Standards 5, 6, 7 and 8
- The World Bank Group EHS Guidelines
- The safeguards of the lenders likely to be involved
- Good international industry practice for hydropower
Relevant experience
Red flag reviews and screening
Pumped storage acquisition, Wales
100 MW · confidential utility client
E&S red flag review as part of technical, market and financial due diligence for a potential acquisition.
Afghanistan hydropower portfolio
IFC
Screening of past studies for several candidate projects against predefined criteria; two sites were prioritised for further evaluation.
Mwambwa HPP, Zambia
EleQtra
Red flag review ahead of a full ESIA. The project was put on hold, saving the client significant investment.
We also carried out an ESIA and action plan gap analysis for the Tsanga project in Zimbabwe.
Next step
Looking at a hydropower opportunity?
Tell us about the site or asset and your timetable. We’ll tell you what a red flag review would cover and how quickly we can turn it round.
