This plant will be financed with 80 million euros by a loan from the French Development Agency (AFD), with which the Ivorian government has signed an agreement for “enhanced cooperation in the field of sustainable energy” on November 29th.

Ivory Coast, leader in the electricity sector in West Africa, is however behind in renewable energies, apart from hydroelectricity. The country’s electricity production (2,000 MW) is 75% provided by thermal energy and the rest comes from hydroelectric dams. It has produced just one megawatt of solar power in 2018.

The West African country wants to increase renewable energy to 11% of its energy mix by 2020, then to 16% in 2030.

Several projects are in process, such as the construction of several Biokala biomass plants, developed by the Ivorian agro-industrial group Sifca and the French EDF. These plants must be fed by oil palm residues of the Sifca group.

The leading economic power in French-speaking West Africa, Ivory Coast currently has a network of 5,000 km of high-voltage lines and an installed capacity of 2,200 megawatts.

The government is counting on a program to develop its network and aims to reach the 4,000 MW mark in 2020 and 6,600 MW in 2030.