One of the four turbines of the 275 MW Soubré hydroelectric power station in Ivory Coast successfully delivered its first kilowatts. The plant expected annual production capacity will reach 1,170 GWh/year. The electric power produced from the plant will be transported through a 365 km HV line.
Located on the Naoua falls over Sassandra River, the 275 MW Soubré hydropower facility construction cost amounted CFAF331bn (US$572m), 85% of which was granted by China. It was financed by a US$500m loan from the Export-Import Bank of China in 2013 and construction was awarded to the China's state-owned hydropower engineering firm Sinohydro, which selected Alstom to provide electromechanical equipment and technical services.
Since 2012, Ivory Coast has launched a power generation capacity development plan, aiming to reach 4 GW of installed capacity by 2020 and more than 6 GW by 2030 (compared to around 2 GW currently). In 2016, it secured two loans with China for a total amount of US$809m (FCFA470bn) to develop and upgrade the power transmission grid. The country aims to be self-sufficient and to become a net power exporter in the region. As of today, it already exports power to Ghana, Togo, Bénin, Burkina Faso and Mali and plans exports to Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.
In July 2016, riots broke out in several major cities of the country due to an increase in electricity prices, justified by the burden of state subsidies. With demand growing at a rate of 10% per year, the domestic supply of electricity (75% thermal), needs more than ever to diversify its sources of supply and the commissioning of the Soubré dam fits into this strategy. The government set up a broader plan to increase the use of renewables in the country and plans to invest CFAF18bn (US$31m) by 2030 in order to meet the increasing demand for electricity and diversify sources of production.
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