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The first private sector-funded hydropower project in West Africa, the 44MW Singrobo-Ahouaty plant in Côte d’Ivoire, is nearing completion.

Construction work was about 80% finished at the end of March. The plan is to fill the reservoir by early August, with commissioning scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. 

The 1,400-metre-long dam on the Bandama River consists mainly of a rockfill dike and will link the villages of Singrobo and Ahouaty. The US$191 million project includes the construction of a 4-kilometre access road, the rehabilitation of health centres and the provision of drinking water for two nearby villages. 
 
The co-financiers are the African Development Bank, Africa Finance Corporation, Neo Themis and IHE Holdings, an Ivorian investment company. Others involved in the financing are Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), a German development agency for the private sector, and the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund. 

The final structures are now under construction, including the cofferdams and the sluice gates for closing the dam, with the installation of the power turbines and alternators beginning in a few weeks. 
 
“All civil engineering and hydro-mechanical works are in the final stages, and only the electro-mechanical phase remains outstanding. At the end of this stage, we will have the commissioning process, the start-up tests, and ultimately power generation,” said Christophe Blairon, CEO of IHE, during his tour of the facility on 29 March. Another major pending step is diverting the right arm of the riverbank to the left arm.

3/ In Côte d'Ivoire, West Africa’s 1st private sector-financed hydropower plant is set to supply electricity to 100,000 households & reduce #greenhouse gas emissions. Read more about the Singrobo-Ahouaty project in this @AfDB_Group article: https://t.co/rPHP1W4XAL #ACETReads

— African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) (@AcetforAfrica) April 21, 2023

“The Singrobo-Ahouaty plant will tap into Côte d’Ivoire’s enormous potential to provide clean energy from hydropower,” said Wale Shonibare, Director for Financial Solutions, Energy and Regulations at the African Development Bank.
 
On completion, the power plant will provide electricity to at least 100,000 households and reduce Côte d’Ivoire’s carbon dioxide emissions by about 110,000 tonnes annually. The energy will be sold to Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricite, the national grid operator, under a long-term power purchase agreement.

The project was due to create 500 jobs during construction and 28 operational phase positions. The construction contract for the project was awarded to France's Eiffage.

The facility will help to diversify the country’s energy mix, with the government aiming to generate 42% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030. It will also improve power supply reliability and reduce dependence on fossil fuels during peak demand times.

Photo: Singrobo-Ahouaty hydropower plant (https://www.neothemis.com/neo-projects/singrobo-ahouaty)