Solar: in Boundiali, Ivory Coast celebrates the diversification of electricity mix

On Wednesday 3 April 2024, the Ivorian government inaugurated the first phase of the Boundiali solar power plant. The facility will help to diversify Ivory Coast's electricity mix.

Announced in 2019, the Boundiali solar project is finally reaching the operational phase. Ivory Coast’s Prime Minister Robert Beugré Mambé inaugurated the first phase of the power plant on Wednesday 03 April 2024, in the presence of the project’s backers and local authorities, including Bruno Nabagné Koné, President of the Bagoué Regional Council, who believes that the infrastructure should enable new localities to be electrified.

The solar power plant, connected to the grid of the state-owned company Côte d’Ivoire Énergies (CI-Énergies), covers an area of 36 hectares and has a capacity of 37.5 MWp. The park was installed by Eiffage Énergie Systèmes, a subsidiary of the French group Eiffage. In 2023, its compatriot Saft, a subsidiary of hydrocarbon giant TotalEnergies, has been selected to equip the solar farm with a 13.8 MWh electricity storage system.

An investment of €75 million

The new solar power plant is capable of powering 70,000 Ivorian homes while reducing emissions by 60,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year. This is precisely the objective of the Ivorian government, which wants to decarbonise its electricity mix. According to Mamadou Coulibaly-Sangafowa, the country’s Minister of Mines, Oil and Energy, it will contribute to the implementation of the government’s energy policy, which aims to increase the share of renewable energies in the electricity mix to “45% by 2030, including large-scale hydroelectricity, and to meet its international commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (31.4%)”.

With an installed capacity of 2,230 MW according to the World Bank, Ivory Coast generates some of its electricity from hydroelectric dams, but mainly from fossil fuels such as diesel and natural gas. The Ivorian government intends to pursue its policy of diversification by building a second phase to increase the capacity of the Boundiali solar power plant to 83 MWp, for a total investment of 76.5 million euros.

This project is financially supported by the European Union (EU) and the German Development Agency (KfW). With the pace set by the government, private investors are already beginning to show an interest in the solar energy sector. These include Amea Power of the United Arab Emirates, which will invest in a 50 MWp solar power plant in Bondoukou, and PFO Africa, which is targeting 52 MWp at Sokhoro, in the Ferkessédougou division.

Cover photo: By AFRIK21