The Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE) is set to inaugurate its Boundiali solar power plant in Ivory Coast. The 37.5 MW installation is the first solar plant by the CIE and is backed by a 13.8 MWh storage system by Saft, a subsidiary of French group TotalEnergies.
CIE, the Ivory Coast’s state-owned utility and subsidiary of French group Eranove, has recently completed the development of this solar farm in the Boundiali Department, Bangoue Region. The solar power plant is now set to supply clean electricity to 30,000 households in the region. But, its launch date is yet to be known.
Noumory Sidibé, the Director General of CIE said that Côte d’Ivoire is rich in renewable energy potential, and after having experimented with fossil fuels and hydroelectricity, the country is about to commission its first solar plant. This marks the government’s intention to diversify its energy mix as much as possible.
The Boundiali solar PV plant is built at a cost of €40 million, and the financing agreements were signed in 2019. The solar project is financed by a concessional loan of €27 million from the German development bank KfW and a grant of €9.7 million from the European Union (EU). The Ivorian state contributed the remaining sum to reach the necessary financing.
The solar project is part of the “Compact with Africa” program, an initiative launched under Germany’s G20 presidency in 2017. The program aims for economic development in Africa via private investment in renewable energy development.
Saft has earlier completed the installation of six Intensium Max High Energy containers, equipped with lithium-ion batteries for storing energy. According to the subsidiary of TotalEnergies, the energy storage system will provide capacity firming and photovoltaics smoothing services to the solar farm.
