The Soubré Power Station is a 275 megawatts hydroelectric power station across the

Sassandra River The Sassandra River is a river of western Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Tienba River, which originates in the highlands of northwestern Côte d'Ivoire, and the Gouan River (also known as the Bafing Sud Rive ...

, in the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. The station was commissioned on 2 November 2017, after four years of construction. This renewable energy infrastructure is owned and operated by ''CI Energies'', the Ivorian electric utility

parastatal A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...

company. The dam and power station were funded 85 percent by

Exim Bank of China The Export–Import Bank of China (Chexim - China Exim Bank) () is one of two institutional banks in China chartered to implement the state policies in industry, foreign trade, economy, and foreign aid to other developing countries, and prov ...

, though a loan and by the

Government of Ivory Coast The Politics of Ivory Coast takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Ivory Coast is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exerci ...

, through 15 percent equity investment. The power station's 1,200 GWh in annual energy production contributed an estimated 10 percent to national generation capacity in 2017. The station was the largest hydroelectric energy source in Ivory Coast, at the time it was commissioned.

Location

The power station lies across the Sassandra River near the city of

Soubré Soubré is a city in southwestern Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is ...

, in the

Soubré Department Soubré Department is a department of Nawa Region in Bas-Sassandra District, Ivory Coast. In 2021, its population was 587,441 and its seat is the settlement of Soubré. The sub-prefectures of the department are Grand-Zattry, Liliyo, Okrouyo, ...

of the

Nawa Region Nawa Region is one of the 31 regions of Ivory Coast. Since its establishment in 2011, it has been one of three regions in Bas-Sassandra District. The seat of the region is Soubré and the region's population in the 2021 census was 1,165,472, maki ...

in the Bas-Sassandra District, in southwestern Ivory Coast. Soubré is located approximately , by road, northwest of

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

, the financial capital and largest city in the country. The geographical coordinates of this power station are:05°48'09.0"N, 6°39'21.0"W (Latitude:5.802500; Longitude:-6.655833).

Overview

The power station harnesses a cascade of waterfalls that drop over . The water is directed over three groups of Francis type turbines, each rated at 90 MW. A 5 MW generator is also inserted in the instream flow, for an extra boost to the output. The power station generates a calculated annual output in excess of 1,200 GWh. Other infrastructure installations related to this power house include (a) a spillway, with waterflow at per second (b) an outflow canal measuring in length (c) a switchyard (d) a 225kiloVolt evacuation power line measuring from Soubré to Abidjan and (e) a bridge capable of carrying two-way motorised traffic.

Ownership

The power station is owned by the government of ivory Coast, through its wholly-owned public electricity utility company ''CI-Energies''.

Construction costs and funding

The cost of construction is reported as €500 million in 2017 money. Exim Bank of China lent 85 percent of the cost and the Ivorian government contributed 15 percent of the cost as equity investment. The

engineering, procurement and construction Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contracts (a type of turnkey contract) are a form of contract used to undertake construction works by the private sector on large-scale and complex infrastructure projects. Overview Under an EPC co ...

(EPC) contract was awarded to

Sinohydro Sinohydro (Chinese: 中国水电; long form: 中国水利水电建设集团公司) is a Chinese state-owned hydropower engineering and construction company. In the 2012 Engineering News-Record Top 225 Global Contractors, a ranking by annual reve ...

, under a build–own–operate–transfer (BOOT) arrangement, where Sinohydro came up with the construction money upfront and was paid a lump sum at closing, when the project was operational. Sinohydro is a subsidiary of PowerChina. The owner's engineer was ''Tractebel-Engie'' of France.

Other considerations

In December 2018, the Ivorian government reported that they had connected 60 new villages to the energy generated at Soubré Hydroelectric Power Station. Using €137.82 million borrowed from the African Development Bank, the authorities plan to transmit power to the cities of

Duékoué Duékoué () is a city in western Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture of and the seat of Duékoué Department. It is also the seat of Guémon Region in Montagnes District and a commune. In the 2021 census, the population of the sub-prefecture ...

, San Pedro and

Zagné Zagné is a town in western Ivory Coast. It is a sub-prefecture of Taï Department in Cavally Region, Montagnes District. Prior to 2013, when Taï Department was created, Zagné was a sub-prefecture of Guiglo Department. A small portion of the ...

. Through those cities, a total of 252 rural localities in

Montagnes District Montagnes District (french: District des Montagnes) is one of fourteen administrative districts of Ivory Coast. The district is located in the western part of the country, bordering Liberia and Guinea to the west, Woroba District to the north, Sas ...

are expected to receive grid electricity for the first time.

References

External links

Support the largest hydro plant ever built in Ivory Coast
{{Authority control Hydroelectric power stations in Ivory Coast Nawa Region Bas-Sassandra District Energy infrastructure completed in 2017 2017 establishments in Ivory Coast