The Volobe Power Station is a hydroelectric power project under construction in

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

Location

The power station is constructed in Ambodilazana across the ''Ivondro River'', Toamasina Rural District, near

Toamasina Toamasina (), meaning "like salt" or "salty", unofficially and in French Tamatave, is the capital of the Atsinanana region on the east coast of Madagascar on the Indian Ocean. The city is the chief seaport of the country, situated northeast of it ...

. The village of ''Volobe'' which will host the power station is located approximately , by road, west of

, the second-largest city in Madagascar.

Overview

Volobe HPP is a

run of river Run-of-river hydroelectricity (ROR) or run-of-the-river hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectricity, hydroelectric generation plant whereby little or no water storage is provided. Run-of-the-river power plants may have no water storage at all ...

plant with six Francis type generating turbines, each rated at 20 megawatts. Andritz Hydro will supply and install the turbines, for total generating capacity of 120 megawatts. The consortium that is developing the power station will also build the

high voltage High voltage electricity refers to electrical potential large enough to cause injury or damage. In certain industries, ''high voltage'' refers to voltage above a certain threshold. Equipment and conductors that carry high voltage warrant spec ...

evacuation power line that will transmit the energy from this power plant to a point where the energy will enter the national electricity grid. In addition, access roads and other infrastructure will be constructed for the neighboring communities.

Developers

The

consortium A consortium (plural: consortia) is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for ...

that owns the power station and is developing it has four shareholder companies as illustrated in the table below. They formed a special purpose vehicle company (SPV) to own, design, build, finance, operate and maintain the power station. The SPV company is called ''Compagnie Générale d'Hydroélectricité de Volobe'' (CGHV) (English: General

Hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other Renewabl ...

Company of Volobe).

Construction costs and funding

It is estimated that construction will cost approximately €350 million (approx. US$372 million), funded by loans and equity.

Other considerations

The energy generated at this station will supply an estimated 360,000 Madagascan households, with about 2 million inhabitants. During the construction phase, an estimated 1,000 jobs are expected to be created. This power station will increase the population of Madagascar that is connected to grid electricity and propel the country towards the goal of 70 percent nation electrification by 2030. In June 2023, the ''Compagnie générale d'hydroélectricité de Volobe'' (CGHV), which owns the power station signed a 35-year power purchase agreement with ''Jiro sy rano Malagasy'' (

Jirama Jirama ( ''Jiro sy rano malagasy'') is a state-owned electric utility and water services company in Madagascar. History The Jirama was established on 17 October 1975 when the Société Malagasy des Eaux et Electricité and the Société des En ...

), the electricity public utility company of Madagascar.

References

External links

Map Showing Volobe, Madagascar And Thomasina, Madagascar
As of 30 April 2022. {{Authority control Proposed renewable energy power stations in Madagascar Proposed hydroelectric power stations Toamasina Province Hydroelectric power stations in Madagascar