Power China’s hydropower facility in Cote d’Ivoire begins operations, builder says

The Soubre hydroelectric power station in Cote d’Ivoire began operations on Friday, its builder, Power Construction Corp of China ( Power China), said in a post published on its website on Monday.

With an installed capacity of 275 megawatts ( MW), the 4.5- kilometer Soubre dam is the largest of its kind in the West African country, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Amadou Gon Coulibaly, Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire, visited the Soubre hydroelectric power station, accompanied by Chinese Ambassador to Cote d’lvoire Tang Weibin, on a ceremony held on Friday.

The total investment in the plant amounted to $ 572 million, according to the post. The plant is expect to generate 1,190 gigawatt hours annually and provide 90 percent of the country’s electricity.

The plant was financed by a $ 500 million low- interest loan from China’s Export- Import Bank in 2013 and construction was undertaken by China’s Stateowned hydropower engineering company Sinohydro, Reuters re- ported in March.

Cote d’Ivoire already has six hydropower stations and four more hydropower stations are due to be built in the West African economic powerhouse as part of a national policy to reach a capacity of 4,000 MW by 2020, the media report noted.

Part of the electricity produced in Cote d’Ivoire is supplied to other African countries including Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, according to Xinhua.

Power China has also tapped into other African countries such as Sudan and Ethiopia, according to the company’s website.

For instance, the company built the Tekeze Hydropower Plant on the upper reaches of the Tekeze River in Ethiopia and construction was completed in March 2010. It is a double curvature concrete dam with a maximum dam height of 185 meters and a total installed capacity of 300 megawatts, the company’s website showed.