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West Africas first private sector-financed hydropower plant is nearly 80% complete and is expected to be in operation next year.
The Singrobo-Ahouaty power plant is expected to supply electricity to up to 100,000 households and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Three years after construction began, the 44MW Singrobo-Ahouaty hydropower plant project in Cote dlvoire achieved a completion rate of 78.93% as of end of March 2023.
It is located some 150km north of Abidjan.
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) described the project as "symbolic of private sector mobilisation for climate and green growth."
"(It) is the first private sector-funded climate action operation in West Africa," said the Bank, which is co-financing the project.
I HE, the Ivorian investment company and project implementing partner, said work is progressing steadily at the plant, with the last structures being installed.
These include the cofferdams and the sluice gates for closing the dam.
Installation of the power turbines and alternators will begin within a few weeks, said IHE.
"Other significant works currently in progress are the construction of the spillway and the tailrace, including digging one million cubic meters into the rock and pouring 85,000 cubic meters of concrete."
The hydropower plant is set to be commissioned in Q1 2024
Christophe Blairon, IHE chief executive officer, said all civil engineering and hydro-mechanical works are in the final stages.
"Only the electro-mechanical phase remains outstanding. At the end of this stage, we will have the commissioning process, the start-up tests and ultimately power generation."
Blairon made the remarks on 29 March during a visit by the local state authority of the project area. He said the major steps remaining entail diverting the right arm of the riverbank to the left arm.
There are plans to fill the reservoir in early August 2023 and the plant will be commissioned in the first quarter of 2024.
The facility could supply electricity to 100,000 households and reduce Cote dlvoires C02 emissions by 109,000 tons annually.
The project also includes the construction of a four-kilometre access road connecting the dam site to the village of Ahouaty, which will reduce travel time for locals.
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