Alassane Ouattara, Cote d’Ivoire’s president, inaugurated the Soubré hydroelectric dam on November 2. The dam, built on the Sassandra River, has a capacity to generate 275 MW of power.
The Soubré’s power generating capacity will increase the country’s total capacity by roughly 10%.
Constructionof the project, which lasted four years and cost €500 million, was carried out by Sinohydro. The Exim Bank of China provided 85% of the financing for the project.
The project is part of Cote d’Ivoire’s energy policy which aims to increase power from 2,000 MW to 4,000 MW by 2020. As part of the implementation of this policy, Sinohydro will build an additional plant and is also in the running for two more plants.
Côte d’Ivoire currently has an electrification rate of 50%.