Construction of the plant was financed by PFO Africa subsidiary PFO Energies and it will operate on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer basis.Ivory Coast opened a 52.4 megawatt (MW) solar power plant on Friday, part of the government’s efforts to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix and reach climate goals set in 2021. The world’s largest cocoa producer is seeking to become a major power supplier in West Africa and aims to have 46 per cent renewable energy in its electricity mix by 2035. Ivory Coast has an installed power capacity of roughly 3,000 MW, most of it generated from oil and gas plants and exports electricity to Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo and Mali. “Today’s ceremony fits perfectly with the strategy for Ivory Coast… namely to accelerate the country’s energy transition by diversifying its electricity mix through the expansion of renewable energy capacity,” Mines Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly said at the opening ceremony. The Ferke Solar plant will supply electricity to 370,000 households, directly serving about 2 million people, primarily in the northern Ferkessedougou region, according to PFO Africa, an infrastructure investment group with 100 per cent Ivorian shareholding. Construction of the plant was financed by PFO Africa subsidiary PFO Energies and it will operate on a Build-Own-Operate-Transfer basis.
Ivory Coast boosts renewable energy push with new solar power plant
By Markel Zilla
