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State power utility CI-Energies is seeking a consultancy to provide project management services for the development of the first of four planned floating solar PV plants on existing hydropower reservoirs in conjunction with battery storage. Expressions of interest are invited by 30 July to assist with studies and the procurement and supervision of a pilot hybrid project as a model for the rollout of the schemes.

The sudden death of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly has undermined President Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s strategy for ensuring a seamless political succession and maintaining high levels of economic growth. Not the most charismatic of politicians – although close observers told African Energy he was nevertheless driven by considerable personal ambition – Gon Coulibaly’s career was marked by intense personal loyalty to Ouattara and an understanding of complex economic issues, which the president sees as essential for Côte d’Ivoire’s next leader to maintain his legacy of prudent management.

Qatar Petroleum on 18 May announced a farm-in agreement with Total to acquire a 45% participating interest in blocks CI- 705 and CI-706 offshore central Côte d’Ivoire to the west of the Foxtrot, Espoir and Baobab fields. QP has picked up stakes in several African licences in recent months, partnering with Total offshore South Africa and Namibia and with Eni in Mozambique, Morocco and in Kenya’s Lamu Basin, where Total is also a partner.Total also operates blocks CI-605 and CI-100, adjacent to the border with Ghana.

Denham Capital’s Themis Group announced on 26 May that it has issued full notice to proceed with construction of the 44MW Singrobo-Ahouaty hydropower plant on the Bandama River. The €195m ($213m) project is being developed by Themis, the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), and Ivoire Hydro Energy Holding, which is majority owned by local entrepreneur and engineer Ekolan Alain Etty. The plant is expected to begin operating in March 2023.

CI-Energies on 20 March awarded seven contracts to electrify 350 locations in Côte d’Ivoire. The contracts are being financed by the French Development Agency. Morocco’s Fabrilec, part of MMK group, and Ivorian consultancy SNE were awarded the $4.67m Lot 1 contract to electrify 42 localities in Gbêkê region as well as the $8.03m Lot 3 contract to connect 37 locations in Iffou region, 14 in Mé, four in Abidjan and one in Sud-Comoé.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced on 4 March that it had signed a €303m ($329m) full debt financing package for the 390MW Atinkou, or Ciprel V combined-cycle gas turbine power plant. Atinkou, meaning house of light in the Ebrié language, will be located at Jacqueville, about 40km west of Abidjan, and is expected to begin construction in Q2 2020. The IFC is providing a €91m loan as well as interest rate swaps to hedge the project’s interest rate risk.

The 22 January announcement that Globeleq and its partner IPS had reached financial close for the 253MW expansion of their 460MW Azito gas-fired plant at Yopougon, near Abidjan, was timed to coincide with a visit to London by an Ivorian delegation led by President Alassane Dramane Ouattara for the UK-Africa Summit. General Electric will provide gas turbine technology and services for the Phase IV project. The new and enlarged 20-year Azito concession agreement underscores Côte d’Ivoire’s ability to finance major private sector infrastructure projects.

A cabinet meeting on 5 February approved a €30m ($33m) loan from Germany’s KfW signed on 9 January to finance reinforcement of the interconnection with Ghana. It includes the construction of a 50km, 400kV line running through Abidjan’s northern suburbs between Bingerville on the eastern edge of the city and Akoupé-Zeudji to the north-west, the extension of the 400kV Akoupé-Zeudji substation and the construction in Bingerville of a 400/225kV substation with two 350MVA transformers which will enable production from the planned Ciprel V plant and Azito IV extension to be fed into the grid.

Globeleq and Industrial Promotion Services (West Africa) announced on 22 February that they had reached financial close on the 253MW expansion of the Azito gas power plant. The plant currently has 460MW and following the expansion, known as phase IV, Azito will account for around 30% of the country’s installed capacity. Construction has begun and first power is expected this year. Azito Phase IV will add a 181MW gas turbine and 72MW steam turbine to the plant, operating in combined cycle.

Ahead of Côte d’Ivoire’s October 2020 presidential election, the government is firmly focused on securing a win for President Alassane Dramane Ouattara’s Rassemblement des Houphouëtistes pour la Démocratie et la Paix (RHDP). For all the history-making import of the eco announcement, the visit by France’s President Emmanuel Macron in December was widely interpreted as being intended to show strong support for the incumbent president ahead of those polls, and shore up regional backing for France’s intervention in Mali and the wider conflict with jihadists in the Sahel, during a period when death tolls are rising sharply.

Ivorian company Biovéa Energy on 9 December signed a 25-year concession agreement with the government for a 46MW biomass project in Aboisso. The project is being developed under the framework of the National Renewable Energy Action Plan 2014-2030, which aims to increase the share of renewable energy in the generation mix to 42% by 2030. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2020, with commissioning in mid-2023. Biovéa Energie is 40% owned by French utility EDF, 36% by investment fund Meridiam and 24% by Biokala, a subsidiary of Ivorian agribusiness Groupe Sifca.

The International Finance Corporation announced on 15 November that Côte d’Ivoire had signed an agreement to join the Scaling Solar initiative. The country will develop two 30MW solar power plants at Touba and Laboa in the northeast of the country on a public-private partnership basis. Côte d’Ivoire is the sixth country to sign up to the initiative, which has yielded the lowest tariffs achieved on the continent for solar power to date, despite a mixed reception by the industry.

CI-Energies is seeking expressions of interest from consultants by 30 October to assist with the construction of a floating solar PV project on Lake Kossou in north-central Côte d’Ivoire. The project, with an installed capacity of 10-20MWp, is to be developed as a pilot project by CI-Energies on the reservoir impounded by the Kossou dam on the Bandama River, about 40km north-west of Yamoussoukro. The reservoir was identified in a scoping study by the state power producer as the site for the first in a series of planned utility-scale floating solar projects.

The postponement of an infill drilling programme to expand production from the offshore Espoir field on Block CI-26 raised concerns in the industry when Canadian Natural Resources (CNR) announced the move in early August. In its Q2 2019 results statement, the Calgary-based operator said the postponement was “due to ongoing discussions with the government” and that the drilling programme would be “cancelled until such time as foreign exchange practices can be clarified”.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) on 24 July announced a €300m ($337m) financing package for expansion of the Azito Energie gas power plant. The project, known as Azito IV, will add a 181MW gas turbine and 72MW steam turbine to operate in combined cycle, taking total installed capacity to 710MW, with an anticipated production of 2,170GWh/yr. The IFC said the additional power from Azito would displace less efficient and older thermal units in the market, substantially reducing costs and emissions, and contribute to meeting growing domestic and regional electricity demand.