The Atinkou project is being built under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, whereby Eranove was granted a 20-year concession to develop and operate a 390 MW power plant some 40 kilometers west of Abidjan. Once fully operational, the new CCGT will substantially improve electrification levels in the Ivory Coast, where just 66% of the population has access to electricity.
The project is similar to an earlier one, developed by Ciprel, a subsidiary of Eranove. The Atinkou CCGT is hence often referred to as Ciprel V, as it adds to the plant’s four units that are in cooperation since 1994 and have a combined capacity of 544 MW
First F-class gas turbine in sub-Saharan Africa
The new Atinkou unit, however, will take a technical leap forward as it will be driven by the first F-class gas turbine installed in sub-Saharan Africa. “Atinkou builds on the expertise and experience acquired by the Eranove Group with the Ciprel power plant. It thus shows the strength of Eranove industrial model based on African expertise and skills,” said Marc Albérola, general manager of the Eranove.
As for project finance, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) arranged the the full debt financing package of €303 million, which was provided together with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Dutch development bank FMO, Germany’s DEG, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and the OPEC Fund. In addition to mobilizing the debt, IFC is providing a 91 million Euros loan for its own account, as well as interest rate swaps to hedge the project’s interest rate risk.
Together with the World Bank, the IFC has been supporting the Ivory Coast in developing its power sector. The bank stressed this new round of financing builds on the success of Ciprel - the operational since 1995 and still the largest power plant in the Ivory Coast.
The Atinkou project mirrors the government’s ambition to double Ivory Coast’s installed capacity to 4,000 MW by early 2021.