Promotion of access smart grids & solar energy (PARIS) program in Côte d’Ivoire is set to receive a financial boost after the government of the West African country endorsed a credit agreement worth slightly over US$ 155M signed with the French Development Agency (AFD) for the implementation of the program.

The program mainly concerns the construction of a 20 MW pilot floating solar power station, the first of its kind in the West African region, on the reservoir of the Kossou Dam. This facility according to the AFD will reduce annual gas emissions from the power sector by 16,000 tons CO2 eq. and strengthen the country’s contribution to the Paris Climate Agreement. It will also be a reference for floating solar technology in the future.

The program also involves the installation of a new smart grid center in Abidjan and three distribution grid control centers in Abidjan, Bouaké, and Daloa. These smart grid infrastructures will improve the performance of the West African country electricity sector by reducing line losses and load shedding. 

Impact of the PARIS program

The PARIS program in general will improve the effective access rate to electricity in the West African country by electrifying rural areas and increasing the number of social connections. It will see the electrification of about 185 rural areas and prefinance social connections for 92,000 households, the equivalent of approximately 460,000 people.

The program will also push the republic of Ivory Coast closer to its objective of providing access to electricity to all of its inhabitants by the year 2025. Currently, the country has an electrification rate of 79.6%. 

Noteworthy, only 30% of the country’s entire electricity is generated from renewable energy sources, mainly dams, whereas the objective for 2030 set by the 2015 Paris Agreement is 42%.