The Ivory Coast government has signed an agreement with infrastructure investor PFO Africa for the financing, construction and operation of a 52 MW solar plant. The project has been billed as the country’s largest to date. 

The government of the Ivory Coast has signed a concession agreement with infrastructure investor PFO Africa for a 52 MW solar PV plant in the village of Sokhoro, in the northern part of the West African country.

The project will cost XOF 39.5 billion ($65 million) and will be entirely financed by Ferké Solar, a subsidiary of PFO Africa, which will also build and operate the plant.

Construction will begin in the second quarter of 2024, with commissioning scheduled for the third quarter of 2025. According to Ivorian Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa Coulibaly, the project will create 150 jobs during construction and 15 permanent jobs during operation.

The minister said that contracts are currently under review for the construction of other solar power plants, with a cumulative capacity of 600 MW. Commissioning of these projects will take place in 2025 and 2026.

Coulibaly said the Ivory Coast’s installed solar capacity currently stands at 2,907 MW. The country is now working toward deployment targets of 3,500 MW in 2025, 5,200 MW by 2030 and 8,600 by 2040.

Ivory Coast’s first solar power plant, located in the northern town of Boundiali, was commissioned in 2022. It currently has a capacity of 37.5 MW, but Coulibaly says this is set to expand to 80 MW, with financing for the expansion already approved by the Council of Ministers.

The Ivory Coast has vowed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 32% and increase the share of renewable energy in its energy mix to more than 40% by 2030. According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the Ivory Coast had 13 MW of cumulative solar capacity in 2021.