Côte d’Ivoire laid the first stone on 22 October for a 50-megawatt-peak solar plant at Lonankaha near Katiola, a project developed by Katiola Solar Power. Construction is scheduled to take 15 months, while financial close is still expected in the coming weeks, according to the Ivorian Energy Ministry.
The agreement signed in December 2024 paved the way for studies and the subsequent selection, together with CI-Energies, of the company responsible for construction. Katiola Solar Power has also signed mandate letters with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Proparco, the private-sector arm of the French Development Agency.
The facility is planned across 60 hectares and will be connected to the national grid by a 1.3-kilometre line. The authorities estimate that it could generate the equivalent of the electricity used by more than 300,000 people once it enters service.
The developer projects around 150 direct construction jobs and as many as 350 workers at the peak of the build. About 20 positions are expected to remain for operations and maintenance, while Energy Minister Mamadou Sangafowa-Coulibaly asked that recruitment give priority to residents of Katiola and Lonankaha.
The government is targeting 1,262 MWp of solar capacity feeding the national grid by 2030. The ministry says this should help raise renewable energy to 45% of Côte d’Ivoire’s electricity mix.