Overview


To develop and upgrade the electricity grid in Côte d’Ivoire, the French Development Agency (AFD) joined forces with CI-Energies on a funding campaign. The first step of the campaign involved rehabilitating the Buyo hydropower plant (165 MW, 727 GWh).

This facility suffers from alkali-silica reaction or “concrete cancer,” which causes major deterioration.

In 2016, AFD asked setec  to make an assessment of the rehabilitation needs. This highlighted the urgent need to renovate the G3 turbine, which had lain idle since the end of 2015. In 2017, setec pursued its technical assistance, focusing on developing technical specifications and specifying the required budget for the G3 renovation.

 

Assignment


setec took on the following roles:

- Energy modelling to estimate variances in output and revenues in different operating scenarios (normal or reduced with one turbine at a standstill)

- Developing an overall rehabilitation plan for the short/medium term and providing budget estimates

- Drafting technical specifications for the work (facilities and civil engineering) and providing pricing for the G3 turbine renovation

Owner

FRENCH DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (AFD)

Key figures

Period of services

August 2016 – April 2017

Key challenges

Energy and financial modeling was carried out with Hydroptim software, to identify the impact of the reduced operations on the power plant’s output and revenues.

Thanks to a technical visit of the site, an inventory was carried out to define and prioritize the required renovations, aiming to optimize project costs.