The Atinkou project is a 390MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant (CCPP) under construction in Jacqueville, Ivory Coast. Previously known as the Ciprel V power plant, it is being developed by Atinkou, a subsidiary of French company Eranove.
A producer of water and electricity in Africa, Eranove entered a concession agreement with the Government of Ivory Coast for the power plant in 2018. The agreement covered financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the plant.
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The Atinkou power plant is expected to generate approximately 2.87TWh of energy a year, which will be sufficient to power about one million homes. It is also estimated to offset 490,122t of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions a year.
The estimated investment in the project is €404m ($458.54m). The CCPP project is expected to be commissioned by late-2022. It is estimated to generate approximately 2,500 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase, as well as 100 direct jobs during the operational phase.
Atinkou power project location
The Atinkou power plant is being built on a 30ha site located in the village of Taboth. Taboth is in Jacqueville prefecture, approximately 30km west of Abidjan.
Atinkou combined-cycle power plant make-up
The Atinkou power project will be a combined-cycle gas plant equipped with a single gas turbine, steam turbine and recovery boiler.
It is expected to operate in open cycle until the steam turbine is installed to form the combined-cycle operation. The SGT5-4000F 255MW gas turbine will combust gas to produce energy and heat, which will be recovered to drive the SST5-3000 135MW steam turbine.
The plant will also include a condenser, generator and SPPA-T3000 control system.
Turbine details
The SGT5-4000F gas turbine is the first F-class turbine to be installed in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is designed to provide high performance and low power generation costs.
The turbine has optimised flow and cooling features, which enable high efficiency and economical power generation in combined-cycle applications.
Construction
The gas-fired power plant is being built in two phases. The first phase, which will be completed within 18 months, will involve the construction and installation of the gas turbine. The second phase comprises the installation of the steam turbine and heat recovery boiler and is expected to take nine months.
Circuit breakers and insulated phase sheathed conductors will be installed to connect the turbines to the step-up transformers. The control room will feature an integrated control and command system to enable the monitoring of plant installations.
The plant is anticipated to have a lifespan of about 30 years under normal operating conditions. The design life could be extended by maintenance and replacement of obsolete equipment.
Grid connection
The power generated from the Atinkou plant will be transmitted through a 400kV transmission line between a substation at the plant site and the Akoupé Zeudji substation.
The 400kV network is the first in the country aimed at reducing energy transmission losses.
Gas supply for the power plant
The natural gas required to fuel the power plant will be supplied from the existing Foxtrot pipeline, which is located 3.5km south of the project site.
Foxtrot is an oil and gas company based in Ivory Coast.
Financing for the Atinkou combined-cycle power plant
The project received a €303m ($337.7m) financing package in March 2020. International Finance Corporation (IFC) served as the lead arranger and global coordinator for the financing package.
Other international financial institutions that contributed towards the debt package include Dutch development bank FMO, African Development Bank (AfDB), Germany’s Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), OPEC Fund for International Development and Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund.
As part of the debt package, IFC contributed €91m ($101.42m), while Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and FMO provided €36m ($40.22m) and €25m ($27.86m), respectively. AfDB committed to a loan of €100m ($112.54m) for the project.
International law firm White & Case was engaged to advise Eranove and Atinkou on the structuring and financing for the €404m investment required for the project. The IFC-led group of lenders was advised on the project’s structuring and financing by global law firm Clifford Chance.
Hughes Hubbard & Reed was engaged to advise the Government of Ivory Coast on the project’s financing.
Contractors involved
Spanish construction and engineering company TSK received a contract worth more than €250m ($296.37m) from Eranove to build the gas power plant for the project.
TSK selected Siemens Energy for the supply of the gas turbine, steam turbine, generator, condenser and SPPA-T3000 control system for the project. The German supplier has signed a comprehensive 12-year long-term service agreement (LTSA) for the plant.
Empresarios Agrupados, an engineering company based in Spain, was engaged by TSK to provide basic and detailed engineering for the plant. ENVAL and Environmental Resources Management (ERM) performed the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) for the project.
Hamon-Esindus received a contract from TSK to supply a seven-cell seawater, low-noise and fire-resistant induced draft cooling tower for the power plant.
Turkish company Temsan was awarded a contract to manufacture a chimney for the power plant.
Insuco was selected by Eranove to carry out a study on agricultural land prices in Jacqueville to compare with the compensation offered to the people affected by the project development as part of the rehabilitation. It also conducted studies to assess the impact of the intake and discharge of water from the Atinkou CCPP on fishing activity in Taboth.
