Azito Thermal Power Plant and Expansion

This summary covers an equity investment and/or shareholder loan by Globeleq Holdings (Azito) Limited of Bermuda for the Azito Thermal Power Plant in Côte d’Ivoire. The investor has applied for a MIGA guarantee of $114 million for a period of up to 20 years against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, war and civil disturbance, and breach of contract.

The project involves the conversion of the existing Azito Thermal Power Plant from simple-cycle to combined-cycle. This will include the addition of a steam turbine generator and heat recovery systems as well as the facilities and equipment required to connect the generator to the plant’s 225 kV substation. The project will add approximately 140 megawatts of installed capacity to the grid, without requiring any additional gas supply, for a total plant installed capacity of approximately 430 megawatts. Since the expansion from a simple-cycle to a combined-cycle plant was foreseen when the first phase of the project was completed in 1999, the related facilities and transmission line were designed to accommodate the full plant expansion and output.

Environmental Categorization

The project is a category B under MIGA’s Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability. Click here to view the Environmental and Social Review Summary prepared by the International Finance Corporation for their investment in the project. MIGA intends to present the project to the Board concurrently with the IFC.

Development Impact

Côte d’Ivoire’s energy infrastructure suffers from lack of maintenance, system overload, and financial difficulties. Due to limited access, over three-quarters of households are dependent on cheap wood charcoal, though this has environmental and health costs in the long term. The project is aligned with the World Bank Group’s Country Assistance Strategy for Côte d’Ivoire, which stresses the critical importance of building energy capacity to sustain economic progress.

MIGA’s proposed support for this investment is also aligned with the agency’s strategy of supporting investments into countries eligible for concessional lending from the International Development Association, countries affected by conflict, and complex infrastructure projects.