Chinese-built dam in Cote d'Ivoire officially starts power generation

A ceremony was held Friday in Cote d'Ivoire to officially mark the initiation of electricity generation at Soubre hydroelectric power station, which was built by a Chinese company.

Amadou Gon Coulibaly, prime minister of Cote d'Ivoire, attended the event and spoke highly of the cordial cooperation between the the two countries.

He said that the government of Cote d'Ivoire was satisfied with the quality of the project, expressing thanks for the diligence of the workers from both countries.

Launched in February 2013, the project started generating electricity on May 25, about eight months ahead of schedule, according to the constructor Sinohydro Corporation Limited, which is under PowerChina.

Chinese Ambassador to Tang Weibin said the completion of the power station would greatly improve the power supply in the country, providing solid foundation for the industries, including mining, in the country to develop and injecting vitality into its socioeconomic development in the long run.

"The project also laid foundation for China and Cote d'Ivoire to strengthen theircooperation," said Tang, who described the power station as an benchmark achievement of the bilateral cooperation.

The power station have won applause from international experts. The hydroelectric project is "of high quality," said Alexis Tesson, a design engineer with Tractebel Engineering.

Tesson has been working on site for about three years and is in charge of quality control. He applauded the "China speed" displayed in the construction of the power station.

With an installed capacity of 275 MW, the 4.5-km-long Soubre dam is the largest of its kind by far in the western African country.

The cost of the project is about 572 million U.S. dollars, of which 85 percent percent is financed by China and 15 percent by Cote d'Ivoire.

The construction of the power station has generated thousands of jobs and is expected to improve people's lives in the country.

According to the government of Cote d'lvoire, part of the electricity produced in the country is supplied to Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea.