Interconnection Bolgatanga Ouagadougou - IRS for EIB

The project concerns the construction of a 210km 225kV simple circuit power transmission line from Bolgatanga (Ghana) to Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) for exporting energy generated in Ghana at a lower cost (hydropower and gas fired thermal generation) to Burkina Faso, a landlocked Sahelian country. About 37 km of the line will be in Ghana and 171 km in Burkina Faso. 

The total cost of this interconnection project is estimated at EUR 81.1m and will be financed by the World Bank, Agence française de développement (AFD), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Société Nationale d’électricité du Burkina (SONABEL) and GRIDCo. 

In addition to this programme, reinforcements are necessary in Ghana to ensure optimal transfer of energy to Burkina through the 225kV line, for a total of USD 325 M, and the major one is a new 330 kV line between Kumasi and Bolgatanga, the kick-off point of the interconnection. 

The ITF is supporting this project with a total grant of EUR 14.3m, split in three different operations:

1) an Interest Rate Subsidy of EUR 2.8m for AFD's loan to SONABEL,

2) a second Interest Rate Subsidy of EUR 6.7m for EIB's loan to the Government of Burkina, and

3) a Technical Assistance Grant for the strengthening of the two utilities/promoters : GRIDCo in supervising the works of the new 330 kV line and on its financial model ; SONABEL on its financial model and tariff study.