Cote d'Ivoire Renewable energy

Solar

Most schools and health centres in urban areas use electric solar water heaters. However, these are often malfunctioning, and when they are working, consume large amounts of electricity, approximately 2kW to heat 150 litres of water. In rural zones where electricity is not available, firewood is used to heat water. From now on, the Ivory Coast is well-endowed with solar energy, and using passive solar heating can meet hot water needs while reducing the use of firewood and electricity. The solar potential in the country ranges from 2.0-4.5 kWh/m2/day, indicating a moderate potential for the use of the resource.

Wind

There are no wind measurements available besides those for civil aviation compiled by the Société d’Exploitation et de Développement Aéroportuaire, Aéronautique et Météorologique (SODEXAM). These measurements, taken at 12 m above the ground, generally range from 1–2 m/s. San Pedro on the western shoreline and Korhogo in the North record wind frequencies between 20–35% for wind speeds above 6 m/s. Bouake in the Centre,and Tabou on the western shoreline are swept by winds with frequencies from 20–45% and speeds better than 4 m/s. There are no other wind power projects known to date, except those in Touba and Korhogo.

Biomass

The anaerobic generation of biogas was experimented with in several pilot projects, but was not implemented in regular operation up to now. The major sources of supply for fuel wood are natural forests, savannah woodlands and tree and bush savannahs, productive farms and tree plantations.

The forest stand is 6.38 million hectares including 4.2 million hectares of highly degraded forests and million hectares of protected areas. Resources from agro-industrial residues, crops and plantations are estimated at over 4.3 million toe per year. They represent the majority directly exploitable RE potential.

Hydropower

large identified hydroelectric sites remain undeveloped with capacity ranging from 5–288 MW. Several other sites have potential for small plants with capacities of 0.5–5.0 MW. The potential identified in a study by Électricité de France in 1980 is theoretical capacity of 46 TWh. The economically exploitable potential is approximately 12.4 TWh, i.e. 27 % of the theoretical potential.

Energy efficiency

The residential sector is the majority energy-intensive in the country, primarily due to the prevalent use of traditional biomass resources for cooking, lighting and other home energy services. Energy consumption per capita stands at 0.52 toe. Savings have been identified in the industrial and service sectors of the country as well, and the World Bank has financed projects before to increase efficiency in these sectors.