Aggreko Expands Ivory Coast Power Project to 200 MW

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Jul 09, 2013, 07:57 ET

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast, July 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Aggreko, the world leader in the provision of temporary power generation and temperature control services, has announced the expansion of its power plant in Ivory Coast with the addition of 100 MW of generating capacity that brings the total combined output from the project to 200 MW.

The extension of the power plant was officially inaugurated by the Prime Minister of Ivory Coast, His Excellency, Daniel Kablan Duncan, during a ceremony held on the 1st of July at the project site in the capital Abidjan.

The event was also attended by the UK Minister for Africa, The Right Honourable Mark Simmonds and the Ivory Coast Minister of Mines and Energy, The Honourable Adama Toungara. Senior management of CI-Energies and Aggreko were also in attendance.

The Aggreko power plant in the Vridi area of Abidjan has been in operation since 2010 when the first 70 MW was installed. This was then later increased by an additional 30 MW in 2011. With a booming economy and GDP growth of around 8.5%, demand for energy has been increasing steadily in recent years.

The 200 MW from the Aggreko power plant injects vital capacity into the local grid, helping to keep essential infrastructure and services running, while also ensuring power supplies are maintained to both business and domestic users.

"We are pleased to be adding an additional 100 MW into the national grid as part of our program of strengthening the energy infrastructure across the country," commented Amidou Traore, Director General, CI-Energies. "The 200 MW supplied from the Aggreko plant is an important component of the energy generation mix and helps us maintain supply to our customers while we develop our long-term infrastructure programmes."

Economies across Africa are growing at a phenomenal rate which is resulting in an increased strain on power generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure. By adding large-scale, fast-track interim power, countries can continue to supply the energy required to sustain economic growth while governments and state utilities work on bringing new generation capacity online.

"Our project in Ivory Coast is a fine example of the value Aggreko brings to its utility customers in Africa," commented Christophe Jacquin, Managing Director, Aggreko North and West Africa. "We support our customers by bringing significant generation capacity on-line within very short timeframes and without any capital investment. Our solutions address shortages in power generation capacity to give our customers the ability to continue supply while working to address the gaps in the power supply.

Notes for Editors

Aggreko plc is the world leader in the supply of temporary power and temperature control solutions. Aggreko employs over 5,700 people operating from 194 locations. In 2012 we served customers in about 100 countries, and had revenues of approximately GBP 1.6bn (USD 2.5bn or Euros 2.0bn). Aggreko plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (AGK.L), is a member of the FTSE-100 index, and is headquartered in Scotland.

Aggreko provides power and temperature control solutions to customers who need them either very quickly, or for a short or indeterminate length of time. Examples would be the supply of power to an industrial site which needs to service its permanent power supply, supplying a whole city in times of power shortage, or providing a major sporting event with power and cooling systems. We serve our customers either through our 194 service centres, which we call the Local business, or globally through our International Power Projects business.

In the Local business, which accounts for about half of our revenues, we hire our equipment to customers, who then operate it for themselves, although we retain responsibility for servicing and maintaining it. In the International Power Projects business, which also accounts for about half of our revenues, we operate as a power producer. We install and operate power plants and we charge our customers both for providing the generating capacity, and for the electricity we produce. We design and manufacture equipment specifically for these requirements in our factory in Dumbarton, Scotland.

Recent customers include the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and the power utilities in over 50 countries including the UK, France, Angola, Kenya, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and the USA.

In 2012 we fulfilled almost 45,000 customers' assignments and 70% of those who responded to our research gave us a recommendation of 9 or 10 out of 10.

For more information visit http://africa.aggreko.com

SOURCE Aggreko