GE Vernova Wins Turbine Order for Côte d’Ivoire’s 372 MW Songon Power Plant
GE Vernova said on 20 October 2026 that it will supply a 9E gas turbine and generator for the planned 372-megawatt Songon combined-cycle power station near Abidjan. The company’s announcement turns the project’s earlier financing package into a concrete equipment order and sets a public target of commercial operation in 2029.
Songon Energies selected the equipment, while China Energy International Engineering is the engineering, procurement and construction contractor. GE Vernova said it booked the order in the third quarter of 2026. The companies did not disclose the value of the turbine contract, so the project’s total investment should not be confused with GE Vernova’s order value.
A 423.2 billion CFA franc project moves into procurement
Côte d’Ivoire’s Ministry of Mines, Petroleum and Energy said when financial agreements were signed in June that the total Songon investment is 423.166 billion CFA francs. Of that amount, 342.129 billion CFA francs is allocated to construction of the plant itself. That is 80.9% of the stated project total; the balance covers associated infrastructure and other project costs.
The West African Development Bank, or BOAD, lists a 50 billion CFA franc loan for the project. On the published figures, that loan equals about 11.8% of the total investment. BOAD describes a 35-year build-own-operate-transfer arrangement under which Songon Energies will own and run the facility before transferring it.
Published project measure | Figure | Agrilinkage calculation or context |
Nameplate capacity | 372 MW | 12.2% of Côte d’Ivoire’s 3,044 MW installed base reported for October 2025 |
Government 2029 capacity target | 4,334 MW | Songon would equal 8.6% if the national target is reached |
Planned annual generation | 2,805 GWh | Equivalent to an 86.1% utilisation rate against 372 MW nameplate |
BOAD financing | 50 billion CFA francs | 11.8% of the 423.166 billion CFA franc project total |
These ratios are comparisons, not forecasts of achieved output. BOAD separately cites 354 MW of additional net capacity and guaranteed annual production of 2,805 GWh. The difference between nameplate and net capacity matters when assessing plant efficiency, auxiliary power use and dependable supply.
Large against today’s grid, smaller against the 2029 plan
The latest official capacity figure available before the order was 3,044 MW in October 2025. Against that base, 372 MW is 12.2%, consistent with GE Vernova’s statement that Songon could represent up to 12% of national installed capacity. But Côte d’Ivoire’s 2026–2030 National Development Plan targets 4,334 MW by 2029. Against that larger system, Songon would represent 8.6%.
That distinction is important. Songon is a major single plant, but it is one component of a broader build-out that also includes hydropower, solar generation, storage and transmission. The government’s plan targets renewables at 43% of the power mix in 2029 and 45% in 2030. Songon is gas-fired thermal capacity; combined-cycle technology uses fuel more efficiently than a simple-cycle plant, but it is not renewable and it will remain exposed to gas supply and price risk.
Why the project matters beyond the electricity sector
Reliable power is an industrial input, not only a household service. Côte d’Ivoire’s development plan seeks to lift local processing of cocoa, cashew and rubber while expanding manufacturing. Those activities depend on continuous electricity for grinders, presses, dryers, refrigeration, cold storage, packaging lines, pumps and port logistics.
Songon’s location near Abidjan places the planned capacity close to the country’s largest urban and industrial market. More dependable supply could reduce production interruptions and the need for costly on-site generation, although no public source reviewed for this article assigns the plant’s output to a specific food processor, farm district or industrial customer.
The government’s targets show the scale of expected industrial demand: cocoa processing is intended to rise from a 42% baseline to 49% in 2029, cashew processing from 36% to 43%, and rubber processing from 79% to 95%. Electricity alone will not deliver those outcomes, but insufficient generation or transmission would make them harder to achieve.
What could still change before 2029
The equipment order reduces one form of execution uncertainty, but it does not make the plant operational. The decisive tests now are construction progress, delivery and installation of the turbine-generator package, completion of transmission connections, reliable gas supply, commissioning performance and the commercial terms under which power enters the grid.
Grid infrastructure is especially important. Ivorian authorities said during power disruptions earlier in 2026 that some problems reflected heavy loading of transmission and distribution assets rather than a simple shortage of generation. New megawatts therefore need matching network capacity if industrial users and households are to receive the benefit.
Procurement: whether major equipment and associated infrastructure arrive on the announced schedule.
Construction: whether the EPC contractor keeps the project on track for 2029 commercial operation.
Fuel: the availability and delivered cost of natural gas for a plant expected to run at high utilisation.
Grid: whether transmission upgrades are ready to move power from Songon into Abidjan and the wider system.
Performance: whether net dependable capacity and annual generation match the figures used in the financing case.
Sources and method
Agrilinkage reviewed the 20 October 2026 GE Vernova order announcement, Côte d’Ivoire’s June 2026 financing statement, BOAD’s project record and the government’s 2026–2030 National Development Plan. Percentage comparisons are Agrilinkage calculations from those published figures. Company and government projections are identified as targets or expectations, not completed results.
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