The African Development Bank (AfDB) board on 29 November approved a €51.26m senior loan for a 130MW dual fuel combined-cycle power plant in Malicounda. The project is being developed by Melec PowerGen, which also owns the 96MW Tobène and 67.5MW Kounoune heavy fuel oil plants, following a competitive tender led by Africa50 and national utility Senelec.The AfDB is the mandated lead arranger, raising funds from other development finance institutions for the project, which will play an important role in the grid.