Canadian-based mining company Semafo Inc has announced plans to build a 130MW hydroelectric plant on the Cogon River in the Boke region of Guinea.

According to reports from Bloomberg, electricity produced by the project will be used by the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee, a firm jointly owned by the Guinea government and Halco Mining, as well local villages and miners in the region. It will be separate from Semafo’s Kiniero gold mine.

The $230M project is expected to be partly funded by the International Finance Corporation and statee-owned utility Electricite de Guinee.

Work on the project will take three years to complete and will start at the end of 2012, reports suggest.