The Volta River Authority (VRA) at the weekend received a 250-megawatt (MW) plant from Africa and Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI) based in Dubai to augment the country’s power mix.
The plant has come in good time for the country’s power sector, with another relief, the Karpower ship from Turkey with 225MW, also due next month.
AMERI plant
The AMERI plant, which is made up of 10 power units, will be installed and hooked to gas from the Ghana National Gas Company (Ghana Gas) as its fuel.
[contextly_sidebar id=”4CQmD4Xi9uRENXk2CP7yVqwg87esbjGo”]The 10 power units, each with a capacity of 25MW, will be moved to the Aboadze Thermal Power Enclave.
Karpower ship
The AMERI plants are different from the two 225MW Karpower ships expected in the country in the first week of next month.
The ships, which are un-motorised power ships, known as power barges, are power plants installed on a deck barge and technically referred to as “floating power plants”.
They are said to be strategic, as they will not require gas or light crude but rather heavy fuel oil which is much cheaper than diesel and light crude.
Switchyard & platform
At present, civil works at Aboadze are almost completed for the installation process to begin.
The contractors have reinforced the ground with steel works and casting for the switchyard or substation from where power generated will be transferred to the national grid.
Workers of E&P are also putting finishing touches to the platform, as trucks haul crushed rock to complete the work.
Assurance
According to engineers of the VRA, the process to clear and move the plants from the port was ongoing.
It is expected that by December the plants would be feeding a minimum of 230MW and maximum of 250MW into the national grid.
The VRA expects that the addition from AMERI power would be very important to the move to go beyond 5,000MW.
On the status of the project, the source explained that the commercial agreement between the Ministry of Power and AMERI had been signed and executive approval for the project had also been obtained.
The President
During his recent visit to the Western Region, the President, Mr John Dramani Mahama, reiterated the government’s commitment to fix the power crisis.
He indicated that several trillion cubic feet of gas associated with the country’s offshore oil discovery would be harnessed to the advantage of the country.
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Source: Graphic Online