The government’s strategy to put an end to the country’s energy crisis is set to receive a boost as the 250 Megawatts (MW) plants from Africa and Middle East Resource Investment (AMERI) based in Dubai is scheduled to arrive at the Takoradi Port on October 24.
The arrival of the AMERI plants would come as good news for the country’s power sector as one of the power ships from Turkey with more than 225MW is due in Ghana in the third week of November.
According to the contractors of the civil works at Aboadze, Amandi Construction, and Engineers & Planners (E&P), the platform plants and switchyard should be ready by the end of the month for installation to begin.
When the Daily Graphic visited the Volta River Authority’s (VRA) facility at Aboadze in the Shama District of the Western Region today, the platform for the plants was almost ready.
Switchyard & platform
Amandi had reinforced the grounds with steel works and casting for the 16kv switchyard or the substation where power generated would be transferred to the national grid. Workers of E&P were also putting finishing touches on the platform as trucks hauled crushed rock to complete the work.
Arrival date & electromechanical works
A source close to the national power generator, VRA, indicated that when the 10 power plants arrive on October 24, it would take them “some few days” to go through the clearing process at the port.
Apart from the plant, five transformers for the plants are currently going through factory acceptance in Romania, which is the normal validation process by the VRA and the AMERI Power authorities.
Asked what would be the tentative date for feeding the 230MW minimum of power and maximum 250MW to the national grid after the arrival of the plants, the source said they were looking at December 2015.
That means by December, a total of 455MW of power should be added to the national grid, which should be almost 70 per cent higher than the current deficit of between 200MW and 280MW.
Again, the VRA and the Power Ministry official sources indicated that arrival of the plants were very important to the country’s power mix.
The VRA expects that the addition from AMERI Power would be very important to the move to go beyond 5,000MW project.
On the status of the project, the source explained that the commercial agreement between the Ministry of Power and AMERI had been signed and the executive approval for the project had also been obtained.
The President
During his recent visit, the President, John Dramani Mahama, reiterated the government’s commitment to fixing the power crisis.
The President 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.
Fuel source
Asked about the type of fuel to be used by the plants, the source explained that the AMERI plants would use natural gas from Atuabo.
“With the increase in volumes of gas from Nigeria and support from the Ghana Gas processing plant, we should have enough and eventually be in a position to build reserve and export excess to our neighbours and return commerce and industry back to full service,” it said.
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