Largest Solar Installation in Africa to be Built in Ghana

Siginik Energy Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Episolar Inc., has signed a definitive power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd. (ECG), the country’s second largest utility, to build a 50MW ground mounted tracking solar installation with the power produced to be purchased by the ECG for a period of 25 years. The installation will be the largest in West Africa, and one of the largest on the continent.

“Siginik is very excited about this timely opportunity,” said Daniel McCormick, Managing Partner at Siginik. “Ghana is a fast growing economy in great need of power and we are happy we can contribute in a green, efficient way. This will benefit the general Ghanaian community as they can have more consistent power and in the short term, similar to the effects of the Green Energy Act in Ontario, facilitate the creation of a highly skilled green labour force which will be able to build future green and solar projects in the ECOWAS area.”

The installation is projected to create roughly 800 highly skilled jobs, including manufacturing, in the Northwest Region of Ghana and Siginik expects to break ground within the next 6 months. Siginik and ECG intend on expanding on this initial project with a view to additional installations in Ghana, a country with ideal solar radiation and increasing power needs.

“ECG is very excited about working with Siginik on West Africa’s largest solar installation. ECG is committed to providing its customers with consistent power with an increased focus on green energy,” said Daniel Azu, Divisional Manager, Regulatory & Government Affairs, ECG. “Our partnership with Siginik is very strong and we are keen on increasing the scope of green energy projects with them.”

Energy consumption within Ghana has been growing at 10% to 15% per year while supply is growing at a significantly lower rate. Experts believe that Ghana needs 5,000MW of energy in order to keep pace with demand, more than double its current available power. In addition, in order to achieve energy security in light of the country’s robust economic growth, Ghana requires diversification in both energy mix and energy sources.

Source: Marketwire

Short URL: http://www.solarthermalmagazine.com/?p=19227

Posted by Press Release on Jun 4 2012. Filed under Africa, Solar Thermal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry