Kpong Plant To Add 220 Megawatts Of Power To Ghana�s Current Capacity

The Volta River Authority through the Kpong Thermal Power plant has initiated processes to add an additional 220megawats of power to the current 2,000 megawatts. This implies that the will be some respite with regards to the load shedding that has characterized the Power sector following the damage to the West African Gas Pipeline. In an interview with Citi business news, Project Manager of the Kpong Thermal Power Plant, Francis Yao Agbeyo noted that the plant will meet the projected shortfall within the Short to medium term. �We are looking at 2017, and if we don�t get this plant online, then we may have a shortfall, but we a hopeful the project will be completed by 2014 to prevent any situation of a shortfall; what VRA is trying to do is to at least have about 20percent reserve capacity so that when a unit is off, it won�t be felt.� The $600 million power plant will operate on both natural gas and liquid fuel to ensure high and continuous power supply to businesses whiles creating over 900 jobs at the peak of construction, with another projected employment of over 200 permanent staff during its operations. Meanwhile, Rand Merchant Bank, a division of First Rand Bank Limited, is the mandated lead arranger of the debt funding for the project with support from the export credit Insurance Company of South Africa under the Department of Trade and Industry.