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France is supporting the Takoradi International Company (TICO) with �55.5 million to improve equipment which will increase its electricity generation by 50 percent. The money will be used to convert its existing simple-cycle thermal plant into a combined unit. This will increase TICO�s power generation capacity from the current 220 megawatts to 330 megawatts which is an extra 110 megawatts, or 50 percent of its current output, at the same cost of production. The total cost of TICO�s expansion project is estimated at $330 million, with additional funding from financial institutions such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC), FMO from the Netherlands, DEG from Germany, the African Development Bank (AFDB)and Proparco, the French development agency�s subsidiary dedicated to the financing of private sector activities in Ghana. The French Ambassador to Ghana, Frederic Clavier, who announced the funding, observed that the current power challenge facing the country was to be expected, since it was growing in terms of population and demand for power to meet new social and industrial demands. He said the current challenges should position Ghana to emerge stronger, as the country had demonstrated enough will-power to increase energy generation, create reserves and become a net exporter of energy to other countries in the sub-region. He said the good thing was that past and present governments had demonstrated the willpower to move beyond the existing units to add more modern generation units. He said Ghana had taken the right step to ensure that its thermal generating units were not simple cycle but combined cycle units to maximise power generation. �That is why France did not hesitate in supporting TICO with the funding to convert its simple cycle unit, which currently 220 megawatts, to its maximum performance of 330 megawatts," he said. Mr Clavier said the support for TICO was to first enhance power generation to meet demand of Ghanaians and corporate Ghana and also for the country to be in a position to export the surplus for additional income to support its economic growth. �I can say the path taken by Ghana has given investors a lot of confidence and Ghana has business plan not only to meet the needs of its people but also cover the needs of its neighbors and the investor community and that is a laudable move,� he said. He said the support from France represented 17 percent of the total cost of the project under the Interact Climate Change Facility (ICCF). The Ambassador recalled that the energy sector was one of the three where France was concentrating in Ghana and that its commitment to the energy sector reached more than �240 million euros in 2011/12.