THE Volta River Authority (VRA) has announced that it will begin generating power using coal to supplement Ghana’s current energy capacity.
The Chief Executive Officer of the VRA, Kirk Kwofie is positive that the coal power plant will ensure there is additional power leading to a stable power situation in the country.
“We have passed the stage of consideration for clean coal and we think it is something which should help drive the economy of this country bearing in mind that Ghana is a lower middle income country and electricity should be as reliable as possible,” he said.
As a result, the VRA has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China’s Shenzen Energy Group to commence work on the coal plant in the Western Region.
This comes after the worsening power crisis facing the country was blamed on VRA for not being able to utilise the 120 million standard cubic feet of gas per day produced by the Jubilee partners.
The country presently has a power demand of about 2,000 megawatts and a current shortfall in generation of about 400 megawatts.
According to Mr Kwofie, the VRA was currently having serious discussions with other companies and that the current project was at the pre-feasibility stage.
Mr Kwofie was however optimistic work will soon commence on the plant to boost the current capacity adding that “if we can get about 1000 to 2000 megawatts in coal, then whenever we do not have water, we will not be dependent on only one source of power generation.”
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