Africa’s single largest rooftop solar plant that produces 16.8 megawatts of electricity has been commissioned at the Tema Free Zones Enclave.
The $17 million project, financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the IMF Group, covers an area of one million square metres. Mounted on the roof of Mega Warehouse, it is owned by Helios Solar Energy, a subsidiary of LMI Holdings.
The construction, connection and installation of the entire project were executed by Ghanaian engineers and technicians.
Economic
Just before commissioning the plant, the Minister of State at the Ministry of Energy, Herbert Krapa, said the project was also very important for its socio-economic impact, creation of greener sustainable jobs for the people, as well as helping the country to meet its nationally determined contributions under the Paris Agreement.
He said LMI Holdings was also helping to introduce skills and technology to the young engineers whom they had trained as part of the development and maintenance of the project, which he indicated would improve the standard of living of the people.
Mr Krapa, who once served as the Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, described the facility as welcome news because it would lower the cost of production for companies in the enclave.
“What you have done will help contribute to power distribution here (Free Zone Enclave). It is laudable because solar energy over time has reduced costs in the mix. You are helping to power industry and you are helping the industry to also meet its green credentials.
“Very dear to my heart is how this project feeds into the government’s overall vision for the power sector and more specifically, the renewable energy vision that we have,” Mr Krapa added.
He indicated that for the government lived up to its ethical responsibility to help protect the planet, it had come up with a national energy transition framework which was put together through consulting across all 16 regions.
It said the conclusion was that by 2060, Ghana should have walked a net zero pathway.
Financing
Mr Krapa said that in Europe, which did not have sunshine like Africa, it cost between a negative and two per cent cost on capital for a renewable energy project, but in Africa with its constant sunshine, it cost an average of 20 percent.
That, he explained, would discourage investment in renewable energy projects, and it was for that reason that the government should continue to provide policies, programmes and incentives that would ensure that more investments were directed at the area.
Sustainability
“This project stands as a shining example of how private enterprises can lead the charge in driving environmental stewardship and aligning our operations with international standards for sustainability,” the Chief Executive of the Free Zones Authority, Mike Aaron Oquaye Jnr, said.
Mr Oquaye indicated that in a world increasingly focused on the implications of climate change, investments in renewable energy were not just desirable, they were imperative, adding that “Embracing this forward-thinking approach keeps us in step with our global counterparts and sets a benchmark for others to follow”.
The Managing Director of LMI, Adla Opoku-Boamah, described the 16.8MW plant as the first step because the company was aiming at a target of 1000 megawatts of solar energy production by 2030 and as a first move, it had secured 200 acres of land for that.
He added that it had secured $110 million from IFC for the development of another 150 megawatts in the interim, and that the purpose was to drive industrialisation and prosperity.
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