Energy Commission yet to license five power plants

Page 72
07-10-2008

OWNERS of five independent power plants (IPPs) under construction in Tema are yet to submit their land title documents to the Energy Commission as one of the requirements for the acquisition of an operational license.
They are the Sunon Asogli Power Plant, the Kpone Power Plant, the Volta River Authority (VRA) Plant, the Mining Reserve Plant and the Tema Osorno Plant.
The Executive Secretary of the commission, Dr Alfred K. Ofosu Ahenkorah, said this when some staff of the commission undertook a tour of the sites of the power plants yesterday.
It was established that owners of some of the plants were yet to submit their Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Impact Assessment to the commission.
Dr Ahenkorah said there was the need for the owners of the plants to submit their land titles as part of the licensing process, adding that even if they could show evidence that the land owners had handed over the lands to them, the commission could go ahead to issue the license.
He said although all the plants had put in applications for a license, only Cenpower, which was yet to begin the construction of its plant had been granted a license.
The company, he said, had planned to begin work in about two months.
Dr Ahenkorah expressed the hope that all the problems identified during the tour would be solved within the shortest possible time for the plants to proceed with their activities.
At the VRA Plant, the Project Manager, Mr Richard Oppong Mensah, said the tri-fuel plant would use diesel, light crude and gas, adding that construction of the gas turbine was almost ready.
He said they had test run the facility.
The Project Director of the Osorno Power Project, Mrs Eunice Britwum, said the project was at the preliminary stages, and expressed the hope that by the end of next year, the 126 megawatts plant would be ready and running.
Mr Darlington Ahuble, the VRA Project Manager on the Mines Project, said the 80 megawatts plant was jointly funded by four mining companies; AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont Ghana Limited, Goldfields Ghana Limited and Golden Star Resources Limited.
He said the plant was ready by October, last year, saying that some modifications and upgrading had been done following some initial problems.
The site for the Kpone Power Plant which was expected to produce 330 megawatts of power was being cleared to begin construction at the time officials of the Energy Commission got there.