Construction of Ghana’s biggest power Bulk Supply Point (BSP) at Pokuase in the Ga West district has commenced. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod to mark its beginning.
The President described the project as a “major mile stone in the country’s quest to develop a robust, resilient and reliable electricity supply system that is comparable to top quality networks around the world.”
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Power bulk supply point
The project aimed at at improving the quality of power supplied to the northern parts of Accra, will be undertaken by a Spanish company, Messrs Elecnor S.A. It is estimated to cost US $33.5m.
According to President Nana the development fell in line with government’s objectives of ensuring reliable supply of power to industry “so as to diversify our economy and help realise our vision of moving Ghana to a situation beyond aid.
“It is the expectation of Government that consumers at all levels would benefit from improved availability, good quality and reliability of supply within the areas that the project would serve,” said his excellency.
Compact Two
Upon completion the set to be fourth bulk supply point in Accra will be one of the major infrastructural projects in the US $498.2m Ghana Power Compact funded by the United States government through the Millennium Challenge Corporation, popularly known as Compact Two and implemented by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA)
The 330kv Pokuase BSP is the first among a number of compact-funded interventions that would supply vital infrastructure required to improve the distribution of electric power and to support the realization of the financial and technical turnaround of the operations of the utility power distributor, PDS.
The project would significantly enhance PDS services to customers in Pokusase, Kwabenya, Legon, Nsawam and surrounding towns and villages. Construction works is projected to take 24 months.
“I am informed that there would be reduced outages, cost effective delivery of service and reduced aggregate technical losses, following the addition of the vital input to the assets of our distribution utilities. These are the hallmarks of a country that is in a hurry to develop.” said President Nana Addo Dankwa.
The President urged the contractors working on the project to ensure that Ghana got a well-designed system, comparable to any such facility in the world. The ceremony was jointly performed by the Chief of Staff, Mrs Akosua Frema Osei Opare; the Ambassador of the United States of America (USA) to Ghana, Ms Stephanie Sullivan, and the Vice-President for Compact Operations at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Mr Anthony Welcher, at Pokuase.
This is a significant capital investment in Ghana, which has seen several advancements in the electrical grid over the last few years. This naturally drives capital investment in other projects such as roads, railways and capital goods like diesel fueled generators as the reliability of the electric supply improves. These investments help to dive all aspects of the economy and provide additional employment for people in all areas such as servicing engines for generators, maintaining roads and other fixed critical infrastructure.
The huge upfront cost of importing capital goods to support such projects, such as the engines (like . Cummins Engines , Engines Perkins and Engines Baudouin ) or construction machinery such as generators puts strain on the fiscal balance of the country, but ultimately will pay huge dividends. Not least in the fact that the diesel power will not be required in the current volumes.
