More electricity for Ghanaians from July – VRA announces

Two hundred and fifty megawatts (MW) of power is expected to come on stream by the end of July this year, the acting Director of Thermal Energy Generation of the Volta River Authority (VRA) at Aboadze, Mr Oppong Mensah, has said.
Mr Oppong Mensah announced this during a visit by the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, to facilities at the VRA Power Enclave in the Shama District in the Western Region yesterday.
Currently, the country’s total power deficit is estimated at 300 MW.
Mr Mensah explained that two units of the thermal plant at Aboadze would produce 100 megawatts each, while the steam turbine of the plant would generate additional 50 megawatts between June 23 and July 1, 2014.
The Managing Director of Takoradi International Company (TICO), Nana Osafo Adjei Kantanka, said some of the parts disassembled at the thermal plant during a recent routine maintenance exercise were currently being reassembled.
Nana Adjei said, “all things being equal, by July 1, 2014, the unit will be completed and synchronised onto the national grid with additional 100MW.”
He said completion of the work on the unit would bring TICO’s installed capacity to 220MW, while work would continue to gradually increase output to 330MW by the end of the year.
TICO’s Managing Director explained that TICO had a long-term service agreement with the Wood Group of the United Kingdom for the maintenance of its plant, and denied media reports that Wood Group carried out shoddy works on the plant which resulted in its inability to generate the required capacity.
Source: Daily Graphic