Plans are far advanced for the development of a 50 megawatt solar plant, in Yendi, in the Northern Region, by the Bui Power Authority (BPA).
Contract for the project has been signed for the project to commence soon.
At the Bui enclave, the Authority has also started installing a 250Megawatt peak solar plant to hybridise the 404 Megawatt hydro power plant, to enhance power generating in the country.
Mr Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the BPA, disclosed these in a speech read on his behalf at the closing of a two-day Energy Commission’s Senior High School Energy and Renewable Challenge.
Under the theme, “Clean Cooking and Food Processing Using Renewable Energy Technologies”, 16 Senior High Schools (SHS) from the Northern and Southern Zones took part in the competition.
Three schools have been selected each from the zones to participate in the grand finale on October 19, 2022, in Accra with the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the special guest of honour.
According to Mr Dzamesi, “we are vigorously pursuing the acquisition of about eight-suitable solar sites spread throughout the country and the development of those sites[MO1] . Our goal is to support socio-economic development through the utilisation of natural resources for energy generation in a safe, reliable, and cost-effective manner”.
Bui Power Authority operates the second largest hydropower plant in the country with a capacity of 404MW, situated at the Bui gorge, on the Black Volta River.
In 2020, Bui Power Authority Act, Act 740, was amended to lead the nation’s renewable energy agenda.
To further advance the development of renewable energy, which is at the heart of the SHS Challenge, he indicated that BPA was collaborating with the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and the Berlin Technical University of Germany DAAD, to undertake capacity building and research in renewable energy for students, lecturers and professionals in the renewable energy sector.
Beyond their power operations, Mr Dzamesi mentioned that BPA has entered into partnership with an investor (Bui Sugar Limited), for the development of about 7,000 hectares of sugarcane plantation and processing plant within the Bui enclave.
Congratulating all the participating schools in the 2022 SHS Renewable Energy Challenge, especially the schools that have made it to the zonal stages of the competition, he said the “Challenge has become a hub for the shaping of renewable energy ideas and technologies that will be useful for Ghana’s developmental agenda”.
The six schools selected are Ghana Secondary Technical School, Yaa Asantewaa Girls Senior High School and Kpedze SHS in the Southern Zone.
Business SHS, Bolgatanga Girls SHS and Nkoranza Technical Institute on Northern Zone.
Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, noted that the challenge would facilitate the mainstreaming of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies and programmes into the curriculum of educational and training institutions.
According to Mr Amonoo-Neizer students were expected to develop projects in the area of either clean cooking or food processing, based on the use of renewable energy technologies.
The projects developed, could be new product innovations, accessories to existing products or digital innovations, to improve the performances or efficiencies of existing projects, which should be geared towards solving issues or problems identified in the clean cooking value chain by the students.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE, KUMASI
