A $45 million plant which is to help ease the current power crises in the country has arrived at the Tema Port Harbour.
The Plant, purchased by four mining companies, namely AngloGold Ashanti, Newmont Ghana, Golden Star Resources, and Goldfields, when installed, will generate 80 megawatts of power to support the operations of the Volta River Authority.
Sulemana Koney, Director, Analysis, Research and Finance of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, told The Statesman that the Chamber will contract a company to man the plant for a year before finally handing it over to the VRA.
He further stated that the plant, after the power crises, will serve as a reserve source of energy to the VRA, in case of an emergency.
Fueling the plant for just a day will cost $630,000 (about ¢5.8 billion), he told this reporter.
Joyce Aryee, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Chamber of Mines, also told The Statesman that the idea to supplement the efforts of the VRA was conceived in August, last year, when the power crises begun. "We made projections and looked at the future and came out with this proactive measure to purchase the plant,” she said, adding, “We said we will make it and we have made it.”
“It is important to recognise that if there is a problem we must define ways of solving it and stop apportioning blame to particular people,” she lamented.
The Director for External Affairs, Africa and Europe of Newmont Ghana, Chris Anderson, said the action of the mining companies was a manifestation that the future of mines is inevitably tied up with the future of Ghana and “I think this will contribute to the development of Ghana and that of mines.”
The plant has three separate generators, which will produce 45, 20 and 15 megawatts respectively. It is expected that after being offloaded from the Tema port, the plant will be sent to a site near New Tema Station of the VRA, where it will be installed and commissioned in the next three months.
Link to The Statesman : News : 4 mining companies to help light up Ghana
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