Bui Dam Project Promises Bright Economic Prospects

ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES within the Bui area, is to receive a major boost due to the commencement of the construction of the Bui hydro- Electric Dam.

The constructional phase of the 622 million dollar project is estimated to give direct employment to nearly three thousand locals out of a project workforce of 3,400.

The local workforce would be in the entire spectrum of the management of the project including skilled and semi-skilled, whilst a total of 500 Chinese would be engaged.

A total number of 100 Ghanaian technicians would be engaged, 20 in the administration, 80 as foremen, 700 skilled labourers, whilst semi-skilled and unskilled labour would account for 1,000 Ghanaians each.

There would also be opportunities for the subcontracting of works and supplies of materials to Ghanaians in the areas of road construction, building works including the construction camp and supply of construction material.

The project is a supplement of 400MW to the power generation capability of Ghana's generation system and the multiple use for potential fisheries, tourism and irrigation as well as improving the security of electricity supply to the Northern Ghana and the potential to export power to Burkina Faso and Cote d' Ivoire under the West African Power Pool (WAPP) arrangement.

Energy Minster, Joseph Kofi Adda, who made these known during the sod cutting ceremony said the 400MW project is considered the most technically and economically attractive hydropower site in Ghana after the Akosombo and Kpong power plants, because aside hydropower generation, it has irrigation potential for agricultural development.

He said the irrigation potential is about 30,000ha and the suitable sites are in the downstream reaches of the dam site at New Longoro and Asantekwa, adding that it also has the potential for eco-tourism and fisheries.

According to Mr. Adda, the feasibility studies indicates that the project features includes Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) dam volume of about 1,000,000 cubic meters, dam height of 110m, 470m dam length, Energy Generation potential of 1,000GWh/annum and rated water release of 600cu.m/sec.

The Energy Minister said the construction of the Bui Hydroelectric Dam Project would be financed through a hybrid credit facility comprising a Concessional Loan from the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Buyer's Credit Facility from the Export and Import Bank of China.

He stated that parliament has recently approved the Bui Power Authority Bill, which set up the Bui Authority to develop, operate and manage the Bui project, which is expected to be completed in 2012.

Mr. Adda said as the first step, the Authority would operate in the form of a Project Secretariat and focus on the implementation of the project, adding that upon the completion of construction and commencement of the operational phase, the Bui Power Authority would then operate as a full corporate entity.

However the Energy Minister calmed the nerves of environmentalists and conservationists who were concerned about the prospect of displacing about 2,000 inhabitants and about 300 indigenous hippopotamus as well as fauna and flora, mainly in the Bui forest reserve and Mole National Park, by disclosing some of the key impacts on the basis of the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) study carried out by ERM Consultants of the United Kingdom in October last year.

He disclosed that, there was the need to equip the Game and Wildlife Department for effective monitoring and management of the park, to curb the issue of increased hunting for displaced animals by local population.

Mr. Adda said the Bui Game Reserve would be expanded to allow for the make up for the flooded area, as well as protecting the Hippopotamus population by growing Setaria and other plant species to increase fodder available for the hippopotamus.

He assured that the required mitigation and compensatory measures have been evaluated and detailed in an environmental mitigation plan developed by the study and the required stakeholder consultations have also been carried out.

Mr. Adda added that the Environmental Protection Agency has reviewed and accepted the recommendations of the ESIA report and the implementation of the project would not have any trans-boundary inundation impacts, stressing that no portion of La Cote d'Ivoire territory would be flooded by the reservoir even at the full supply level.

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