The African Development Bank (AfDB) has sanctioned a loan of US$60 million for the expansion of the Takoradi II thermal power plant in Ghana
The project will consist of expanding the existing 220MW single-cycle gas and fuel-oil power plant to a 330MW combined cycle by adding a 110MW steam turbine to the exhaust vent of the existing plant, which has been in operation since September 2000.
AfDB head of infrastructure finance, Tas Anvaripour, said, “This project is an example of a ‘Green Growth’ PPP venture featuring a national utility investing alongside private sponsor.
“The project has a strong economic rationale behind it, which is able to deliver highly competitive base-load energy and help the power system in Ghana to diversify from hydro and oil dependency.
“The project will also reduce Ghana’s over-reliance on climate-vulnerable hydropower. A conversion from simple to combined cycle will increase the power plant output capacity by 50 per cent at no additional fuel and no additional carbon emission impact,” Anvaripour added.
The plant expansion will help Ghana diversify its energy mix. About 61 per cent of Ghana’s domestic power supply currently comes from hydropower with the rest from imports and thermal sources.
