The sun is shining on Aiwiaso, a village of 6,600 people in western Ghana. Some 200 kilometres north of the Ghanaian port at Takoradi, 100 kilometres east of the border with the Ivory Coast, the biggest solar power plant ever conceived on the continent is taking shape. Promising enough energy to power 100,000 homes, this may well change the way African governments think about the future of energy.
Scheduled for completion in October 2016, the Nzema solar power plant will be not just the largest in Africa but one of the largest in the world. It will add to Ghana’s current electricity generation capacity by 5.5 percent. And it will get the country 20 percent of the way to the 2020 goal set by the country’s 2011 Renewable Energy Act – to source 10 percent of its total energy from renewable sources. The project will cover 182 hectares, its 630,000 photovoltaic panels mounted on 37,000 tonnes of supporting steel framework with 2,000 kilometres of connecting cables.
The solar array will be huge but the vision behind this plant is even bigger: it will be the first test of the country’s ability to meet its energy act goals. If it is seen as a success, Ghana should be able to attract more investors like the UK-based Blue Energy Group, which was chosen in December 2012 to build Nzema.
Ghana wants to increase its electricitygeneration from 2,846 MW today to 5,000 MW by 2016, and the Nzema plant will contribute 155 MW, but there are other benefits. Nzema is expected to create 200 permanent jobs for Ghanaians. More reliable power thanks to the plant could create 2,100 more jobs throughout the economy. Finally, the plant is expected to pay $100 million in taxes to Ghana during its estimated 20-year operating lifetime.
