Businesses and homes within the capital will soon enjoy reliable supply of power as work on the US$50million Pokuase Bulk Supply Point (BSP) project reaches 87 percent completion.
The power substation comprises switch gear and control rooms for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) with a total of 580 Megavolt amperes (MVA) of power on site, making it the biggest in the country. When completed, the project will be able to meet power needs of the entire Greater Accra Region.
Work is two months ahead of schedule and the Spanish contractor, Elecnor, has promised to hand the project over to the Electricity Company of Ghana and Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) by May 2021.
“In order to maintain activities on site, we were granted permission to bring in technicians during the COVID-19 lockdown,” Mateo Perez Camino, Country Director-Elecnor, said during a media site tour.
The Pokuase BSP project is being funded by the United States government through its agency the Millennium Challenge Corporation, with the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) as implementing body. “When completed, this will be the biggest substation in Ghana, with 580WM of power on site,” said Patrick Oppong, Project Manager, Pokuase BSP – MiDA.
He added that the project can power the whole of Accra, while the final phase – to be funded by GRIDCo – will transport some of the power to Kumasi, so as to provide reliable power to boost business activities.
“We have all the installations ready in terms of equipment; what’s currently going on is laying the cables, and we hope that in the next few months it will be all done. This will lead to cold commissioning and eventually inauguration of the substation,” Mr. Oppong noted.
Local content
According to the contractor, about US$10million worth of projects have been outsourced to local contractors. In terms of employment and transfer of knowledge, Mr. Camino added that about 95 percent of the workers on site are Ghanaians.
Aside from construction of the bulk supply substation, Mr. Oppong revealed that about US$2million has also been invested into redesign activities – including roads, in addition to social interventions within the project’s catchment area.
