Bui Power Authority (BPA) is considering making investments in wind energy aside the authority’s plan to complete a 250 megawatt solar energy facility in the next four years.
The move is expected to open the door for more investments in wind and other renewable energy sources, and create a model for other institutions to follow suit.
BPA’s CEO, Mr. Fred Oware told the Goldstreet Business at the end of a two-day media workshop that the authority has begun talks with potential investors on a possible wind energy project.
“Our engineers are on the field conducting studies to make sure that there are areas, which can be earmarked for wind energy generation. We are already in partnership with a couple of institutions who have pledged and taken steps to ensure that we get the turbines next year to go into energy generation by wind.”
The authority noted it had identified some investors who are interested in partnerships for wind renewable energy projects across the country.
“From next year, we’ll be definite on how the project will be pursued,” the CEO added.
Instructively, the authority is also preparing frantically to meet a solar power generating target of 150MW by 2021.
The project is expected to be piloted in phases, with phase one, expected to have an installed capacity of 50MW, to commence early next year.
“The other phases would be rolled out upon the successful execution of the initial 50MW”, the CEO noted.
BPA had already selected Kpone-based Strategic Security Systems, a solar energy expert entity, for the phase one of the project.
The authority is also in talks with Sinohydro Company and Italian energy giant, ENI, for partnership to develop the other 50MWs phases.
Meanwhile, Director in-charge of Projects and Engineering at BPA, Anthony Boye Osafo Kissi, said the authority is hopeful that it would be able to complete some of its projects and add solar energy onto the national grid.
But the BPA could face a challenge in adding power to the national grid in that, the GRIDCo substations have been designed to take power from the Southern to the Northern part of the country.
“Those equipment are for that purpose. Now if you want to bring additional power to those substations definitely you have to do expansion works, which we will be talking to GRIDCo about when we get there.” Mr. Kissi added.
By Wisdom Jonny-Nuekpe