The UK-based renewable energy firm Blue Energy has unveiled plans to build a 155 MW solar power plant in Ghana – and analysts say that it will be the largest on the continent. The $400 million Nzema project will have the capability to generate sufficient energy for 100,000 homes, BBC News reports, and is expected to begin doing so within the next twelve months. The project is backed by a large European private asset and development company and is eligible for feed-in tariffs.
Douglas Coleman from Mere Power Nzema Ltd is the Project Director responsible for building the project. He told the BBC that it is “fully cooked,” meaning of course that it has land, planning consent, probable financing, which is expected to be delivered in the next six months, as well as a generating license and a FIT that guarantees the most competitive prices for as long as the plant is operable.
Unlike many other solar power plants in progress, the Ghana facility will run on 630,000 photovoltaic panels deemed most suitable to Ghana’s particular climatic constraints. A facility of this kind is only possible now because prices of PV modules have dropped by 40% in the last couple of years, according to the BBC. Construction should begin by the end of 2013 and the Nzema PV plant should be online by the beginning of 2014.
Via BBC News
Image of PV modules, Fort St Jago in Ghana, Shutterstock