- Ghanaian President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, inaugurated a 6.5 MW solar power plant on the weekend.
- The plant is located in Lawra in the Upper West Region of the country.
- Ghana’s Volta River Authority (VRA) and Elecnor, the project contractor, have undertaken to provide smaller installations of solar power as back-up power to some specific facilities in the community.
“The completion of this project in Lawra should remind all of us that the Government of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo delivers on its promises,” he added.
The President continued, “As I indicated at the sod cutting ceremony, this solar plant is the first of its kind ever to be established in the Upper West Region. This means the Upper West Region has now its fair share of power generation facilities in the country.”
He was confident that the solar plants at Lawra and Kaleo. whose combined output is sufficient to meet a significant portion of the electricity demand in the Upper West Region, will help support local small and medium scale enterprises, as well as enhance other socio-economic activities.
Further, the President stressed that it will help reduce transmission losses on our national grid, and improve the reliability of the distribution system in Lawra and its environs.
“I am pleased that the Contractor, in the process of constructing this plant, employed some one hundred (100) people from communities within the Lawra District. I am expectant that persons, particularly the youth, with the requisite technical skills, would be recruited for the operation and maintenance phase of this facility,” he said.
As part of their corporate social responsibility to the community, both Volta River Authority (VRA) and Elecnor, the Project Contractor, have undertaken to provide smaller installations of solar power as back-up power to some specific facilities in the community, namely the Lawra Hospital, Municipal Police Command, and a stand-alone system to the Lawra Paramount Chief’s palace.
“The Ghanaian people are very grateful to the German Government for providing the twenty-two million-euro funds for the Project. I look forward to the early conclusion of the negotiations for the second phase of this Project, whose discussions are currently ongoing,” he added.
Author Bryan Groenendaal
