The Minister for Energy and Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, last Saturday left Accra for China on an official visit aimed at encouraging independent power producers (IPPs) to invest in the energy sector in Ghana.

The visit will take him to some power facilities where he will meet and interact with some big players in the energy industry in China.

His first point of call is the headquarters of Shenzhen Energy, the parent company of Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Ltd, and the Shanghai Electric Power Generation Group, where he will interact with senior officials and discuss a possible expansion of their plants in Ghana as well as take a tour of their facilities.

The construction of a coal-fired power plant in Ghana is also high on the agenda of the meeting with Shenzhen Energy.

The Minister will also visit the East Power Plant and LNG facilities in Shanghai-Shenzhen and meet with Shenzhen government officials.

He will then tour the Heyuan Power Plant in the Heyuan City of the Guangdong Province and discuss Hunan’s proposed 500 megawatts plant in Ghana. Also on the Minister’s itinerary is a visit to the Sino Hydro Group Ltd.

The Minister, accompanied by some officials of the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), is confident that the visit will yield results and will draw foreign investments into the country’s energy sector.