The Ghana Grid Company and Sunon Asogli Power have completed a US$5.4m project to increase power transmission capacity in the country.

The project, which commenced full-scale operation on Wednesday April 15, 2020, involves the installation of a 200MVA Autotransformer to facilitate evacuation of about 120MVA additional generation capacity from the Sunon Asogli power plant into the grid.

The Ghana Grid Company contributed an Autotransformer at a cost of US$3.3m, whilst Sunon Asogli invested close to US$2m to cater for the remaining cost of the project.

The new equipment will also provide flexibility in system operation by enabling power transfer between the 161kV and 330kV networks; thereby ensuring stable and reliable transmission of power. The additional generation capacity being made available through this project, will further make about 1500GWh of electricity available per year to the Ghanaian national grid.

Delivering a speech to commission the project, Energy Minister John Peter Amewu noted that the project has been borne out of a necessity.

"This project aligns with the overall policy objective of the government to encourage private and public investment in the power sub-sector. We welcome the collaboration between GRIDCo and Sunon Asogli Power and hope that others will be encouraged to do same. Plans are also underway to restore and sustain the financial viability of the sector,” he noted.

Commenting on the project, Chairman of Sunon Asogli Power, Yang Qun, said: “We are excited to be part of this project, which will ultimately support measures by the Ghana government to ensure sustainable and reliable power transmission in the country and across to neighbouring countries.”

Jonathan Amoako-Baah, Chief Executive of the Ghana Grid Company remarked: “Our commitment to maintaining a stable electricity grid has received a further boost with the completion of this project. We applaud the collaborative effort of Sunon Asogli, in making this a reality. This is once again testament to how a collective resolve by both our Senior Management, staff and key stakeholders can elevate our operations and transform Ghana’s power sector.”

The project, which was at the instance of the Ghana government, will ultimately address the 330/161kV power transformation challenges within the country’s transmission network. It is also expected to augment efficient evacuation of power from the main generation plants such as Sunon Asogli to the national grid.