The President of the Republic, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, on Wednesday, November 8, 2107, pulled the symbolic switch to officially commission Cargill’s solar facility at the company’s factory in Tema.

The President in a brief remark congratulated Cargill for the initiative and said the move to host solar powered energy is in line with government’s agenda to find alternative means of power to support industrial production, especially in the cocoa sector.

President Akufo-Addo said “I am happy about this facility. One of our major challenges in the industrial sector relates to power and I am always excited about initiatives geared towards renewable and alternative energy. We are committed to supporting such initiatives and as you know, my government’s main focus is you; the private sector. I congratulate you for this and wish that it will serve the purpose for which we have commissioned it”.

Speaking for Cargill Ghana Limited, the Managing Director, Mr. Pieter Reichert said the 565KWp Solar Plant is Cargill’s effort towards entrenching environmentally-friendly ways of generating power in the cocoa sector. He thanked the President for the honour and pledged Cargill’s continued support towards a sustainable cocoa industry in Ghana.

“We are excited to see the President do us the honour by commissioning this project. For us, it speaks to the government’s commitment to support the private sector and especially those of us in the cocoa industry. Since we began operating this factory in 2008, we have improved our operations by constantly finding innovative ways to enhance safety and also leave less carbon footprints. We strongly believe that this project represents our (both government and private sector) collective efforts at enhancing industrial production in the cocoa sector through safe, responsible, sustainable, energy-efficient means” Mr. Reichert remarked.

The PV Solar system which was designed, supplied and installed by Dutch & Co. Limited, produces 764MWh of electricity annually to augment energy needs at the Tema Free Zone Enclave and boost Ghana’s renewable energy portfolio. It is also a fully automated digital system. The performance of the installation is measured and can be monitored on smart phone, tablets, Laptop and PC’s.

The total investment in this PV Solar installation is €720,000.00.