President Mahama to officially commission power barge

President John Mahama is expected to officially commission the newly-arrived power barge, Karadeniz Powership Aysegul Sultan, when the technical works are completed and electricity production commences.

The 225-megawatt powership, part of temporary measures to alleviate Ghana’s energy crisis, arrived on Saturday, November 28, 2015 and is expected to be hooked to the Ghana Grid Company’s (GRIDCo) station at Tema, to be followed by a test run before the commencement of actual production.

A short welcome ceremony was held at the Tema Fishing Harbour on Sunday where some traditional rulers who were present, poured libation.

Electricity Company of Ghana and Karpowership Ghana Company signed a 10-year power purchase agreement for the supply of two Powerships to generate 450 megawatts to the national grid.

A second Powership with the same megawatts capacity is expected to be delivered soon.

Mr John Abu Jinapor, Deputy Minister of Power, said the Powership is one of the many measures being undertaken by government to address the power challenges and to ensure sustainable electricity supply.

Mr Orhan Karadeniz, the Chief Executive Officer of Karpower, said the powership is one of the quickest power barges produced at a very low cost by the company.

According to him, Karpower had invested a total of $30 million on mobilisation, site preparation, marine infrastructure works along with fuel supply, storage management and grid interconnection.

He said there was an arrangement with an independent supplier for the supply of Low Sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil to be used to power the barge to ensure uninterrupted production at the facility.

He explained that officials have also put in place a dedicated shuttle vessel for the purposes of supplying fuel from the onshore storage facility to the on-board storage tanks of the power ship.

Source: GNA