Ghana's VRA hits switch on 13-MW solar farm

Ghanaian electric utility Volta River Authority (VRA) on Tuesday inaugurated its 13-MW Kaleo solar farm in the Upper West Region, northern Ghana, alongside the nation’s president Nana Akufo-Addo.

The project represents the first phase of what will eventually become a 28-MW solar farm in the region’s town of Kaleo, the president’s office said in a press release.

The Kaleo plant cost around EUR 12.39 (USD 12.3m) to implement, with VRA providing counterpart funding in the equivalent of EUR 8.12 million. German development bank KfW extended a loan of roughly EUR 22.8 for Kaleo and VRA’s earlier solar project Lawra, the utility said separately.

Spanish infrastructure builder Elecnor SA (BME:ENO) served as the project contractor, with Germany's Tractebel Engineering GmbH engaged as the consultant.

“Since 1961, when the [Ghanaian] nation started commercial production of electricity, almost all the generation assets, with the exception of the Bui Hydro power plant, have been located in the middle and southern parts of the country,” the presidency’s press release reads.

The Kaleo solar farm is described as a bringer of important benefits -- it will help increase the geographic spread of power generation assets, improve the resilience of the national power system, stabilise voltage levels and reliability of power supply in the Upper West Region, and lower carbon emissions.

VRA’s first solar project was the 2.5-MW plant in the town of Navrongo in the Upper East Region, followed by the 6.5-MW Lawra and now Kaleo in the Upper West Region. The president said that a new 15-MW solar project, also backed by the KfW loan, is under way.

(EUR 1.0 = USD 0.993)

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