‘Ghana 1000’ on course – GE

General Electric (GE) says its Ghana 1000 project, aimed at injecting some 1,000 megawatts of thermal power into the electricity system, is on course with the 2016 timeline for the first phase still intact.

The company hopes to implement the project within a seven-year period, with the first phase involving some 240 to 360megawatts.

“I think we are pretty confident to say that by May 2016 we would have implemented the first phase of Ghana 1000; and if we do so I think it is going to be a fantastic story…” Leslie Nelson, GE Ghana Chief Executive Officer, told the B&FT.

“Just to make sure we give ourselves insurance, we are bringing some of the company’s best experts in France, in Dubai and in Atlanta; and we are going to move them to Accra for two years just to make sure we have got the appropriate application engineering, the right technical engineering, commercial operations, customer engineering and plant engineering, and operation skills within this office which can be used throughout the sub-region.”

The over-US$1billion project, to be located in the Western Region, includes a Floating Storage and Regasification Unit to facilitate importation of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) for power generation.

This, according to Mr. Nelson, effectively cuts out the current lack of fuel challenge in Ghana for power generation, and makes it possible for power to be generated at a cost cheaper than when crude oil is used.

It is also possible, he said, other thermal plants in the country will benefit from the gas to be imported through the GE system.

“We have two things in place: we have the gas infrastructure partner committed and ready to be able to deliver their solution in advance of first quarter of 2016; and we are close to securing and finalising the appropriate gas supply contracts with IOCs, which will mean we have not only the infrastructure but also the gas supply as well --- not just for our power plant but for others also currently running on light crude oil,” Mr. Nelson said.

“I can guarantee you we will not roll out this project without having an integrated gas-to-power solution that not only works for our plant, but for others as well,” he added.

Erratic supply of power and what consumers see as unbearable cost of supply have been linked, mainly, to the use of light crude oil -- considered twice as expensive -- in VRA’s thermal plants.

With the recent addition of the Bui Hydroelectric Dam, the country is said to have exhausted its hydro potential -- making thermal energy the next big thing. The demand for gas to run thermal plants has thus gone up exponentially.

According to the VRA, the country currently demands over 300 million cubic feet of gas per day, while supply from Nigeria has been way below the 120million contractual volume.

Not even Ghana’s own gas, around 90million standard cubic feet per day is expected from the jubilee field, is said to be enough.

“The power that will be produced as a result of the gas-to-power solution will be some of the lowest in the marketplace today; not as low as hydro of course, but significantly lower than the running costs of all the existing power plants,” said Leslie Nelson.

“This is for a couple of reasons: one, it comes with its own gas solution; two, because of the size and scale of the plant we have operational efficiency; because of standardisation of the technology in one location, you get the benefit of scale and operational efficiency.”