Hand over Ameri plant to VRA – John Jinapor

Mytilineos' six-year contract has ended, Jinapor

Ameri plant has 20 years more capacity, Jinapor

Ameri plant: VRA holds negotiations with Mytilineos

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, has entreated government to rethink its decision to hand over the Ameri plant to Mytilineos.

He opined that this foreign-based company - Mytilineos will not work efficiently to serve the country, therefore, the plant should be handed over to the Volta River Authority (VRA).

John Jinapor further stated that VRA has the capacity to run the Ameri plant with its expertise from controlling Tema plant, among other plants in the country.

Speaking on Joy News' PM Express programme, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee said, “We’re well aware that the six-year contract has run its full length. Through the Build Own Operate and Transfer (BOOT) agreement the plant has been paid for. It has another 20 years of capacity in terms of its useful life. And from what the Minister even put at a conservative figure of 35million, it means that we could be making 700million over its life span."

“VRA has the capacity, it ran T1, T2, KTPP, it ran the Tema plant, it ran several other plants and so given that their expertise is within the GE plant – and this is a GE plant, a General Electric plant – I would wish we had envisaged that once we conclude or run the BOOT the plant must go to VRA...So even before you do anything revert and hand over the plant to VRA so that they can capitalize," he said.

John Jinapor asserted that VRA has had negotiations with Mytilineos concerning its takeover of the Ameri plant.

Background of Ameri plant

The Build, Own, Operate and Transfer (BOOT) Agreement in 2015 between the Government of Ghana and Africa, Middle East Resources Investment for a fast-track turnkey power solution through the construction of a power plant, which was ratified by Parliament in March 2015, originally stipulated a 60-month payment period.

Subsequently, upon assuming office in 2017, the New Patriotic Party took the view that the required payments over the 60-month period was rather onerous on the public purse and took steps to renegotiate it in order to allow the state more room in meeting its payment obligations without default.

This, in December 2018 resulted in an agreement between Ghana and Ameri to extend the payment period from 60 to 72 months, with the further agreement that the title of the Ameri equipment would be transferred to the Government of Ghana upon completion of the extended term (i.e January 2022).

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