Korea Eximbank finances Prestea-Kumasi Power project

Korea Eximbank has been a dynamic Official Development Assistance (ODA) provider in the African continent – it has supported five projects amounting to US$181 for Ghana.

Korea Eximbank provided a US$67.2million Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) loan to finance the Prestea-Kumasi Power Enhancement Project (Project Cost: U$84.2million) executed by the Ghanaian government.

Demand for electricity in Ghana has been robust over the past decade due to economic growth, urbanization, and rural electrification, and this trend is expected to continue into the next decade.

However, reserve margin is inadequate and there is a lack of transfer capability to deliver power from generation sites to the major load centers of Accra, Tema, Kumasi, which cumulatively account for nearly 50% of national demand. Moreover, the transmission lines of Ghana, constructed during 1950~1970, are mostly 161kv, in which the associated equipment indicates deteriorated conditions due to exceeding product life cycle, thereby causing a large amount of maintenance expenditure.

The existing transmission network is almost composed of a single power source so that even a fault of the power source would cause severe outage problem, which in turn influence on neighboring transmission lines in operation.

This project aims to stabilize and improve power supply in northern Ghana, Kumasi region in particular. This will ensure a tremendous improvement in the current power situation.

The project involves the construction of a 330KV Prestea-Kumasi transmission line(185km) and substation promising expansion of power delivery capacity and electrification rate, enhancement in the weak transmission capacity regions, reduction in electric power losses, upgrade of power system reliability, innovation in power facility operation, and technology transfer.

The construction of the project commenced on February 2016 and will be completed by February 2018, by Samsung C&T and GS E&C consortium, the constructor, and monitored by Wooam Corporation, the consultants.

It is expected that the project will relieve the power capacity overload problem by introducing Smart Grid-Direct Load Control Pilot System and contribute to the economic growth and poverty reduction through the construction of the essential energy infrastructure.

The Economic Development Cooperation Fund(EDCF) was established by the Korean government in 1987 to promote economic exchanges with the developing world and to assist developing countries in achieving industrialization and economic stability through the provision of long-term, low-interest credit. Korea Eximbank currently manages the fund as its trustee.