Ghana's first 250MW floating photovoltaic project connected to the grid
Ghana's first 250MW floating photovoltaic project connected to the grid
The government of Ghana has activated a 5-megawatt floating solar photovoltaic system on the dam reservoir of the Bui Hydropower Station.
This 5 MW pilot photovoltaic array is the first part of a floating photovoltaic project with a total capacity of 250 MW. The entire project will be implemented step by step in units of 50 megawatts.
The solar power station is connected to the transmission system of the 404 MW Bouvi hydroelectric dam. The dam was completed and put into operation in 2013 by the Chinese company China Water Resources and Hydropower Corporation. This large-scale floating photovoltaic project was independently developed by the Buyi Electric Power Administration (BPA), which was established in 2007 and is responsible for operating dam power generation.
The solar power plant can be used as a supplement to the dam's use of the Black Volta River to generate electricity during the dry season. According to BPA chairman Afare Apeadu Donkor, the construction of the second phase of the project is "in progress", but no exact completion time was given.
President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana stated at the unveiling ceremony of the 5 MW pilot project, “This once again shows that this government is committed to increasing the diversity of renewable energy in the country’s energy structure by 2030, and Commitment to increase the proportion to 10%." Ghana is stepping up its efforts to increase the proportion of renewable energy in the electricity structure. According to its energy strategy, the country hopes to achieve 2.5 GW of renewable energy power generation capacity by 2030-which may include hydropower. According to statistics from the International Renewable Energy Agency, as of the end of 2019, the installed capacity of solar power in Ghana was only 64 MW.
