Another 450MW capacity Karpowership has arrived in Ghana’s sea waters to dock at the Tema Fishing Harbour in the Greater Accra Region.
The largest power generating ship christened, Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan, which is to add 450MW power to the country’s grid, will start operation in September next month on Sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to generate electricity and later switch to natural gas.
Ghana government in 2015 signed a contract with an independent Turkish power producer for Karpowership to generate 235 megawatts of electricity daily to correct the national supply deficit of 500MW power which minimised the famous dumsor (intermittent power cut) situation.
The power producing equipment’s arrival follows an agreement signed with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Limited which required Karpowership Ghana Company Limited to provide a capacity of 450MW to the national grid directly.
According to Karpowership Ghana Company Limited, the 450MW Powership together with the earlier 230MW, will supply uninterrupted and reliable electricity at the lowest cost of electricity to Ghana for thermal power generation with its dual fuel engines and combined cycle power generation technology.
The Powership will initially use low Sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to generate electricity but the fuel will be converted to natural gas as soon as local natural gas supplies become available, ensuring cost savings for Ghana.
The operations of 470MW Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan will have a significant contribution to Ghana’s electricity supply as the most reliable power plant in the country and also create more employment opportunities.
The powership is now at the dock of Tema fishing harbour awaiting installation and assessment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) environmental permit before commissioning.
Story: From Danso Abiam, ATV, Tema