Bui Power puts Yendi solar plant cost at about $50m, to be repaid from power sales

The Bui Power Authority (BPA) says its 50-megawatt-peak solar plant at Galgu in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region cost about US$50 million to build, a figure lower than the $59 million reported for the project previously.

According to Citi Newsroom and Radio Tamale, BPA communications official Mawuli Fui Kwadzovia gave the figure on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, October 28. He said the plant was financed and built by Ghanaian company First Sky Limited under an engineering, procurement and construction-plus-financing (EPC+F) arrangement with the BPA.

Under that arrangement, the cost is to be recovered from payments for the electricity the plant produces. Mr Kwadzovia said the debt was expected to be cleared within roughly five to seven years.

He argued that solar and hydro plants demand heavy investment at the start but are cheaper to run over time than thermal plants, because they do not depend on a constant supply of fuel.

The Yendi facility is the BPA’s first solar project outside its traditional operational area around the Bui dam. According to Citi Newsroom, the authority now has about 200 MWp of solar capacity within that area, including a floating solar installation on the Black Volta, and about 250 MWp in total once Yendi is counted.

The plant is expected to improve power supply in Yendi and communities along the Eastern Corridor, an area that has long dealt with outages and unstable voltage.

Earlier reports, including by Graphic Online and Mike FM, put the cost of the Galgu plant at $59 million. The BPA did not explain the difference between the two figures in the interview, and TheSavannaOnline has not independently confirmed the final cost.

The disclosure comes days after Parliament’s Select Committee on Energy and Mines toured the Galgu site and commended First Sky Limited for delivering the project with Ghanaian expertise.

Source: Citi Newsroom — citinewsroom.com; Radio Tamale — radiotamaleonline.com