The expansion project entails conversion of the existing 220MW plant to operate as a 330MW combined cycle power plant.

Upon completion, the additional energy will be sold to the Ghanaian state utility Volta River Authority (VRA), under a revised 25-year power purchase agreement.

VRA CEO Kweku Awotwi said, "The expansion is expected to save Ghana USD 30 million a year in fuel costs and will help ensure that the power generation capacity develops at a pace to meet Ghana’s sustainable growth ambitions."

The TAQA-operated T2 power plant currently meets 15% of Ghana’s installed power production capacity and is owned by Takoradi International Company, a joint venture between TAQA, who holds 90% of the plant and VRA, which has the remaining 10% stake.

The project financing has been secured from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of international development institutions led by FMO including the African Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement and Deutsche Investitions- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG).

Japan’s Mitsui & Co and Korea’s KEPCO, which won the $260m EPC contract for the project in 2011, will start construction work by the end of this month while the expansion is expected to be commissioned in 2015.

 

 

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