The Ghana 1000 Project, which will be located in Western Ghana, will combine the importation of liquefied natural gas, a dedicated floating storage and regasification Unit (FRSU) to receive, store and regas, while associated infrastructure will transport natural gas on-shore to advanced GE turbines to generate efficient, clean power. When complete, this innovative integrated gas-to-power project will deliver more than 1,000 MW of electricity to Ghana’s national power grid.
The first phase of the Project is expected to begin delivering power by early 2017, initially producing 360 MW in simple cycle mode. When completed in early 2018, it will generate more than 540 MW in combined cycle mode. The second and final phase of the Project is expected to be implemented before 2019. The combined completion of all these phases will create one of the largest single Power Parks in sub-Saharan Africa generating in excess of 1,100 MW of power.
The joint development agreement signing ceremony, which took place at the Ministry of Energy offices, hosted the following representatives: Ghana Deputy Minister for Energy Hon. John Janakpor; John Rice, vice-chairman and president & CEO of GE Global Growth and Operations; and senior officials from GE, Endeavor Energy and Finagestion.
“We thank the Ghana 1000 partners for keeping their commitment to support government efforts to boost electricity generation and lower the cost of power in Ghana," said Ghana Minister of Ghana, Hon John Janakfpor. "The Ghana Government will facilitate and fast track all approvals and permits and provide adequate credit enhancement in a transparent manner.”
According to Jay Ireland, CEO and president of GE Africa, the first phase of the project alone will require more than $20 million of development capital, over $200 million of equity from the project sponsors and more than $600 million in debt financing. Ireland stressed that the project will be developed and executed to international standards and that the plant, once operational, will run optimally. “There are strong indications that this initiative will make Ghana a reference point in the use of innovative technology for power generation,” he explained.
An Integral part of the project will be the importation of liqued natural gas to be used as a dedicated fuel source. Tot that end, the Ghana 1000 consortium partners are currently exploring options with a number of international suppliers. They are also in discussions with a Ghanaian trading company to handle the management and logistics of importing LNG for the project.
“The Ghana 1000 Project will be unique as an liquefied natural gas-to-power project completed in an emerging market and is important to Ghana because it will both add reliable, baseload generation as well as help to lower the cost of power in the country when compared to plants currently running off expensive light crude oil,” said Sean Long, CEO of Endeavor Energy, an Africa-focused developer and operator of thermal and hydroelectric power projects. “Current liquefied natural gas prices are approximately 35 per cent less than light crude, yet most thermal plants in Ghana run on it due to shortage of gas. In fact, recent reports indicate Ghana currently spends more than $1 million daily to purchase light crude oil for power generation, so the impact of this project on the country’s economy cannot be understated.”
The Ghana 1000 Project Consortium is a purely private sector, independent power producer initiative with zero direct financial contribution from the Government of Ghana. The Government’s role has to been to create an enabling environment and regulatory framework to allow the project partners to fast-track the addition of critically needed power to the national grid. The Government will also facilitate a long-term agreement with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and potentially other power offtakers of the purchase of power from the project. Ghana presently has installed generation capacity of 2,412 MW and dependable generation capacity of 2,125 MW.