President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has stated that the Volta River Authority (VRA) provided the funding for the construction of the Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant at Anwomaso in the Ashanti Region, formerly the AMERI power plants.
President Akufo-Addo made the statement during the commissioning ceremony of the thermal power plants on Wednesday, April 17.
The African and Middle East Resources Investment (AMERI) Group has officially handed over the 10-unit power plants—under a five-year “built, own, operate, and transfer” arrangement—to the government of Ghana after completing the duration.
The VRA decided to relocate the thermal power plants to their current location as part of efforts to mitigate the erratic power supply in the Ashanti Region.
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“To top it all, VRA provided all the funds for the construction of this station, including land acquisition, permits and licences, preparation of environmental and social impact studies, civil works, electric mechanical works, and commissioning of the plant,” said President Akufo-Addo.
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The President further indicated that the VRA has demonstrated that “Ghanaian engineers from a publicly-owned institution can rise up to the task of finding engineering solutions to build our nation.”
Furthermore, President Akufo-Addo commended the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), and the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (GNPC) for “their respective roles played in bringing this project to fruition.”
According to energy expert, Nana Amoasi, the move by the VRA will help reduce production costs for transporting power from the southern belt to the northern and middle belts of the country.
Meanwhile, the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has alleged that the government spent about US$35 million relocating the power plants to Anwomaso.