By Greentech Lead Africa: Siginik Energy, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Episolar, has signed a 25 year power purchase agreement (PPA)
with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the country’s second largest utility.
The agreement is valued over US$280 million.
As per the agreement, ECG will buy the power produced by
a 50MW ground mounted tracking solar installation built by Siginik Energy. The
installation will be the largest in West Africa and one of the largest on the
continent. Siginik expects to break ground within the next 6 months.
Energy consumption within Ghana has been growing at 10
percent to 15 percent per year while supply is growing at a significantly lower
rate. Experts believe that Ghana needs 5,000MW of energy in order to keep pace
with demand, more than double its current available power.
“Ghana is a fast growing economy in great need of
power and we are happy we can contribute in a green, efficient way. This will
benefit the general Ghanaian community as they can have more consistent power
and in the short term, similar to the effects of the Green Energy Act in
Ontario, facilitate the creation of a highly skilled green labor force which
will be able to build future green and solar projects in the ECOWAS area,” said
Daniel McCormick, managing partner at Siginik.
The installation is projected to create roughly 800
highly skilled jobs, including manufacturing, in the Northwest Region of Ghana.
Siginik and ECG intend on expanding on this initial project with a view to
additional installations in Ghana, a country with ideal solar radiation and
increasing power needs.
“ECG is very excited about working with Siginik on
West Africa’s largest solar installation. ECG is committed to providing its
customers with consistent power with an increased focus on green energy,”
said Daniel Azu, divisional manager, Regulatory & Government Affairs, ECG.
“Our partnership with Siginik is very strong and we are keen on increasing
the scope of green energy projects with them.”