Mainstream Renewable Power has announced the acquiring of 225 MW Ayitepa Wind Farm, located at Accra, Ghana.
The farm is owned by Swiss wind farm developer NEK Umwelttechnik.
The project consist of a total investment of USD525 million and the financial closing will be reached next year, starting power production in 2016.
Until the financial close, companies will co-develop the wind farm with Mainstream managing the construction, operations and maintenance.
The project is in the final stages of development and all major permits are obtained, with finalization process going on for grid and offtake agreements.
Once the operation begins, the farm will generate 10 percent of Ghana’s total electricity generation capacity which stands at 2,000MW at present.
This agreement between NEK and Mainstream can be assured of support of the Ministry of Energy & Petroleum. The project is consistent with government policy to increase the contribution of renewable energy in the electricity generation mix. The government has more than two years of bankable wind energy data along the south eastern corridor of the country where wind energy prospects are very encouraging, commented, Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, director, Renewable Energy, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Ghana.
In Ghana, the Renewable Energy Act 2011 provides the necessary legal and fiscal incentives including feed-in-tariff to ensure return on investment by Independent Power Producers.
This wind farm is the ideal solution for Ghana because wind and solar power are the only proven technologies, which can achieve speed of deployment and scale. The farm is well advanced and can be generating electricity in less than 18 months, said, Eddie O’Connor, CEO, Mainstream.
Mainstream has already built the continent’s largest wind farm at Jeffreys Bay, South Africa where another three wind and solar farms are operational with an additional three wind farms going into construction this year, he continued.
This project will contribute to a sustainable and clean production of electricity, accompanied by a lot of social benefits for the local population such as labor, better education, water supply and electrification for nearby areas, explained, Christoph Kapp, chief executive, NEK.
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