Largest African PV Project To Begin Construction Early 2014
We covered the announcement that Ghana would be home to Africa’s largest solar power plant late last year, and now, according to PV-Tech, construction of said-project is expected to begin in 2014.
Writing in December of 2012, CleanTechnica site-director Zachary Shahan wrote that the “UK’s Blue Energy is the company behind this behemoth of a solar power plant” which is set to come in at 155 MW.
Now, PV-Tech, speaking with Douglas Coleman, special projects director for Blue Energy, have discovered that “500 local construction staff would be employed to start work on the 155 MW project early next year [2014].” Continuing, “a further local 200 people will be employed for continued operation and maintenance, and Coleman said he hoped a further 2,700 indirect jobs would be created from related construction and operations activities.”
In fact, Blue Energy is doing more than just building a PV power plant and hoping for the best. According to Coleman, Blue Energy has “tackled the shortage of indigenous skills” by introducing a training programme for the locals.
It’s not just good business sense to train up local operators, but is doubly beneficial for a third-world country struggling to compete in a world of increasing prices under environmentally costly actions. Creating a culture in which companies are willing to put in to countries by building up their skill sets as well as creating their own business ventures is one most anyone can get behind.
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