Originally published on Sustainnovate.
A 20 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) project developed by the Chinese firm Beijing Xiaocheng Company (a subsidiary of Beijing Fuxing Xiao-Cheng Electronic) was recently connected to the grid in Ghana, according to recent reports.
The newly connected solar PV project represents the largest yet connected to the Ghanian grid, and also the largest PV installation in the African nation to date.
It’s worth noting here that the development costs of the project were fronted directly by the Chinese firm — all $30 million of the project costs were provided by Beijing Xiaocheng Company (BXC). The move thus represents another example of the increasingly close relationship between many Chinese firms and African nations. Notably, Ghana is currently in the midst of something of an “energy crisis” — further increasing the importance of the new project.
The new project is many times larger than the country’s previously largest solar PV project — a 2 MW project — and is located around 70 kilometers from the country’s capital, on a 100-acre project site.
“The 20 MW is connected to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) sub-station at the Winneba roundabout,” stated project consultant Daniel Azu. “This plant took about 6 to 8 months to complete and it is working well.”
Interestingly, the project is actually listed by BXC as being a 40 MW project — so the company is presumably planning on doubling the project’s generation capacity within the near future.
On a related note, the country’s first commercial solar PV module manufacturing facility just opened up in the city of Kpone as well. The 30 MW facility will be supplying PV modules directly to the country’s internal marketplace.
Image by Rajeev India (THANKS for views, comments n faves) (some rights reserved)
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