President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has praised the Bui Power Authority and Ministry of Energy for working to ensure the realisation of the Tsatsadu Micro-hydro Power Project under his tenure.
According to the President, the project had been on the drawing board for over two decades but successive governments paid lip service to it, as well as developing other small and mini-hydro sites across the country.
“When we had the opportunity to come to power and Kufour appointed Prof. Aaron Mike Ocquaye as Minister for Energy, studies were done and about twenty-two sites were identified for the development. Unfortunately, before we could operationalise these, we lost the election of 2008. Many important initiatives by the Kufour government were abandoned by the Mills-Mahama government.”
He said upon his assumption of office in 2017, he directed the Ministry of Energy, together with the Bui Power Authority, to re-develop the hydro power generating stations, including that at Tsatsadu.
Speaking at the commissioning of the 45kW Tsatsadu Generation Station at Alavanyo-Abehenease in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region, President Akufo-Addo said the project is a demonstration of the commitment of his administration to develop the country’s energy resources.
The Tsatsadu project was initially designed as a 30kW stand-alone system, but was redesigned and upgraded to a 45kW grid-connection system based on the outcome of the additional studies.
The project was funded through BPA’s internally generated fund of US$400,000 with support from the Danish and Chinese governments through the Renewable Energy Technology Transfer (UNDP-RETT) Project.
The 45kW Tsatsadu Micro-hydro Generation Station was constructed by local young engineers of the Bui Power Authority.
According to President Akufo-Addo, it is his wish and desire that the skills on mini-hydro power plant development is transferred to develop the other potential mini-hydro potential sites in the region and beyond.
“I, therefore, declare to make the Alavanyo Tsatsadu Generation Plant a Centre of Excellence under Bui Power Authority for training young engineers in the development of mini-hydro plants across the country,” he said.
Touching on the passage of the Bui Power Authority (Amendment) Act 2020, he said the BPA is now mandated to expand the scope beyond the Black Volta and mandate to promote and facilitate the development of renewable and other clean energy options nationwide. The Amended Act also gives the Authority the legal mandate to execute and manage renewable energy and clean energy programmes on behalf of the state or that in which the state has an interest.
The Chief Executive Officer of Bui Power, Fred Oware thanked the President for the confidence reposed in him, assuring him that with the amendment of the BPA Act which has mandated them to develop other renewable projects on behalf of the state, the Authority would work hard to ensure that other sites identified for small and micro hydro projects are actualised.
The Paramount Chief of Alavanyo, Togbuiga Tsedze Atakora was full of praise for President Akufo-Addo and Minister for Energy John-Peter Amewu for the numerous development projects in the area.
He said the people were particularly happy that through his leadership and the support of other institutions the recurring problems of Nkonya Alavanyo clashes was not happening.
“Mr. President, the only two things God deprived me of are dancing and singing. If I had a beautiful voice and good dancing skills I would have sung and danced to appreciate you”, he added.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com