Ghana’s largest state power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA), is seeking to use digitisation to drive the next chapter of its growth.
It also wants to be the leader in the country’s electric vehicles space.
The state-owned power generator and supplier of electricity will mark its 60th anniversary in April next year, and it believes that the ever-changing landscape requires it to be digitally efficient and diversified to stay competitive.
“We recognise that digitisation will compel us to drive down our costs and therefore remain competitive. So, we will fully embrace it,” CEO Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa said at the 60th anniversary launch in Accra, on the theme: ‘Celebrating 60 years in the power business: Our legacy; our future’.
He added: “We also see a future in the electric vehicles space; we intend to be the leader in that space in Ghana. We will, therefore, collaborate with GRIDCo on continuing the development of a smart grid in Ghana to serve as the backbone of this digitisation effort.”
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Among other things, the Authority is looking to vary its operations and generation sources and sees clean, cost-efficient, diversified sources of energy like solar, wind and biomass as the future in the energy space.
All these diversification and expansion efforts are to be achieved through technology, Ing. Darkwa said, adding: “Digitisation will facilitate the integration of these variable sources of power generation for effective operations. More importantly, technology will enable us to better monitor and maintain our generation assets.”
It also plans to convert the Akosombo Township into a smart city, and by so doing, make it the technology hub of the country; as well as harnessing the full potential of the 60MW Pwalugu Multi-purpose dam, which comes with an additional 50MW solar component.
Construction of the 17MW Kaleo/Lawra solar plants in the Upper West Region and similar ones at Ada, in the Greater Accra Region, and Anloga, in the Volta Region, among others, are also being pursued to support future growth and expansion of the VRA, Ing. Darkwa added.
Ultimately, he said it is the Authority’s goal to move beyond aid from government and become financially sufficient. This, he said, would be actualised through prudent management in line with its financial recovery plan introduced in 2017.
“While we are focused on our long-term plans, we also recognise that we are duty-bound to ensure there is adequate, competitively-priced electricity to support industrial and social development today,” he assured.
Commenting on the company’s relevance in the advent of digitisation and competition, he explained that they would resource their employees with new skill sets so they could be nimble and tech-savvy.
He stressed that VRA’s focus is to build a corps of human capital that is fit for the digital age.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
