Ghana’s second largest power generation company, Bui Power Authority (BPA), will today, November 21, 2020, officially commission its 45kW Tsatsadu Micro-hydro Generation Station, located at Alavanyo-Abehenease in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region.
A statement issued by Akua Sakyi, Corporate Affairs Manager at BPA, said the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo would officially turn on the facility today.
It would be Ghana’s first Micro-hydro Power Generation Station constructed by the Bui Power Authority under the Ministry of Energy’s renewable energy initiative.
The project was co-funded by the Danish and Chinese governments through the Renewable Energy Technology Transfer (UNDP-RETT) Project.
The facility, which is situated on the Tsatsadu Waterfalls, is a run-of-river scheme, which did not require the formation of a reservoir to operate.
It consists of a concrete diversion weir, an intake structure, diversion channel, a forebay, steel penstock, a powerhouse and a transmission line which ties the electricity generated into the local distribution grid.
The weir diverts part of the river flows through an intake channel into the diversion channel.
The diverted water goes through a 300mm diameter penstock to the base of the hill where the powerhouse, which houses the turbines and the generator, is located.
The water drives the turbines and flows out through the tailrace channel and back into the downstream of the waterfall.
The project, initially designed as a 30kW stand-alone system, was redesigned and upgraded to a 45kW-grid connection system based on the outcome of additional studies.
The 45kW Tsatsadu Micro-hydro Generation Station was constructed by local young engineers of the Bui Power Authority.
The Bui Power Authority collaborated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the International Network on Small Hydro Power of China (IN-SHP) and Ghanaian Energy sector agencies to execute the project.
Bui Power Authority expresses its appreciation for the support from the Paramount Chief and people of Alavanyo and the Foyer de Charité Catholic Retreat Centre in releasing the portion of their land required for the project.
