Ghana welcomes Turkish power ship amid energy crisis

ACCRA - Anadolu Agency

Ghanaian government officials have welcomed a Turkish power ship which is expected to generate some 225 megawatts of electricity to augment the country’s energy needs.

At a welcoming ceremony broadcast live on state television on Nov. 29, government officials expressed confidence the arrival of the ship would contribute immensely to addressing the country’s debilitating power supply problems.

“Those who felt it would never arrive will take consolidation in the fact that when the government says it will deliver, it delivers,” Ghanaian Energy Minister Kwabena Donkor said at the ceremony.

The West African state is currently going through severe load shedding which is having a toll on industries and businesses.

Christened “dumsor” in local parlance, the power crisis is seen as the biggest test of the John Mahama government ahead of an election in 2016.

It is not clear when the power barge will begin contributing to the national electricity grid but engineers of the Ghana Grid Company say the final connection will be made in the course of the week.

Constructed by the Karadeniz Energy Group, the energy wing of Turkey-based Karadeniz Holding, the power ship will join other independent power producers in augmenting state power companies in generating power to satisfy Ghana’s energy needs.

“We will be delivering an uninterrupted, reliable supply of low cost power to the Ghanaian grid very quickly in the coming weeks,” Karpowership chief executive Orhan Remzi Karadeniz announced at the ceremony on Nov. 29.

He said the power ship will “be one of the lowest-cost power generators in the grid.”

Karadeniz added the company has arranged for an independent fuel supply which will secure a continuous generation of power. The Ayşegül Sultan, the power ship which docked at the port city of Tema on Nov. 28, is one of two power ships to be delivered by the Turkish company under a 10-year agreement signed with the Electricity Company of Ghana.