Ghana’s desire to fast-track its renewable energy rate had a major boost when a 16.82 megawatts rooftop photo voltaic solar plant was inaugurated in Tema yesterday.
Owned by LMI Holding Company Limited, it is the largest single roof top solar plant in Africa and constructed at the cost of $17 million.
Solar power generated would be distributed to its clients within the Tema Free Zone Enclave (TFZE) industrial zone.
Also known as the Mega Warehouse Rooftop Solar PV Project, it would become a beacon of sustainable renewable power progress in the country.
The project spans 95.745 square metre (20 football fields) and forecasted to generate 24.7 Gwh per year in clean energy output.
Financed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the project would play a pivoted role towards renewable energy in the country’s industrial landscape.
Commissioning the project, Minister of State for Energy, Mr Herbert Krapah commended LMI Holding for their feat and for establishing it at the doorsteps of TFZE.
He said the project was aligned with the government’s energy objectives aimed at enhancing energy security industrial clients.
It would also provide access to clean reliable and cost efficient sources of power via solar energy, he added.
He lauded the IFC for funding the project and other LMI ones and appealed to the corporation to do same to other private companies in the solar energy sector.
According to Mr Krapah the project would not only provide employment but also empower young people through skills training.
The Managing Director of LMI Holdings, Mr Adiai Opoku-Boamah, stressed that the workforce has been entirely Ghanaian engineers and technicians which demonstrate local capacity in producing high quality work.
He stated that businesses operating within the Free Zones Enclave in Tema who would benefit from power generated from the plant would boast their green credentials on the world stage and enhance the competitiveness of their products, particularly those exported worldwide.
Mr Opoku-Boamah said although LMI Holdings was proud of its achievements, it was only a first step into the renewable energy generation space.
He announced that the company targets generating up to 1000 megawatts of renewable energy by the year 2030.
To this end, LMI Holdings had secured a 2,300 acre land bank at Dawa near Ada in the Greater Accra Region to be developed into a solar park.
He said over the next six years, the company intends to invest over USD 1 Billion into the local economy in expanding renewable energy programme.
“I am happy to announce that the IFC approved in December 2023 a USD 110 million facility for LMI Holdings to develop an additional 150 megawatts of solar energy in Dawa. Work has already begun in earnest,” he said.
FROM IAN MOTEY, TEMA