Construction of a modern bulk supply point (BSP) to ensure improved and reliable power supply to residents and businesses in Kasoa in the Awutu-Senya East Municipality of the Central Region will begin on January 31, 2020.
The Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Development Authority (MiDA), Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, said the site for the project had already been handed over to the contractors.
In a statement issued by the Communications and Outreach Unit of MiDA on Monday and made available to the media, Mr Eson-Benjamin said the Power Compact programme was funding two BSPs in Kasoa and Pokuase, primary substations, low bifurcation projects, energy efficiency interventions in public institutions and capacity building support to regulators of the power sector, among others.
The Kasoa BSP, a 435 Mega Volts Amps (MVA) Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) sub-station, he said when completed, would be the second largest Bulk Supply Station in the country after the Pokuase BSP, which was currently under construction.
Funding for the project, he said was being provided by the United States government, through its agency the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), as part of the grant funds provided to Ghana under the Ghana Power Compact Programme.
According to him, a three-day kick-off meeting had been organised by MiDA for the beneficiary institutions and Siemens of France, the contractor for the project”.
The participating organisations included; the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), both direct beneficiaries of the sub-station, project engineers SMEC PLC, representatives of the MCC led by Ms Elizabeth Feleke, Deputy Resident Country Director and other consultants on the project.
He said the project was a critical asset needed to improve services in order to meet the increasing demands of commerce, industry and numerous domestic consumers located in the fast growing Kasoa Municipality and its environs.
The construction of the bulk substation and its related Interconnecting circuits would take 18 months to complete.
Upon completion, he said, the infrastructure would contribute to reducing the frequency and duration of power outages suffered by communities and businesses in Kasoa and its surrounding communities.
“It would also reduce the transmission and distribution system losses suffered by GRIDCo and ECG respectively, and ultimately improve the operational and financial performance of the utilities firms,” he stated.
The Kasoa BSP forms part of activities under the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) Project.
The project also seeks to make investments in ECG’s network in order to reduce technical, commercial, and collection losses and improve service quality.