Four districts in Upper West, East to benefit from VRA’s $2.8m solar project
The Volta River Authority (VRA) on Wednesday held a public forum in Navrongo to precede the construction of a photovoltaic plant (PV) which is expected to generate solar energy to supply the Kassena-Nanakana area in the Upper East Region and three other districts in the Upper West Region.
The programme would facilitate and harness renewable resource of solar power and generate electricity to meet the energy requirement of over 11,000 people without the utilization of fossil fuels.
Out of the 10 mega watts (MW) programme earmarked for the two regions over a 25 year span, Kassena-Nankana East is to benefit from two mega watts at a cost of $2.8 million from the VRA’s internally Generated Fund (IGF) on pilot this year.
Mr Abdulai Khalil, Mechanical Engineer at the VRA who shared experiences of countries with efficiency in similar projects said such countries benefited from incentives to encourage investment, technology transfer and a lifelong impact on the environment.
He said embarking on the programmes would help to reduce green house emissions, and promote sustainable development.
Mr Khalil said introducing renewable energy did not only help VRA to diversify energy generation sources, but also takes away the company’s total dependence on fossil fuels and Hydro electric power.
Responding to questions on affordability by beneficiaries, he said energy from renewable sources was expected to be cheaper but since it was going to be grid-connected, VRA could not determine how much consumers should pay for such facilities.
Mr Raymond Allou, Assemblyman for Gongnia-Upper Nangalikinia electoral area thanked the VRA for such an innovation and urged them not to let it be a nine-day wonder.
Mrs Lucy Awuni, Deputy Upper East Regional Minister thanked VRA for choosing the region to pilot the project and cautioned against the annual bush fires.
She stressed the need for continuous education and involvement of the people to help take good care of the facilities.
Source: GNA