470MW Karpowership inaugurated in Tema

• Posted on December 15, 2017
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

KARPOWERSHIP GHANA Company Limited, yesterday, commissioned its biggest power ship christened, Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan, which docked at the Fishing Harbour in Tema, the Greater Accra Region.

The power ship, which has a generation capacity of 470 megawatts (mw), arrived in August this year and completed all requisite commissioning works and operational tests after which it began supplying power to the national grid.

Inauguration of the biggest power ship this month marks exactly two years since Karpowership began operations in Ghana to generate electricity to the national grid.

Speaking at the inauguration, Deputy Minister of Energy                   in-charge of Finance and Infrastructure, Joseph Cudjoe, reiterated that government is determined to put an end to erratic electricity supply to domestic and commercial markets in the country.

According to him, the purchase of the power ship shows government’s determination to put complete end to the load shedding exercise that crippled the country’s economy in recent years.

Mr Joseph Cudjoe claimed that with the annual electricity demand in the country increasing by 10 percent, coupled with government’s flagship ‘one district, one factory’ programme, serious attention must be paid to constant power supply.

He was hopeful that Karpowership’s power supply would help reduce electricity cost in the country – with the ship’s reliability on gas – after it has been relocated to Sekondi in the Western Region later next year.

In an address at the commissioning ceremony, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Karpowership, Orhan Remzi Karadeniz, gave the assurance that Karpowership is committed to Ghana’s development and would continue to provide all Ghanaians with sustainable, reliable and affordable electricity.

According to him, Karpowership has a proven track record of supplying sustainable, reliable and affordable electricity with its first Powership – Karadeniz Powership Aysegul Sultan – adding that “The 470 MW Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan will also supply uninterrupted and reliable electricity at one of the lowest prices for thermal power generation.

In his welcome address, Volaan Buyukbicer, Country Manager for Karpowership Ghana, expressed his deepest gratitude to all stakeholders and staff of Karpowership for their dedication, hard work and support which had contributed to their successful operations in Ghana.

He was of the view that Karpowership had fulfilled its terms of contract with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to supply constant electricity with the first Powership which has a capacity of 235MW and connected to the national grid.

The CEO further explained that the operation of Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan was also in consonance with the Power Purchase Agreement signed with the ECG requiring Karpowership to supply a total of 450 MW into the national grid for 10 years.

Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan, started operations in September on sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to generate electricity and later use natural gas.

 From Vincent Kubi, Tema