GRIDCo signs €250-million pact to retool grid

The country has secured €250 million to retool its entire electricity grid.

The project will also cover the expansion of the system to prepare it for possible power evacuation to neighbouring countries.

The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), which will implement the project, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to that effect with Siemens

Company of Germany last Tuesday for the commencement of the project.
It is being financed from the €1-billion German Compact for Africa.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GRIDCo, Mr Jonathan Amoako-Baah, initialed the MoU for Ghana, while the CEO of Siemens Southern and Western Africa, Ms Sabine Dall’Omo, signed for her company.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and the CEO of Siemens AG, Mr Joe Kaeser, witnessed the signing ceremony at the Jubilee House.

Significant

President Akufo-Addo said the project was a significant development in the country’s energy sector because retooling and refitting the transmission and the grid systems across the country were very crucial.

He said given Ghana’s quest for a rapidly industrialising economy through bauxite, manganese and iron ore industries, among others, it would require reliable access to power.

The fact that Ghana was the first country in Africa to benefit significantly from the Compact with Africa programme, the President said, “is, in itself, a big vote of confidence by the German leadership and Chancellor Merkel and yourself, one of the great German companies, to work in our country”.

“We welcome that expression of confidence and we want to assure you that it is not one that we will abuse. We, for our part, are determined to work in transparency and openness with you to make sure that this project comes to a proper conclusion,” he added.

Siemens

For his part, Mr Kaeser noted that the MoU would help in modernising Ghana’s entire grid in steps and also organise the grids and transmit electricity to the people in a more efficient manner.

The deal would also cover training and assisting young people to prepare them for the future, he said.

He added that the Compact with Africa was about the future of Africa, saying:

“It is about showing them the way and how to lead; and the first thing in this future is about electrification; it’s about energy.”

The Siemens CEO noted that the agreement was not only about supplying grid infrastructure, products or solutions; it was also about being a proud, responsible and honoured partner to the Ghanaian people, so that together they could build the country for the future.