ECG To Operate Airport Power System

THE Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), has handed over the operation of the electrical system at the Airport City to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to ensure efficient power supply.

At a handing over ceremony, Abdul-Rahaman Al-Hassan, Chairman of the Airport City Project Committee said with the ECG at the forefront, the power requirements at the Airport City will be adequately catered for.

'The obvious choice when it comes to expertise in power supply reliability, distribution, maintenance and operation, including metering and billing, is the ECG,' he said.

The Airport City project was originally conceived in the mid-1990s as part of the 13 re-development schemes for the city of Accra. The proposal was to develop a miniature commercial/business city complex as complementary infrastructural development for the government’s gateway programme.

The project is located on a 40-acre site parceled into 20 individual plots and currently has 19 investors allocated with plots in the scheme, whose developments are at various stages of completion whilst some are yet to commence.

The scheme is serviced with top class infrastructure such as roads, drains, electricity and water supply, telecommunication, streetlights, as well as a sewage treatment plant.

It is to deliver a range of top commercial developments comprising hotels and luxury apartments, banks/offices/showrooms, shopping malls, recreational, health facilities, and commercial car parking. These are vital infrastructure for the Gateway and Hub development concepts.

Mr Al-Hassan, who is also a board member of the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority, said the project has gained importance and as the bedrock of commercialisation is the trend in airport business focus worldwide, the project has provided a very good foundation in that direction.

He said that the project’s oversight body had noted a few issues that required immediate resolution to facilitate the success of the scheme’s establishment and management.

These include the urgent need for all investors to start and complete their development within a given deadline and according to the approved specifications and the provision of adequate and reliable power supply.

Mr. Al-Hassan said to achieve the objectives of the Airport City Project, the GCAA provided the basic electrical infrastructure to attract investors and facilitate initial development.

Simon Allotey, acting Deputy Director-General (Technical), commended the management and staff of ECG for the tremendous support they have always given to the GCAA,.

He said that GCAA had taken steps to provide adequate power backups and uninterruptible power systems to ensure that whenever there is power outage from the ECG their own in-house power generators will automatically take over without any person noticing it.

Jude Adu-Amankwah, Managing Director of ECG, assured the management of GCAA and Ghana Airport Company Limited that with the building of a new 33 KV at the Airport, supply of power would be enhanced.

He noted that they are concerned that any outage at the Kotoka International Airport makes news, and so would do all that they could to collaborate to serve the nation better.