TAQA Provides More Power

·Emmanuel Kofi Buah (left) with Carl Sheldon

hana's energy sector has received a major boost as TAQA International Company Limited, parent company of TAQA Ghana Limited, which is the majority shareholder of Takoradi International Company (TICO), is set to increase its energy capacity in the country to 330 Megawatts (MW).

TICO, which is a public/private partnership between TAQA Ghana, with 90 percent ownership and the Volta River Authority (VRA), would add 110 MW to the already existing 220MW at Aboadze in Takoradi, a project that would help improve the insufficient energy situation in the country.  

To this end, Emmanuel Kofi Buah, Deputy Minister of Energy, who represented government and Carl Sheldon, Global Head of TAQA International, the Abu Dhabi national energy firm, yesterday signed a contract to pave way for the project to commence. Nana Osafo Adjei, Managing Director of TAQA Ghana, General Manager of TICO and other executives of TAQA International witnessed the signing agreement.

To be known as the Takoradi Thermal Power Plant Expansion Project, it which would cost several millions of dollars.

The project would provide additional generation to meet demand, especially the expected industrial growth in the Western Region, which is set to experience an oil boom.

Commenting on the landmark project, Mr. Sheldon expressed satisfaction with TAQA's operations in Ghana, indicating that the project would go a long way to improve the nation's electricity demand.

He noted that TAQA has become a significant household in Ghana and would improve its services to support the nation's energy agenda.

“The developments in Ghana so far are very exciting and would continue to see Ghana as a key partner to our business,” he added.

Mr. Osafo Adjei, who is responsible for the strategic management of the plant to enable TAQA drive the growth of its diversified potential, including power, oil and gas in Ghana and the West African sub-region, for his part, assured the country that his outfit would continue to deliver to the fullest so as to justify its continued presence in Ghana.

“For us, Ghana is very important to our operations and would ensure we do the best, said Mr. Osafo Adjei.

He noted that TAQA has become a key stakeholder in the energy sector, operating at an efficient level of 96 percent.

The Deputy Energy Minister commended TAQA for the initiative, saying the project was significant.

“After visiting Abu Dhabi, I was proud to see the good work that TAQA was doing. This is a significant milestone for public/private partnership. Indeed, TAQA has established a footprint in Africa,” he said.

He added that the nation would increase its energy capacity from about 2000 MW to 5000 MW by 2015.

Meanwhile, the company, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary in Ghana, has lined up some exciting programmes, including a seminar on private power generation and a grand durbar to climax the celebration.

Founded in 2005, TAQA is a global energy company with a growing asset base of $ 23.4 billion.

It is one of the largest companies listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, with 2007 revenue of more than $ 2 billion.

TAQA is a flagship corporation of the Government of United Arab Emirates (UAE).

It acquired a strategic stake in TICO from CMS Energy Corporation of Michigan, U.S in 2007 and sells all of its electric output to the VRA under a power purchase agreement.

TAQA's strategic goal is to build and operate a geographically diverse global portfolio of energy businesses across the value chain.

It has operations in power generation, water desalination, upstream oil/gas, pipelines and gas storage. By Charles Nixon Yeboah