Bui Power Authority was established in 2007 through the BPA Act 740 with a mission to support socio-economic development through the utilization of natural resources for energy generation in a safe, reliable, and cost-efficient manner.
BPA was given a Ministerial mandate in 2017 to develop renewable energy plants by the Ministry of Energy and in 2020 amended its enabling Act to develop its renewable energy and other clean energy alternatives in the country. The Bui Power Authority (Amendment) Act 2020, Act 1046, gave the Authority the legal rights to execute renewable energy projects on behalf of the State; undertake its own renewable energy activities; and also, undertake clean energy alternatives in the country.
The Authority identified the untapped potential of solar resources in the country and set out to pursue the development and expansion of solar PV resources as part of the Government of Ghana’s effort to increase the contribution of renewable energy to the energy mix by 10% by 2030.
The Bui Switchyard was expanded accordingly to accommodate and evacuate 250MWp of solar power for the creation of a hydro-solar PV hybrid (HSH) system within the Bui enclave. The HSH facility is aimed at augmenting and preserving the Bui reservoir by the generation of solar power when complete. This will be Ghana’s first hybrid plant utilizing both solar and hydro resources to generate and supply power to the national grid.
In October 2019, construction commenced on the first phase of the 250MW project with the development of a Solar PV Facility, a Control Room, and a Transmission System. The initial 50MWp was commissioned in November 2020 and has been connected to Ghana’s National Interconnected Transmission System (NITS).
Additionally, BPA has commissioned a 1MW Floating Solar Plant also the first to be commissioned in the sub-region. Power from this plant will be transmitted through the BUi Switchyard through to the NITS.
BPA has exploited the opportunity to harness the vast solar radiation resource in the Northern parts of Ghana and has had further discussions with GRIDCo, Ghana’s national grid managers, on locating substations within the North where the potential solar plants of capacity between 10MWp-100MWp can successfully be tied into the NITS.
Bui Power Authority’s renewable energy projects are in line with its mission of supporting socio-economic development through the utilization of natural resources for energy generation in a safe, reliable, and cost-efficient manner.
Bui Power Authority has now set in Yendi municipal to provide 50kw renewable energy for the Eastern Corridor enclave, the project will be located in Galgu.
