By Michael Foli Jackidy
Ho (V/R), Aug. 28, GNA – The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, in collaboration with the Volta Regional Coordinating Council, has launched a REIP electrification project to connect 206 communities across the Volta Region to the national grid.Â
The project, which forms part of the Government’s flagship Big Push programme, will cover all 18 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Region and is expected to be completed within six months.
Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, Minister for Energy and Green Transition, said at the launch in Ho on Friday that the project reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to ensuring that no community, regardless of location, was denied access to reliable electricity.
He said the Government had adopted a strategy of targeting selected regions annually to aggressively connect unelectrified communities to the national grid, with the Volta Region among four regions selected for the first phase.
Dr Jinapor said the Savannah, Central, Oti and Volta Regions had been targeted this year, with another four regions expected to benefit annually until 2030, when Government hoped to achieve universal electricity access nationwide.
“The Volta Region project, being implemented by Byes and Ways Limited, will extend electricity supply to 206 communities across the 18 districts. Government is committed to completing these works within six months,” he stated.
He said the project represented an investment of GHS598 million and demonstrated Government’s determination to accelerate rural electrification and close the electricity access gap in the Region.
Dr Jinapor said Government was also making major investments to strengthen electricity distribution and transmission systems to ensure expanded access was matched by improved reliability and sustainability.
He said more than 2,000 distribution transformers were being deployed nationwide in the operational areas of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).
In the Volta Region, he said Government was advancing construction of a 45-kilometre, 161-kilovolt transmission line from Asiekpe to Ho, together with a new 161/34.5-kilovolt Bulk Supply Point at Ho.
The Minister said the investments would improve voltage levels, strengthen electricity supply reliability and create additional capacity to meet growing demand along the Asiekpe-Ho-Kadjebi corridor.
He said the launch also marked the official handing over of the project site to Byes and Ways Limited to commence work.
Dr Jinapor stressed that the Ministry would closely monitor implementation to ensure quality, value for money and completion within the stipulated six-month period.
“The six-month timeline is not a suggestion, and this Ministry will hold the contractor to it,” he said.
He called on traditional authorities, Municipal and District Assemblies and beneficiary communities to support implementation by facilitating access to project sites, resolving right-of-way issues, and protecting project materials.
He also appealed to communities to protect electricity infrastructure against vandalism and illegal connections, observe electrical safety practices, and pay electricity bills promptly to support the sector’s sustainability.
Dr Jinapor said access to electricity remained critical to modern development, improving education and healthcare, supporting businesses and agro-processing, attracting investment, enhancing security, creating jobs and improving livelihoods.
Mr James Gunu, Volta Regional Minister, said the project was critical to the Region’s economic transformation agenda and the proposed Volta Economic Corridor.
He said sustainable and reliable electricity was essential to the Region’s ambition of becoming a major investment destination and developing agriculture, manufacturing and other green industries.
Mr Gunu said investments in electricity infrastructure would help reduce energy costs for agriculture and manufacturing, strengthen value addition and agricultural transformation, attract green investments and improve the Region’s competitiveness.
“Sustainable energy should not be viewed merely as an environmental intervention. For the Volta Region, it can become the energy foundation of the economic corridor, powering farms and factories, lowering production costs, creating green jobs, attracting investment and enabling the Region to move from a resource-based economy towards value-added, export-oriented and climate-resilient growth,” he said.
He said the future of the Volta Region was promising, with strategic investments in energy and other critical infrastructure laying out the foundation for accelerated development.
Representatives of Byes and Ways Limited and Tilt Energy Limited, contractors for the Turnkey Electrification Project and transmission line upgrade respectively, assured Government and residents of their commitment to completing the projects within the stipulated period.
Togbe Dagadu IX, President of the Volta Region House of Chiefs and Paramount Chief of the Akpini Traditional Area, welcomed the project and assured Government of the full support of traditional authorities across the Region.
He said access to electricity would improve education, healthcare and commerce, and called on communities to cooperate with contractors to ensure successful implementation.
Togbe Dagadu said chiefs, through their traditional councils and community leadership structures, would support sensitisation, facilitate access to project sites and help address challenges that might arise during implementation.
He expressed confidence that the project would contribute significantly to the accelerated development of the Volta Region.
The launch brought together officials and management of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), ECG, the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, members of the ECG Board, Municipal and District Chief Executives and other government officials.
GNA
Edited By: Maxwell Awumah/Audrey Dekalu