The Volta River Authority (VRA) of Ghana is constructing a USD 8.8 Million grid-connected solar PV plant in the town of Navrongo, in the Upper East region of Ghana. The 1.92 MW power plant is expected to be completed in the coming months. This is a part of a big effort by VRA to promote the use of renewable energy in Ghana.
The Navrongo unit will be located near the community of Pungu-Telania, and is expected to generate 3.183 GWh of electricity per year, with an expected lifetime of 20-25 years. 6930 PV modules will be installed, while feasibility studies estimated the mean annual GHI to be 5.53 kWh/m2/day at the site.
On January 2012, a public meeting was organized to introduce the project to local stakeholders, who widely praised VRA for this initiative.
The power plant is the first of a set of 4 to be developed in Ghana under the VRA Solar Power Projects, which aims to install a total of 10 MW of power capacity in the country. Sites near Kaleo, Jirapa and Lawra have been identified and acquired for this effect.
The VRA Solar Power Projects are expected to be included in the Standard Bank Renewable Energy Programme, a Programme of Activities (PoA) registered under the UNFCCC-CDM. Standard Bank, a Pan-African, South-african based financial institution, will promote and support these projects in order to overcome institutional and financial hurdles, while acting as Coordinating/Managing Entity (CME) to assure the projects are able to get carbon credit revenues under UNFCCC Clean Development Mechanisms. The bank will also be responsible to deal with the carbon credits generated.
The Navrongo power plant is the first one to be registered as a CPA (Component Project Activity) under this PoA. Annual GHG emissions reductions were estimated as 1,074 tonnes of CO2e per year, for a total crediting period of 7 years, renewable twice.
