AMERI relocation: No contract has been signed yet – Energy Minister

VRA still engaged in negotiations for EPC relocation - Opoku Prempeh

AMERI EPC contract will be brought before Parliament - Energy Minister

Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has said no contract has been signed with Mytilineos S A, the company the Volta River Authority (VRA) is currently engaged in negotiations with towards a possible Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract for the relocation of the Ameri Power Plant from Aboadze to Kumasi.

Answering a question on the floor of Parliament on Friday, July 1 on the cost of the relocation, Dr. Prempeh said negotiations are still ongoing and no contract has been signed.

He added that it will be premature to quote any figure as the total cost of the relocation.

“To answer the question unequivocally, no contract has been signed and thus, it will be too early to quote any figure in that respect,” Dr. Prempeh told lawmakers.

The Minister further indicated the deal would definitely be brought to Parliament for approval. He made this known in response to another question over whether the contract will be brought before the house for approval since the EPC contract is international.

The Energy Minister assured the House that the Ministry is providing the necessary support and guidance to the VRA to ensure that the interest of the Republic of Ghana remains paramount in this particular negotiation.

Dr. Prempeh further hinted that the figure that is likely to be agreed on for the contract to be signed will be way lower than the $86m cost under the initial BOOT arrangement.

He reiterated that the entire EPC contract cost and its breakdown will be made known to the public in the interest of transparency, accountability and good governance.

Background

As far back as 10 years ago, GRIDCo conducted extensive studies on the national grid and concluded that a power plant needed to be located at Kumasi. This was necessary to strengthen the grid to help solve the chronic low voltage problem in that part of the country.

On the expiration of the Ameri BOOT Contract in January 2021, the Government of Ghana took the policy decision to relocate the Ameri plant to Kumasi based on the recommendations of the GRIDCo study

The Ministry therefore initiated the project to relocate the 250MW Ameri Power Plant from Aboadze to Kumasi to strengthen the national grid and also eliminate recent power system disturbances experienced in the northern transmission network.

MA/FNOQ