We’ve written previously about the anticipated growth in Africa’s solar power sector. As Cleantechnica recently pointed out, just one of the countries making big solar plans is Ghana, which could up its total installed electricity generation capacity by 28% with the development of a 600MW solar PV plant—to be the largest of its kind in Africa. If all goes to plan, the country will also become home to a solar panel manufacturing plant to supply the project as well as neighboring countries.
The proposed 600MW plant will actually be developed across the country as 6x separate 100MW solar farms on properties that have already been selected. The manufacturing plant will be located in Tema, an industrial town found east of Accra, Ghana’s capital.
The burgeoning solar industry will not only help to bring electricity to those who were hitherto without it, but it will also provide local jobs. The firm that plans to develop both the PV plants and the manufacturing facility, International Solar Utilities (ISU), says that altogether around 1500 temporary jobs and over 500 permanent ones will be created in the process.
Ghana currently has about 2.1GW of electricity generation capacity connected to its national grid. It plans to double this number to 5GW within 2 years, and it seems that solar power will be a large part of this endeavour.
© 2014 Solar Choice Pty Ltd
