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Parliament passes Early Power deal

The African Centre for Energy Policy advised government to take a second look at its power agreement with Early power after it emerged that the cost of the project had moved from  $647.7 million to $953.4 million.

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Prior to the passage of the deal in parliament, the African Centre for Energy Policy advised the government to take a second look at its power agreement with Early power after the minority in parliament said the cost of the project had shot up from  $647.7 million to $953.4 million.

But the Chairman of the Mines and Energy Committee in parliament Alhaji Amadu Sorogo said the 400 megawatts Early Power deal will cost around 647 million dollars and not the speculated 953 million dollars.

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“The actual cost of the project is unknown, so the earlier figure was not definite. More so government and the Electricity Company of Ghana have placed a ceiling, and this is 647 m dollars”, he revealed.

A Member of Parliament’s Energy and Mines Committee Isaac Asiamah in an earlier interview said ,“There was an initial agreement and the total amount involved was an amount of $647.7million that was the initial agreement and the megawatt involved is 344 and there was an additional 56 megawatts that have shot the figure up to a colossal amount of $953million close to about $1 billion”

After a meeting between members of the mines and energy and finance committees in parliament Alhaji Amadu Sorogo said the Minority and Majority members on the committees have arrived at consensus to allow for the approval of the 400 megawatts Early Power deal.

He said the initial reaction from some minority members was understandable because the deal is complex and the agreement was bulky for a quick read.

The committee insists the tariff charge in the deal pegged at 12.4 cents per kilowatt hour( per kWh) is the best considering the charge for other plants in the country.

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“The Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) says the deal is good”, Alhaji Amadu Sorogo stated.

The main sponsor of the project, Early Power Limited, has entered into an agreement with the Government of Ghana, together with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Sage Petroleum Limited, Endeavor and EPL Holdings, General Energy Investments, and Quantum Gas Terminals.

The project involves the development, ownership, operation and management of the 400MW Combined Cycle Plant to be fuelled by either Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or Natural Gas (NG) for a 25-year period by Early Power Limited in Tema, strategically close to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).

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