The Bui Power Authority (BPA) has disclosed that its 50-megawatt solar power plant at Galgu in the Yendi Municipality of the Northern Region cost about US$50 million to develop.

Mawuli Fui Kwadzovia, Senior External Relations Officer at the BPA, disclosed this while speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday, October 28, explaining that the project was developed under an arrangement involving financing and engineering support from Ghanaian company First Sky Limited.

According to him, although solar power projects require substantial initial investment, they offer long-term operational cost advantages because they do not depend on continuous fuel purchases, unlike thermal power plants.

“This 50-megawatt solar plant cost about US$50 million, and it was fully funded by a Ghanaian company, First Sky Limited," he said.

Mr Kwadzovia argued that renewable energy projects, including solar and hydroelectric power, were more cost-efficient to operate in the long term and more environmentally friendly.

He further explained that the investment in the Yendi facility would be recovered through payments linked to the electricity generated, with the loan expected to be repaid over an estimated five-to-seven-year period.

“The money that they have taken to build will be taken back from the user at the end of the day to offset the loan. This would be over a five-to-six- or seven-year period, within which we will be able to pay back the loan," he said.

The 50-megawatt facility was executed by First Sky Limited under an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction with Financing (EPCF) arrangement with the BPA. The wholly Ghanaian company undertook the planning, installation, and construction works.

The plant is expected to improve electricity supply in the Yendi Municipality and communities within the Eastern Corridor, while contributing to Ghana’s efforts to expand renewable energy generation.