- Date written
- December, 2018
- Contact for guarantco
- Marjolein van Kampen
- Communications Director
- +44 (0)738 8857097
- marjolein.van-kampen@guarantco.com
- Contact for PIDG
- Cecille Sorhus
- Head of Communications
- +44 (0)7917 302724
- cecille.sorhus@pidg.org
- Share
Bridge Power will provide cleaner power to over a million people in Ghana
GuarantCo will provide an EPC contractor payment guarantee for stage I of the Bridge Power plant in Ghana. Bridge Power, a greenfield multi-fuel combined cycle power plant in Tema, Ghana, has started construction with vendor financing including an EPC contractor payment guarantee provided by GuarantCo. Stage I of the project totals a net 202 megawatts and will begin delivering electricity to the Ghanaian power grid in Q4 2019. Once fully constructed, the Bridge Power plant will be the largest Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) power project in the world and will also meet local and international (World Bank / IFC) environmental requirements.
The guarantee provided by GuarantCo, a Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) company, will enable construction for stage I of the power plant to begin whilst long-term financing is being arranged, allowing the project to progress in order to deliver much-needed, cleaner power to over a million people in Ghana. The project will add approximately 5 percent to the country’s generating capacity. Stage I of the project will create up to 200 jobs (majority Ghanaian) during construction whilst a further 35 people will be employed as part of ongoing permanent operations of the life of the plant.
The Bridge Power project is sponsored by a consortium that includes Endeavor Energy (Endeavor), Sage Petroleum (Sage) and General Electric (GE). Endeavor is a leading Africa-focused independent power company backed by global energy-focused private equity firm Denham Capital and is the lead developer and majority owner of the project. Endeavor will also lead the operations and maintenance of the power plant and will provide the construction and commercial management of the project. Sage is a leading fuels company in Ghana who played a key role in the project’s development and who will be its fuel supplier and owner/operator of the project’s LPG fuel infrastructure. GE is a world energy leader providing equipment, solutions and services across the energy value chain from generation to consumption.
Bridge Power will help to diversify Ghana’s power portfolio and reduce its heavy reliance on finite hydrological resources. This, together with the reliable baseload power that it will provide, will help to facilitate the country’s economic development and reduce its reliance on diesel and heavy fuel oil. LPG is a lower cost and cleaner alternative to light crude oil and diesel, which Ghana has been using increasingly due to growing demand.
The Bridge Project is specifically designed to provide fuel diversity, optionality and security for Ghana. GE will supply the power generation equipment for the project which will include GE’s TM2500 gas turbine generator sets and GE’s steam turbines in a combined cycle (CC) configuration. This will be the first time the TM2500 gas turbines will be used in a combined cycle configuration globally and marks a milestone for the technology.
Lasitha Perera, CEO of GuarantCo, said:
“We are proud to have developed this innovative contractor payment guarantee for Bridge Power and to make a vital contribution to Ghana’s energy needs. The extremely short timelines required under the Power Purchase Agreement precluded senior financing reaching financial close in time for the project to meet its deadlines. Our guarantee helped a private sector investor to bridge the financing gap and deliver power to Ghana under a shorter timeframe than historically achieved.”
Sean T. Long, President and CEO of Endeavor, said:
“I would like to extend a warm thanks on behalf of Early Power Limited to the Government of Ghana and to all of our project partners for their continuous support and dedication in bringing this project to fruition. The Bridge Project is fully aligned with Ghana’s national economic and social development goals and represents the second investment in Ghana’s power sector by Endeavor. With the Bridge Project and Endeavor’s majority interest in the $557 million Amandi Power Project located near Takoradi, Endeavor is leading over $1.5 billion of foreign direct investment in Ghana, helping to create jobs and deliver additional low-cost power solutions for Ghana.”
Emmanuel Egyei-Mensah, Chief Executive Officer of Sage, commented:
“Ghana has made great strides over recent years to strengthen its power sector whilst at the same time creating an open and successful environment for international investment. This project, which includes the construction of LPG import and storage infrastructure, will expand Ghana’s existing LPG capabilities enabling the country to import three times more LPG each year. This will definitely lead to significant improvements in domestic LPG supply availability and market penetration, which in turn will bolster the drive to make Ghana’s energy sources more diversified and secure.”