by Justice Lee Adoboe
ACCRA, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Ghana took delivery Friday of what is described as the world's largest power ship to add to its power generation capacity, a statement by builder Karpowership Ghana Company Ltd said.
The Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan has a capacity of 470 mega watts (MW) which will be fed into the national grid of Ghana.
"The arrival of Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan is in consonance with the Power Purchase Agreement signed with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) requiring Karpowership Ghana Company Limited to provide a total of 470 MW capacity and directly feed it into the national grid for 10 years," Karpowership Ghana explained in a statement.
Ghana entered into various power purchase agreements, including the purchase of power ships to augment national power production capacity, at the height of its crippling power crisis which lasted from 2012 till end of 2015.
KarPowership had in 2015 delivered a 235-MW Karadeniz Powership Aysegul Sultan, which is moored at the Tema Fishing Harbor.
The new powership will initially use low-sulphur Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) to generate electricity but the fuel will be converted to natural gas as soon as local natural gas supplies become available, ensuring cost savings for Ghana.
Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan is expected to be the most reliable power plant in the country, contributing significantly to stable generation of electricity as well as creating more employment opportunities.
Ghana's largest gas field, Sankofa, operated by Eni of Italy, is expected to commence gas production next year to contribute not less than 1,000 MW capacity to power generation in the country.
