Africa’s largest solar plant to be built in Ghana

BBC : Renewable energy companies that want to expand into Africa are taking advantage of the falling prices of solar panel technology, which previously had been too high for significant investment. With costs falling by more than 40%, demand for solar energy sources has skyrocketed. A $400 million, 155-MW photovoltaic solar power plant is awaiting final funding, and Mere Power Nzema Ltd hopes to begin construction in the next 12 months. If built, the Nzema project will provide power to more than 100â000 homes and increase Ghana’s electricity-generating capacity by 6%. The plant will use more than 630â000 photovoltaic solar cells and should be operational by 2014, with full capacity reached in 2015. Douglas Coleman, of Mere Power Nzema, says the photovoltaic solar plant is more appropriate for Ghana than a concentrated solar plant like the ones being built elsewhere in Africa. It will allow the company to better maintain steady output from the plant and provide better load balancing control.