The Project
The Wind Farm Ayitepa is a renewable energy project in Ghana. With up to 75 wind turbines and a planned capacity of 225 MW, the park will not only be the first wind park ever in Ghana, but also one of the biggest parks on the whole African continent. Electricity will be produced with wind turbines and then fed into the National Interconnected Transmission System (NITS).
The wind farm location is in southern Ghana in the region of Greater Accra. The project is situated in the Ningo Traditional Area of the Ningo-Prampram District, approximately 60 km east of the capital, between the Accra - Aflao Highway and the Gulf of Guinea. In the vicinity of the park is the village Ayitepa, where its name is coming from.
The Ayitepa Wind Farm will be constructed over an area of approximately 10‘000 acres in two phases of 150 and 75 MW. Due to its openness and relative flatness, this location offers good and steady wind conditions, simple road access, very little environmental constraints and an easy grid access nearby.
There is no cost to bring wind to Ghana, the price of wind never changes and it will never run out. It provides a secure and clean supply of power to Ghana for years to come in an absolute sustainable way, independent from the policy of neighbouring countries.
The wind farm is fully developed and has got all required permits to start construction. However, it still expects the approval by Cabinet and Parlament.
Wind is a renewable, clean energy resource and therefore one of the best solutions to combat “dumsor” in a short period of time, and to deliver cheap electricity.
Approval Process
All permits required for the successful implementation of the Wind Farm Ayitepa have been secured. The following table lists some of the major approvals required for the pre-construction and commissioning phase. The checkmark indicates that the respective permit was successfully acquired (latest update: ).
Pre-Construction Permits (all required permits for start of construction received!)
| Permit / Approval | Authority | Status |
|---|---|---|
Provisional License | Energy Commission |  |
Siting Permit | Energy Commission | |
Environmental Permit | Environmental Protection Agency | |
Construction Permit | Ningo-Prampram District Assembly | |
Development Permit | Ningo-Prampram District Assembly | |
Grid Connection Agreement | Ghana Grid Company Limited | |
Airspace Safety Permit | Ghana Civil Aviation Authority | |
Power Purchase Agreement | Electricity Company of Ghana | |
Put Call Option Agreement | Government of Ghana | |
The development and realisation of the 225 MW Wind Farm is a joint effort, involving amongst others the following companies:
NEK Umwelttechnik AG is an independent engineering and planning company that is headquartered in St. Gallen with a branch office in Zurich, Switzerland. The company was founded 1989 as a private company. NEK works both nationally and internationally, employing local people in each overseas location. The main focus of NEK’s work is in the fields of wind energy, geothermal energy, renewable energy systems and development of sustainable concepts. NEK carried out wind measurements and developed wind parks all over the world. Large successes were the entire developments of wind parks in Romania and Spain, which are producing energy since 2012 respectively since 2008. Apart from that, NEK develops in Ghana a wind power pipeline of approx. 1,000 MW.
Atlantic Group consists of a Holding Company (Atlantic International Holding Co.) and four wholly-owned subsidiaries: Atlantic Computers & Electronics Ltd, Atlantic Climate Control Ltd and The Office Furniture Company. The Atlantic Group has been serving customers across Ghana for over three decades now. The Group is a diverse and forward-thinking organization with expertise across four business sectors - Power Transmission and Distribution, Air Conditioning and Ventilation, IT Solutions and Services and Office Furniture. Atlantic International Holding Company is also a 30% shareholder in NEK (Ghana) Ltd, a joint venture with NEK Umwelttechnik AG that specializes in renewable energy projects.
Upwind International AG is a Swiss Holding Company with the purpose of planning and developing renewable energy projects, mainly wind parks, in different countries worldwide. The company was founded in 2011 and concentrates its activities in emerging economies, for the time being mainly Africa and Eastern Europe. Its projects are primarily planned, engineered, developed and managed by the engineering company NEK Umwelttechnik AG based in Switzerland. In order to secure a professional and complete project development, Upwind establishes in each country, where their projects are located, specific project companies in which all the assets of each project are transferred and held.
Lekela Power, a pan-African renewable energy business, has over 1,300MW of projects in its current pipeline which it plans deliver into operation over the next five years. Energy is critical to the African continent’s continued growth and Lekela is positioned as a long term investor to provide secure, clean, reliable and competitive renewable energy to consumers such as government utilities and large scale industrial consumers.
Lekela is owned 60% by Actis, the leading growth markets energy investor (US$13bn funds raised across three asset classes since inception) and 40% by a consortium led by Mainstream Renewable Power (over 9,000MW in development, construction and operations across five continents) which includes investors such as the IFC and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.