Accra, Dec. 4, -Stakeholders in
the energy industry in Ghana got their first viewing of the new Cargill
state-of the-art solar facility, which was commissioned on November 8, 2017 by
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
This energy project contributes
to Cargill’s global strategy to enhancing sustainable food processing and
entrenching environmentally friendly, renewable ways of generating power for
industrial production.
The project also contributes to
Cargill’s sustainability goals; safety and sustainable ways of bringing down
energy cost.
The fully automated, digital PV
solar system designed, supplied and installed by Dutch & Company (Gh) Ltd.,
will produce 764MWh of electricity annually to augment energy needs at the Tema
Factory.
It will also boost Ghana’s vision
of achieving 10% contribution of renewable energy in electricity generation mix
by 2020. The energy produced at the plant is equivalent to powering nearly 400
homes with electricity for a year, as long as the plant is operational.
The guest of honour at the event,
Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Carlos Kingsley Ahenkorah, speaking
on behalf of government said: “the government is committed to increasing the
nation’s renewable energy generation capacity to help confront the challenges
in the power sector and we are hopeful that others in the Ghanaian cocoa
industry will follow Cargill’s lead.”
Commenting on the objective for
the installation of the solar plant, Pieter Reichert, Managing Director for
Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate in Ghana said the initiative is part of Cargill’s
sustainability plan, which seeks to find innovative, environmentally friendly
ways of doing business globally.
“We believe it is our
responsibility to find ways to continuously decrease the environmental impact
of our businesses. Cargill sets ambitious new targets every five years to
reduce greenhouse gas intensity, improve energy efficiency and increase
renewables as part of our portfolio.
“One of our goals is to increase
renewables to 18 per cent of our energy portfolio. Today, 14 per cent of our
energy needs are met by renewables, and this solar project will contribute
further to the realization of the global goal,” explained Mr. Reichert.
“We were honoured the President
commissioned this project. It speaks volumes of the government’s commitment to
support the private sector and especially those of us in the cocoa industry.
The project represents our (both government and private sector) collective
effort at enhancing industrial production in the cocoa sector through
sustainable, energy-efficient means” Mr. Reichert concluded.
The Deputy Director for Clean
Energy at the Ministry of Energy, Dr. Robert Sogbabji, speaking on behalf of
his Ministry, congratulated Cargill and expressed his delight at Cargill’s
initiatives in renewable energy, which he says aligns with his Ministry’s plan
on Clean Energy.
On his part, the U.S. Ambassador
to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson added that, the move to solar generated energy is
commendable since it forms part of the global strategy to reduce carbon
emission and make the environment safe.
He called for both local and
international partnerships within the renewable energy sub-sector in order to
raise Ghana’s installed generational capacity.
In attendance at the event were
representatives from the Enclave Power Company (EPC), the Ghana Free Zones
Authority, VRA, Solidaridad, and EPA among others.
GNA
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