Akufo-Addo commissions Ghana’s first micro hydro generating station
President Akufo-Addo says the innovative 45kW Tsatsadu power project will increase economic activity and promote growth in the Alavanyo and Hohoe municipalities
President Akufo-Addo has commissioned Ghana’s first micro hydropower generating station, built by the Bui Power Authority under the Ministry of Energy’s renewable energy initiative.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony on Saturday 21 November 2020, the president said the project will improve economic activity and growth in the Alavanyo and Hohoe municipal areas.
Peace in Alavanyo
President Akufo-Addo said the current peace prevailing in Alavanyo is welcome news.
He urged the chiefs and people of the Alavanyo Traditional Area to preserve the calm and order.
The Tsatsadu project
The 45kW Tsatsadu Micro Hydro Generating Station, located on the Tsatsadu Waterfalls, is a run-of-river scheme, and so did not require the formation of a reservoir to work.
It consists of a concrete diversion weir, an intake structure, diversion channel, a forebay, steel penstock, a powerhouse and a transmission line which ties the electricity generated in to the local distribution grid. The weir diverts part of the river flow through an intake channel into the diversion channel.
The diverted water goes through a 300-millimetre-diameter penstock to the base of the hill, where the powerhouse, which houses the turbines and the generator, is located. The water drives the turbines and flows out through a tailrace channel and back into the downstream of the waterfall.
The project, initially designed as a 30kW standalone, was redesigned and upgraded to a 45kW grid connection system following additional studies.
Funding for Micro-Hydro Power Project
The Tsatsadu Micro Hydro Generating Station was built by local young engineers from the Bui Power Authority.
Implementation of the 45kW station was co-funded by the Danish and Chinese governments, working through the United Nations Development Programme’s Renewable Energy Technology Transfer (UNDP-RETT) scheme.
The Bui Power Authority collaborated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Network on Small Hydro Power (IN-SHP) of China and Ghanaian energy sector agencies to execute the project.
Wilberforce Asare
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