As the debate about the cost of the construction of the multi-purpose Pwalugu dam continues, an Energy Analyst, Ishmael Agyekumhene, is asking the government to consider renegotiating the deal, if there is an avenue to do so.
Close to a billion dollars is expected to be used for the entire project with the minority in Parliament raising concerns about the electrical generation component which is estimated to cost about US$300 million to generate 60 megawatts of power.
“Anything that can bring the cost of the project down, I support it. I haven’t really studied the project document, and I don’t really know which areas they could cut down. We don’t have money, and so if there is any opportunity for us to renegotiate I will advocate that.”
“I don’t know the context where these concerns are coming from. This project has been on the drawing board for several years, and the figures we consistently hear are the same,” Mr. Agyekumhene said.
He told Citi Business News that while he is unable to comment on the specifics of the project, he believes government must explore every means possible to tweak the cost of the proposed US$300 million for the Pwalugu Hydro dam to produce 60MW.
The Pwalugu multi-purpose dam is a 60MW facility that is expected to cost USD 366 million dollars.
However, when it is combined with the irrigation component of the dam, the entire project is estimated to a billion dollars.
The Minority resisted the approval of the loan for the project in the early hours of 24th December 2019, before the House went on recess.
The Pwalugu Dam Project
The Pwalugu Dam, according to the President is expected to “avert the perennial flooding caused by the spillage of the Bagre Dam”.
It will consist of three main components; a hydropower plant; a solar farm; and an irrigation scheme covering an area of some twenty-five thousand (25,000) hectares.
The project is set to be the single, largest investment ever made by any Government in the Northern sector of the country.
The project will commence in April 2020 according to the Volta River Authority (VRA).
The entire project will be executed by a Chinese construction firm, Power China International and supervised by the VRA over a period of five years.
The irrigation component of the project will cost US$474,042,141.85.
The tax component of the project is US$69,284,727.79 and there is also a cadastral survey cost of US$800,000.00.
The electricity component of the project will consist of US$366 million 60MW hydropower, and a US$55.4 million 50MW solar power, while resettlement, survey and project management cost will amount to US$98 million.