Palaver On Osagyefo Barge Takeover

After 5 years---
NPP "FINDS" COMPANY ---To operate Osagyefo Barge!

Five years after President J.A. Kufuor first announced in his second "State of the Nation" Address that the Effasu Barge was being brought down to augment the national energy supply, the NPP Government has finally announced that it has "found" a Company that will operate what has been re-named the "Osagyefo" Barge. And what a Company it is!

Balkan Energy Co, the Company with which Energy Minister Joseph Kofi Adda signed the agreement to operate the Barge, is a company owned by Dallas real estate mogul Gene Philips, according to the "Dallas Business Journal" of August 6, 2007. It is a private company Gene Philips set up to do power projects in developing countries.

It was formed specifically to explore ways to supply power to Albania and other Balkan countries but turned its attention to Ghana after hearing the country already had a barge sitting idle.

The terms of the agreement are simply ludicrous.

Balkan Energy expects to bill the Ghana government more than $3 billion over the next 20 years, and that amount will increase if the company adds more barges. The project’s initial phase would produce 125 megawatts. Within nine months, Balkan Energy has agreed to increase the capacity to 185 megawatts by converting the barge into a combined-cycle power plant.

Balkan won’t pay to operate the barge for the first five years, but will make yearly lease payments of $10 million to the Ghana government from the beginning of the sixth year until the 20th year, according to the agreement.

Within three years, Balkan Energy is to bring two more barges of 185 megawatts each to the coastal town of Effasu, where the existing barge is stationed, bringing total capacity at the site to 555 megawatts, said D.W Mitchell, who is coordinating the project from Dallas.

Mitchell, an industrial engineer with a background in energy and real estate, coordinates international projects for Phillips’ companies. He has worked for Phillips ---who himself has advanced engineering degrees from Virginia Polytechnic---for three years.