Santerre Limited has entered into an agreement to finance and develop a 200MW combined-cycle thermal power plant in the Republic of Ghana as an independent power producer (IPP). Construction of the plant is expected to begin in 2015.

The new power plant will be constructed in the coastal town of Prampram, close to the industrial hub of Tema -- a major port city in West Africa -- near the new 330 kV Ghana Grid Company transmission line, the West African Gas Pipeline and the Tema Oil Refinery. The plant will be built on a fast-track basis to help alleviate the ongoing power cuts and load management in Ghana. The total investment cost of the project is expected to be about US$150million dollars.

The project is being developed in two phases of 100 MW each through the company's Ghanaian subsidiary Santerre Electric Power Company Limited (SEPCO), which has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the state-owned Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

“This project will demonstrate the maturity of thermal power technology, which can be efficiently harnessed to tackle Ghana's recurrent electric power shortages. A Land Transfer Agreement has been signed for the Project; and the project site is located close to a strategic industrial area less than 1km north of the sea," said SANTERRE President and CEO, Mr. Charles Hardeman.

"SANTERRE's track-record of developing major energy infrastructure projects will help to reduce Ghana's energy challenges. We are very grateful for the trust that has been placed in us by the Electricity Company of Ghana and the partners supporting us in this important project.”

Very significantly, "the construction, operation and maintenance of the plant will stimulate national socio-economic development and is expected to create about 1,000 jobs, as well as a supply chain that will foster economic growth," said Mr. Prince Kassim Alubankudi, SANTERRE's Country Representative in Ghana.

The 200MW power plant is being developed and sponsored in cooperation with experienced local partner companies: ACEC Investments Limited, the Ghanaian incorporated subsidiary of India-based ACEC that is led by the presidential award winning Colonel Raj Kalra (retired), an Engineer and former Indian Army Official; and Petro-Electric Company Ghana Limited, the Ghanaian firm that initiated and conceptualised the project.

SANTERRE Limited is a US-based international infrastructure development company with wide experience in privately financed infrastructure developments worldwide, including the first Public Private Partnership (PPP) power projects in Malaysia and Indonesia, respectively.