Bui Dam project completion date in limbo

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Created on Saturday, 05 May 2012 00:00

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Bui Dam project completion date in limbo

There is conflicting information on when the first phase of the Bui Dam project will be completed.

Whilst the Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, Jabesh Amissah Arthur is projecting June 2013, the Deputy Energy Minister Inusah Fuseini is convinced the first phase would be completed by December this year.

The two were speaking to Joy News in separate interviews on the progress of work on the Bui Dam project.

Electricity from the Bui Dam project will create an additional 400 megawatt of electricity in the country.

“We have been working towards starting the first commissioning [of the dam] before the close of the year. That is what we have been trying to achieve but there are uncertainties that will not unable us to achieve that, Amissah Arthur said.

Asked what those uncertainties were, the CEO mentioned financial difficulties and other challenges he was not ready to put in the public domain until he had discussed them with the board of the Bui Dam Authority.

He said the contractor is required to complete the project by June 2013 but they had wanted to expedite works so that it would be completed early enough but “It looks like that hope for December 2012 may not materialize.”

On the contrary, the deputy Energy Minister Inusah Fuseini believes the first phase is likely to be completed by the end of December this year.

“By the end of this year one turbine will be put in operation… So the first phase of the implementation of the project is likely to come on by the end of this year.

“We will have 133 megawatts of power brought onto the plate by the end of this year. That is what the schedule is telling me. That is what the technical advisors are telling me,” he said.

He said the project has faced some financial difficulties which have necessitated the complete review of the project with an additional requirement of $168 million to complete the project.

He was however hopeful the first phase will be completed this year.

From:Nathan GadugahMy/joyonline.com