The Central University of Ghana is now partly lit by electricity produced from renewable source. This is a mini solar photovoltaic power plant that has just been commissioned at this research and higher education institution based in the city of Tema, near Accra, the capital of Ghana. The project was implemented by the German company Ecoligo, which specializes in financing small solar projects.
It has a partnership with the Ghanaian company Yingli Namene West Africa, which designs, supplies and builds mini solar power plants. The one that has just been commissioned at the Central University, located in Tema, has a production capacity of 401 kWp.
According to Ecoligo, this installation will prevent 192 tonnes of CO² emissions per year. Its construction required an investment of 445,000 euros, which was entirely financed by crowdinvestors on the ecoligo.investments crowdfunding platform. The administration of the Central University will simply pay an invoice that includes the costs of maintenance, monitoring, and insurance.
According to Ecoligo, Ghanaian companies can use the sun’s rays to save money, but there are currently no financing solutions appropriate to the situation to make the investment profitable. The Berlin-based company is solving this problem by relying on Yingli Namene West Africa. The latter has also entered into a partnership with CrossBoundary Energy Ghana, a subsidiary of CrossBoundary Energy, an investment fund that finances off-grid solar roof projects for companies in Africa.
In February 2019, CrossBoundary Energy and Yingli Namene West Africa commissioned a 400.4 MWp solar off grid on the rooftop of the Spintex Road bottling plant of the Ghanaian company, Kasapreko Company in Accra.
Jean Marie Takouleu