Accra, Ghana – 25 October, 2016 – The Early Power consortium today announced that it has received parliamentary approval from the Government of Ghana and subsequently signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA),
which includes a 5-year extension option, with the Electricity Corporation of Ghana (ECG) for the 400 megawatt (MW) greenfield Bridge Power project.
The Early Power consortium is comprised of Endeavor Energy, a leading Africa-focused independent power development and generation company, Sage, a leading independent trading firm in Ghana and the world's premier digital industrial company General Electric through its GE Power division.
Early Power expects to reach financial close on Bridge Power in December 2016. It will develop the project in two phases – 194 MW in Phase 1 and 206 MW in Phase 2 in the coastal city of Tema, the biggest port in Ghana, 26 kilometers east of Accra. Bridge Power is expected to start producing 144 MW of first power within the first six months to help the country meet near-term power shortages.
“Bridge Power is a first of its kind in Ghana. We’ve customized the project to provide quick and reliable energy production for Ghanaians in order to assist Ghana’s economic growth and create jobs,” said Endeavor CEO Sean Long. “Our understanding of Ghana’s long-term vision for its power sector is built on having reliable and diversified energy. Bridge Power checks all those boxes.”
The project, which is being built in the most economically active part of the country so that transmission losses to most residential and industrial customers will be very low, will have significant economic benefits. While Ghana’s economy has grown by an average rate of 7 percent annually over the past 16 years, the provision of additional, reliable power will further bolster the country’s economic success. Ghana is estimated to need at least an additional 2,000 MW of power generation over the next five years. Bridge Power will not only provide more than 12 percent of the country’s planned power generating capacity by 2020, it will also enable the growth of industrial sectors, light manufacturing and agro-based processing.
Bridge Power is the first Ghanaian project to use a Put Call Option Agreement (PCOA). It allows the Ghanaian government to purchase the plant and associated infrastructure in the unlikely event of an early termination, which means any payment under the PCOA will result in the government and by extension, the Ghanaian people, getting a valuable asset in return.
Endeavor will provide the majority of the equity investment required to accelerate the project. It was also manage construction, and then operate and maintain the plant while Sage will be responsible for the fuel supply for the project. Sage created the gas-to-power fuel solution for the project, using LPG as the primary feedstock for the power plant. Bridge Power is the first such plant in Africa and when completed it will be the largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fired power plant in the world. In addition to LPG, which is cleaner and cheaper than light crude oil, Bridge Power will be capable of being fueled by natural gas and diesel. This aspect ensures the project can provide reliable, base load generating capacity and inject some much needed diversification into the Ghanaian generation mix as it will not be vulnerable to the vagaries of rainfall and water levels at the nation’s dams or any issues with gas supply.
“From our perspective as a company involved in the Ghanaian energy sector, this is the first IPP project we have been involved in as a peer-partner with significant Ghanaian content, and there is great value in working alongside and pitching in our expertise with international companies with the experience and expertise of GE and Endeavor Energy,” noted Emmanuel Egyei-Mensah, CEO of Sage. “Being the first LPG-fired plant in Africa, it is a pioneering example of using clean fuel for power generation in Africa as an alternative to natural gas.”
Across the two phases of the project, GE, the third member of the consortium, will provide 400 MW of power generating capacity through nine GE gas turbines and two purpose built GE steam turbines in two separate combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) configurations. In combined cycle plants, the waste heat from the first turbines can be used to power other turbines, thereby generating more electricity and making the whole project more efficient. Also, each of the nine gas turbines can operate independently, allowing ECG to more efficiently match supply to actual demand.
Additionally, GE will provide an 'on balance sheet' financing solution for the capital required for an acceleration of the first phase of the project as well as a long-term service agreement for the life of the project to ensure reliability and power plant availability of world-class standards.
GE Ghana CEO, Leslie Nelson commented, “Bridge Power for GE is much more than just another power plant. This project represents the first integrated gas-to-power project we will successfully deploy on the continent. Our goal was to successfully create and implement a gas-to-power project that included a full gas solution and financing package and then deploy this model to other countries that are not endowed with cost-efficient fuel sources.”
He added, “We at GE are very proud of the multiple technical, commercial and financial innovative solutions developed by GE, Sage and Endeavor Energy alongside ECG for this project.”
The cost of development and construction of the project will be born 100 percent by equity invested and debt raised by Early Power.
For more information about Bridge Power, please visit www.endeavor-energy.com.
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About Endeavor Energy
Endeavor Energy is a leading independent power producer (IPP) company focused on Africa with its headquarters in Houston, Texas, USA and offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, Accra, Ghana, Conakry, Guinea and Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Endeavor Energy develops, acquires, finances, owns and operates thermal, hydroelectric, biomass, waste-to-energy and “hybrid, first-of their-kind” power generation plants in Africa.
Endeavor Energy is led by a seasoned management team with over 200 years of combined IPP experience around the world, and a proven record of identifying and executing on project development and acquisition opportunities in Africa and elsewhere. With the financial backing of energy-focused global private equity investor Denham Capital, the company possesses significant financial and operational capability to generate and participate in multiple power development projects in Africa. Endeavor Energy is also a sponsor of the U.S. government’s Power Africa initiative. For additional information, please call +1 (281) 369-5908 or email us at contact.us@endeavor-energy.com. For more information about Endeavor, visit www.endeavor-energy.com.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is the world’s Digital Industrial Company, transforming industry with software-defined machines and solutions that are connected, responsive and predictive. GE is organized around a global exchange of knowledge, the "GE Store," through which each business shares and accesses the same technology, markets, structure and intellect. Each invention further fuels innovation and application across our industrial sectors. With people, services, technology and scale, GE delivers better outcomes for customers by speaking the language of industry.
GE first started operating in Sub-Saharan Africa over 100 years ago. However in 2011, we decided to renew our focus to meet Africa’s current and future needs. Our footprint in sub-Saharan Africa now consists of over 2600 employees, revenues of about $3.3 billion dollars (2015) and operations in 25 countries. GE’s main operations in SSA are in Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Ghana, Mozambique and Kenya where its SSA Headquarters is located.
About Sage
One of Ghana’s leading independent energy trading companies, Sage is part of The Quantum Group of companies, a wholly-owned Ghanaian entity that employs more than 2500 people, with interests in Petroleum Trading & Distribution, Terminals & Infrastructure development, Power Generation and Technology & Communications sectors. Some of the groups’ petroleum related projects include a 100,000MT Liquids storage in Tema and a 1500cbm LPG storage and evacuation facility at Atuabo. Sage has its main operations in Ghana and is actively exploring the West and East Africa markets. For more information about Sage, visit www.sagetradinggroup.com.
About Denham Capital
Denham Capital is a leading energy and resources-focused global private equity firm with more than $8.4 billion of invested and committed capital across eight fund vehicles and offices in London, Boston, Houston and Perth. The firm makes direct investments in the energy and resources sectors, including businesses involving power generation, oil and gas, and mining, across the globe and all stages of the corporate lifecycle. Denham’s investment professionals apply deep operational and industry experience and work in partnership with management teams to achieve long-term investment objectives. For more information about Denham Capital, visit www.denhamcapital.com.
