GHANA TO ANNOUNCE SITE FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

GHANA TO ANNOUNCE SITE FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The Deputy Minister of Energy for the Republic of Ghana, Hon. William Owuraku Aidoo, has stated that the country’s government is expected to announce a site and vendor for the deployment of Ghana’s first commercial nuclear power station.

Following a feasibility assessment, project developer Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) submitted a report on four coastal sites – identified in late-2021 – and five international vendors to cabinet for evaluation and approval.

“Recently, steps are being taken to finalize the selection of a preferred site to Ghana’s first nuclear power plant. Recently, Ghana issued a Request of Information (RFI) as part of the required processes to identify a vendor country and nuclear technology,” Hon. Deputy Minister Aidoo stated on 19 July, adding that, “Currently, the RFI Report is under review and Government will soon announce a decision on vendor and technology.”

Hon. Deputy Minister Aidoo went on to explain that the deployment of nuclear energy in Ghana is in line with the country’s green energy commitments and the government’s short- to medium-term strategy of improving industrialization and socio-economic development within the west African country.

In 2012, the Ghana Nuclear Power Organization program, an organization developed to manage Ghana’s first nuclear power project, established a three-phase approach to introducing a sustainable, affordable and reliable base-load option for electricity generation within the country, with a Memorandum of Understanding having been signed that year for the peaceful use of atomic energy.

The NPG is currently in the second phase of the program, which involves the preparatory work required for the construction of a nuclear power plant following the development of technical studies, policies and power sector assessments, with the project developer’s Executive Director, Dr. Stephen Yamaoh, having stated that deliverables for the second phase would include the site approval and evaluation reports.

The Government of Ghana has set the targeted operation of the country’s first nuclear reactor by 2030.

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