The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has commissioned the phase one of a thermal power plant with the capacity to generate 150 megawatts of electricity at Anwomaso, in the Oforikrom Municipality of the Ashanti region. The project, which is known as the 'Kumasi 1 Thermal Power Plant Project' (K1TPP), is intended to optimize electricity generation and improve supply reliability to meet electricity demand growth in the middle belt of Ghana. It is expected to reduce transmission losses of power by 30 megawatts. The phase two of the project will see the relocation of 100MW of power to bring the total existing power to 250MW. The Volta River Authority (VRA), the operators of the plant, which was initially located at Aboadze in the Western region as the AMERI Power Plant, decided to relocate to a site adjacent to the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) K2 BSP 161kV/330kV substation at Anwomaso. The Plant will again ensure that electricity consumers in the middle and northern parts of the country receive quality and reliable power. President Akufo-Addo indicated that the project represented a significant step towards the quest to provide sustainable electricity for the nation, adding that, such initiatives boosted energy supply to meet the expectations of Ghanaians. According to him, the project was a confirmation of the government's resolve to ensure that all parts of the country had the necessary infrastructure to develop and a determination to enhance economic growth and social progress throughout Ghana. 'The Ashanti Region is renowned for the development of small and medium scale commercial industrial enterprises. It is my expectation to enhance electricity supply to these enterprises to expand and offer employment opportunities to our youth,' the President assured. He said one of the government's commitments had been the delivery of affordable and reliable electricity to drive the nation's industrialization agenda to position Ghana to become the net exporter of electricity in the ECOWAS region. 'Our nation al electrification rate which is 88.8 percent is one of the highest on the continent and the goal is to have full electricity access by the end of 2024.' President Akufo-Addo mentioned that in the areas of power generation, transmission and distribution, the government continued to make significant investments towards the provision of a reliable and competitively priced electricity to ensure economic growth and this was part of the commitment to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Source: Ghana News Agency