Ghana: Mainstream buys Ayitepa wind project, but grid capacity in doubt

Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power announced an agreement on 15 September to purchase the 225MW Ayitepa wind farm project from Swiss developer NEK Umwelttechnik. Mainstream said the project was in the latter stages of development with all major permits secured. Grid and offtake agreements are being finalised, and the $525m scheme is expected to reach financial close in 2015 and start generating power early in 2016, according to Mainstream. The government has described the scheme as a major contribution to Ghana’s target of raising green energy production to 500MW by 2020 from 2.5MW now, but there are concerns about the capacity of the grid to transmit the power.