Ghana frustrates and excites power developers

The Ghanaian government has finalised a transitional power plan (TPP) setting out priorities for projects over the next three years, and has begun to prepare the distribution system for privatisation. Talk of a big hydrocarbons find offshore might further cloud the waters but overall, after a long period of confusion, the shape of Ghana’s energy sector in the next decade is coming into sharper relief. This offers considerable potential for some companies exploring private power and other energy development options, but disappointments for others, including two US firms, KMR Power and Marathon Power Antares, which in 1998-99 negotiated projects that have now been shelved, at least temporarily.