BPA has completed the construction of a 5MWp Floating Solar PV System on the Bui reservoir. It is the first of its kind in the West African sub-region. The floating solar power plant is an innovative approach of using photovoltaic modules on water infrastructures to conserve the land along with increase in efficiency of the module. Additionally, the water is also conserved due to reduction in evaporation of water from the water body. The plant can be installed on a pond, lake, reservoir, or on any other water body.
The completion of this project also contributes to delivering on the promise in our National Energy plan to increase the penetration of renewable energy by 10% by 2030.
The 5MW Floating Solar plant is also part of the successful implementation of the Bui Hydro-Solar Hybrid (HSH) system, a significant milestone for Ghana within the West African sub-region. This innovative system in addition to the already existing 50MWp land based solar farm is the largest farm so far in Ghana. The combined generation from 404MW hydro plant and 55MWp solar plants, further advances the region’s renewable energy capabilities.
Electricity generation from solar is intermittent and to ensure that the national grid system is not interrupted by the fluctuations from the solar farms, a state-of-the-art 30MWh Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) has been installed to provide backup power to mitigate the intermittencies associated with solar generation. This advanced technology, commonly utilized in renewable energy systems, ensures a stable power frequency to the grid during the hybridization process, further enhancing the system’s reliability.
Currently, there are plans in progress to augment the existing 5MWp with an additional 10MWp, resulting in a total of 15MWp.