The power of Bui Dam
The Bui Hydroelectric Power Project, inaugurated in December 2013, is one of the three main hydroelectric plants providing power in Ghana.
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The other two are the Akosombo and the Kpong power plants. The Bui project is one of the most beneficial results of the long-standing relationship between Ghana and China.
The plant, constructed on the Black Volta River in the Brong Ahafo Region, has added 400 megawatts of power to Ghana’s installed power capacity.
Brief history
The idea to construct the Bui Dam was conceived by the British-Australian geologist, Albert Ernest Kitson, in 1925.
Even though there was a plan to begin its construction in the 1960s when the Akosombo Dam was constructed further downstream on the Volta River, that did not materialise.
It was in 2005 that the J. A. Kufuor government took the decision for the dam to be built.
The construction became a reality when a Chinese company, Sinohydro, submitted a bid with funding from the Chinese Exim Bank.
Funding
The Exim Bank provided a concessional loan of $270 million and a commercial loan of $272 million, while the government of Ghana added a funding of $60 million to make up for the initial $622 million cost of the project.
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A cost review of the project in 2012, however, raised the initial cost by $168 million to bring the total cost to $790 million.
The two loans contracted from the China Exim Bank have a period of grace of five years and an amortisation period of 20 years.
Under the agreement, proceeds of 30,000 tonnes of cocoa per year exported to China is placed in an escrow account at the Exim Bank to serve as collateral for the loan.
Now that the project has become operational, 85 per cent of the proceeds of electricity sales from the hydropower plant goes to the escrow account. If all proceeds are not used in servicing the loan, the remainder reverts to the government of Ghana.
Project details
The Bui Dam has a height of 108m above the foundation and 90m above the riverbed. The crest of the dam is 492m long and 185m high. The overall structural volume of the dam is one million cubic metres.
It is a multipurpose dam which, besides generating power, provides water for irrigation.
The project also included the construction of two saddle dams on the south-western part of the main dam. The two saddle dams have a crest elevation of 187m. One of the saddle dams is a rock-filled embankment dam, whereas the other one is an earth-filled dam.
The reservoir created by the main dam and the two saddle dams has a gross capacity of 12.57 billion cubic metres, of which about 61 per cent is utilised for power generation and irrigation.
The Bui Reservoir covers a total area of 444 square kilometres at a maximum elevation of 183m and an average length of 40km.
The spillway comprises five gates, measuring 15m each in width, to regulate the flow of water.
A bridge has also been constructed across the Black Volta River downstream of Bui Dam to connect the Brong Ahafo and the Northern regions.
Resettlement
The construction of the dam resulted in the resettlement of a total of 1,216 people within the project area. In all, 444-kilometre square of land was inundated.
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Fishes and animals such as hippopotamuses were also resettled and that sparked revolt from some environmentalists.
Benefits
The Bui hydropower plant will increase the installed electricity generation capacity of Ghana by 400 megawatts.
In addition, like all hydro power plants, the project avoids greenhouse gas emissions that would have occurred if thermal power plants had been built instead.
An additional expected benefit is the irrigation of high-yield crops on 30,000 hectares of fertile land in an Economic Free Zone.
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