Fire hits Aboadze Plant
The hope that the Volta River Authority (VRA) will soon improve power supply in the country suffered a momentary setback when a section of its thermal station at Aboadze exploded early Friday.
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The explosion caused a minor fire outbreak which was contained by fire personnel, thereby preventing it from spreading to other installations.
The incident resulted in the loss of 100 megawatts of power, which represents about 20 per cent of the plant’s production capacity.
A worker at the station was said to have been injured and taken to hospital for treatment.
What led to the explosion is yet to be known.
According to officials of the VRA, the incident would have an impact on electricity supply and the load-shedding exercise being carried out by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The incident occurred a day after the Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, had assured the country of gas supply to feed the Asogli Plant in Tema.
In spite of the incident, the Director of Thermal Energy Generation at the VRA, Mr Richard Badger, told the Daily Graphic that there was no cause for alarm.
He gave an assurance that the workers would work around the clock to reduce any impact that the explosion would have on power supply.
Mr Badger said the area where the incident took place was isolated, for which reason the incident did not affect any of the generating units.
The only affected area was the steam turbine, which has the capacity of generating 100 MW.
There was a similar explosion at the same plant on July 18, 2010 which caused extensive damage to a transformer and reduced the plant’s output by 110 MW.
The Takoradi Thermal Station consists of three power plants.
The first power plant, which is operated by the VRA, has a capacity of 330MW. It has two combustion gas turbines and one steam turbine generator.
The second plant has a capacity of 220MW and it is owned and operated by the Takoradi International Company (TICO), a joint venture between the VRA and CMS Generation, a subsidiary of TAQA.
The third plant will be a 132MW combined cycle power plant which will consist of four gas turbines, heat recovery steam generators and one steam turbine to be operated by the VRA.
Story: Moses Dotsey Aklorbortu / Daily Graphic / Ghana