Ghana’s industrialisation agenda is expected to be boosted by the presence of Africa’s largest 'Solar Rooftop Project' situated at the Free Zones Enclave at Tema.

Owned by Helios Solar Company (Helios) and part of the LMI Holdings Group, the rooftop solar project will supply 16.82 megawatt of energy to Helios and its partners.

Chief Executive Officer of LMI Group Holdings, Kojo Aduhene, disclosed this when the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh and his team, paid a day working visit to the site of the project.

According to him, this achievement by Helios Solar represents a significant milestone for the company and underscores its commitment to facilitating Ghana’s industrialization ambitions.

The project is fully funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) as part of $30 million clean power and water deal with LMI Holdings to support job creation and greener, more sustainable, and more competitive industrial development in the country.

“As an indigenous Ghanaian company, LMI is committed to the task of facilitating Ghana's industrialisation ambitions and boosting exports. This partnership with IFC gives LMI the means and space to make big bets in Ghana and beyond. Through this investment, the project will demonstrate how the private sector can bring effective solutions to development challenges. Helios Solar of LMI Holdings seek to support Ghana’s industrialisation ambitions for a greener and more sustainable future and support job creation,” said Mr. Aduhene.

Kyle Kelhofer, IFC’s Senior Country Manager for Ghana, also said “This project demonstrates how the private sector can bring effective solutions to development challenges and support job creation. Through this investment, IFC’s first that is funding both infrastructure and development in an industrial special economic zone in sub-Saharan Africa, IFC is supporting Ghana’s industrialization ambitions for a greener and more sustainable future".

The solar plant, compared with current thermal power on the national grid, is expected, to reduce Ghana’s emissions by approximately 13,000 tons of CO2 equivalent annually.

The PV Solar project involves the installation of 29,252 solar panels of the latest N-type technology across a rooftop area of 95,000m2 of the International Warehousing Company Mega-warehouse located in the Tema Freezone. A total of 128 Ghanaian nationals are directly employed in the implementation of the solar project.

Once in use, it is projected that the solar system will annually produce 24,750 megawatts per hour (MWH) of clean, stable and sustainable electricity, and this quantum of power generated is equivalent to the annual consumption of 55,000 homes in other words the capacity of the plant can power 55,000 homes.

The PV Solar project is engineered by Ghana-based solar energy firm, Dutch and Co. which are the EPC and O&M contractor, on the project.

LMI Holdings is an industrial and property development group offering construction, land development, utilities and logistics services in Ghana. LMI is wholly owned by Kojo Aduhene, a Ghanaian entrepreneur.