The Juaben Oil Mills and the Juaben community in the Ashanti Region are reaping immense benefits from a 500-kilowatt (half a megawatt) electric power generated from the company's waste products. Currently, the company has extended electricity to the local hospital and water treatment plant in the town free of charge to ease the effects of the energy crisis on the people. It has also expanded its operations partly because of the availability of energy to feed the mills. Officials of the company told the Daily Graphic at Juaben on Thursday that the energy generated from the turbines powered by steam from the waste products had the capacity to supply power to the whole community. However, much as they would have wished to supply power to the entire community the company would not be able to do so because it would be in conflict with the programme of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). The company established the plant in 2005. Since the establishment of the plant, the company had been saving about ¢38 million a month from energy usage, and had never had problems with power supply. The officials said that the company had, as part of its expansion programme, installed a plant to produce vegetable oil. They said the power generated from the turbines was in excess of what was currently being used. Juaben Oil Mills is a joint venture between the Juaben Oil Mills Limited and the Juaben Traditional Council. It used to be part of the state farms established by the Kutu Acheampong regime, but it was divested under the NDC government in 1994. The Juaben Traditional Council, which bought it, embarked on an expansion exercise to make it one of the leading oil mills in the country. The officials said the electric plant had contributed immensely to the giant strides made by the company in its operations and commended the Juabenhene, Nana Otuo Serebuor for his foresight. Source: Daily Graphic