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Bulk electricity supply point project in Ghana

The Millennium Challenge Corporation and Millennium Development Authority appointed SMEC, a construction engineering company, to address Ghana’s constrained T&D systems to deal with the country’s unreliable power supply.

The five-year programme was geared towards improving the operation and finances of the Electricity Company of Ghana by reducing technical losses and improving the quality and reliability of electricity in Greater Accra and its environs.

The project includes the construction of 1,400km of LV distribution lines, 400 new transformers and extending MV lines to reduce technical losses across Greater Accra.

The $316 million project includes a geographic information system mapping distribution assets, an AC testing laboratory and rehabilitation and reinforcement of distribution systems to increase connections of new traders.

“An air-insulated switchgear bulk supply point (BSP) 330/33kV; a gas-insulated switchgear BSP 161/33kV with STATCOM; two primary substations equipped with 2x39MVA transformers each and 33/11kV switchgear; and a Meter Management System to control up to six million smart meters.”

Root Cause Analysis was used to identify the challenges while power system modelling software and process analysis tools were deployed to ensure the most effective designs in reducing power loss challenges after completion.

The Pokuase BSP project is currently the largest BSP in Ghana and the most technologically advanced in Online Control and Monitoring. It was designed with a 40kW, roof installed, grid-tied solar PV plant that supplements the power consumed by the substation. The Kasaoa BSP (pictured here) is one of the few gas-insulated switchgear substations in West Africa and is designed with a 60kW, roof-installed, grid-tied solar PV plant.

With 580MW to be evacuated from Pokuase BSP, the total number of circuits needed required a more than 80-metre wide wayleave using traditional towers. A combination of  the SMEC-designed tower type and undergrounding of some of the circuits resulted in wayleaves of 30 metres, which means fewer people affected and fewer financial resources spent on wayleave acquisition. ESI

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