The Public Relations Officer of the Volta River Authority, David Prah has disclosed it will take up to 3 years to complete the US$993 million
Pwalugu multi-purpose dam project.
The project was scheduled for completion in 50 months after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo cut the sod for works to begin over a year ago.
However, it was widely reported that President Akufo-Addo said the major construction project will be completed in 15 months.
Making some clarifications on the timeline for the completion of the project, David Prah said the estimated period as announced by President Akufo Addo was to prepare the site for actual construction which will begin in November 2021 and will take three years to complete.
“The President was not saying that in 15 months the project will be completed. The President was talking about all the processes that we need to go
through before the actual dam construction takes place because you are talking about 11,000 hectares of land.”
“We begin actual land construction between November and December this year. The actual land construction will take about three years,” Prah
clarified.
The Pwalugu project is expected to avert water spillage from the Bagre Dam, which is situated in Burkina Faso that has always caused havoc to residents, particularly those in the Upper East and North East regions as well as destruction of farmlands.
It will also contribute to the socio-economic development of the country through an improved, efficient and cost-effective irrigated year-long agricultural production and hydropower generation.
About Pwalugu project
The main purpose of building the Pwalugu Dam is to store water for hydropower, the irrigation scheme downstream, and flood protection for people living in the White Volta Basin.
The Ministry of Energy is representing the Government of Ghana in the EPC/Turnkey Contract for an amount of US$366.911 million for the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of a 50MW Hydro-Power Plant; another EPC of a SOMWac Solar Power Plant in Pwalugu.
It is an EPC/Turnkey contract agreement between the Government of Ghana (represented by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture) and Powerchina International Group Limited for an amount US$474.042 million for EPC of a 24,000-hectare Irrigation Scheme.
The entire project is being executed by a Chinese construction firm, Power China International and supervised by the Volta River Authority over a period of five years.
While the 50MW solar power electricity will be sited at Kurugu in the East Mamprusi Municipal in the North East Region, the 60MW hydropower will be sited at Nungu in the Talensi District of the Upper East Region.
