The Kasoa BSP, a 435 MVA Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS) sub-station, when completed, would be the second largest Bulk Supply Station in the country after the Pokuase BSP, which is currently under construction.

Funding for the project is provided by the United States Government, through its Agency the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), as part of the grant funds provided to Ghana under the Ghana Power Compact Programme.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Communications and Outreach Unit of MiDA and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Monday.

The statement said the Power Compact programme is funding among others two BSPs in Kasoa and Pokuase BSPs, Primary Substations, Low Bifurcation Projects, Energy Efficiency Interventions in Public Institutions and capacity building support to Regulators of the power sector. 

Ahead of the site handover to the Contractor for the start of construction works on January 31, 2020, a three-day Kick-off meeting was organised by the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) for the beneficiary institutions and Siemens from France, the Contractor for the Project.

The participating organisations included; the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), both direct beneficiaries of the sub-station, Project Engineers SMEC PLC, Representatives of the MCC led by Ms Elizabeth Feleke, Deputy Resident Country Director, and other Consultants on the Project on Monday, January 28.

Mr Martin Eson-Benjamin, the CEO of MiDA, in his opening remarks, said the Project is a critical asset needed to improve services in order to meet the increasing demands of commerce, industry and numerous domestic consumers located in the fast growing Kasoa Municipality and its environs.

He added that the BSP would help "boost socio-economic activities and support Government's development agenda planned for the Municipality."

The construction of the Bulk Substation and its related Interconnecting Circuits will take 18 months to complete.

Upon completion, the infrastructure would contribute to reducing the frequent and duration of power outages suffered by communities and businesses in Kasoa and its surrounding communities.

It would also reduce the transmission and distribution system losses suffered by GRIDCo and ECG respectively and ultimately improve the operational and financial performance of the Utilities firms.

The Kasoa BSP forms part of activities under the ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) Project. 

The Project seeks to make investments in ECG's network in order to reduce technical, commercial, and collection losses and improve service quality.