French/Ghanaian Company To Build Biogas Plant

France's leading biogas energy producer, Arkolia Energies, has reaffirmed its commitment to construct and operate a biogas plant in Ghana.

The biogas energy concern has entered into a joint venture with Ghana's Umawa in what is now known as Arkolia-Umawa Ghana Limited. Arkolia-Umawa Ghana Limited is currently seeking to establish a biogas plant in the Ashanti regional capital, Kumasi.

At a meeting with a five-member energy team at Amiens in northern France, the Chairman of Arkolia-Umawa Ghana Limited, Mr Alain Planchot, said his company was fully committed to its intention to construct the biogas plant for the people in Kumasi, otherwise known as the Garden City.

According to him, there had been a lot of preparations, including meetings with relevant stakeholders in Ghana's energy sector. Mr Planchot and two of his executives visited Accra and Kumasi in March in connection with the construction of the biogas plant.

He indicated that if the authorities in charge of Ghana's energy sector complemented their drive and commitment to the project, they would be able to work within the scheduled period of constructing the plant in January next year.

The Technical Director in-charge of Renewable Energy at Ghana’s Energy Commission, Dr Nii Darko Asante, and the acting Divisional Manager of Investigations and Prosecutions at the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr Johnson Adeku, were at the meeting.

The others were the acting Design Manager, Mr Osei Yaw Adofo, and an Assistant Economist, Mr Collins Dadzie, both of the ECG. Unlike solar, biogas acts like a two-edged sword by helping to turn solid waste into commercial quantities of energy.

"If there is anything that Ghana needs at this moment, it is the biogas plant because currently we have challenges with both solid waste management and reliable energy," an official of Umawa Ghana Limited stated.

Source: Graphic Online