NEK has carried out during the past decades a lot of wind measurements in Ghana, also along the coastline. This led to the development of 6 land-based wind energy projects in Ghana, located between Tema and Ada in the Greater Accra Region.

Having in mind the quickly increasing demand for new energy generation capacities both in Ghana and in neighbouring countries, the question arises where such installations could be placed. A lot of countries have signed in the past obligation declarations to steer their energy policy towards net zero, meaning that in the future, the main part of new generation facilities will be renewable. This, together with the fact that along the coastline of Ghana the windiest sites are already taken for NEK’s wind projects and there is not much space left onshore for additional large wind energy installations, has led us to starting the process for the development of offshore wind projects in Ghana in 2022.

In the meanwhile, the first development steps of these projects are completed. Based on different parameters as well as our own wind measurements along the complete Ghanaian coastline, two offshore sites have been identified in which now the real project development can start.

The two selected sites allow for the installation of up to 2,500 MW of capacity and are confined to regions with maximum water depths of 60 m. The distance to the shoreline is between 15 - 25 km.

NEK has recently started with the comprehensive planning and engineering processes for the planning of these wind farms. Preliminary calculations show that with these two projects, approx. 7,500 GWh of clean and homemade electricity can be produced per year, depending on the finally chosen turbine.

The projects will be connected with submarine cables to the 330 kV grid of GRIDCo (Coastal Transmission Backbone), which leads along the coast at the selected locations.

Apart from feeding the produced electricity into the network, it also can be used for the future production of Green Hydrogen, either offshore or on land.

One option is also to combine the offshore wind turbines with floating solar panels in between the turbines, a technology which also will gain much momentum in the very near future.

Thanks to the electricity which will be produced with these projects starting from 2029 - 2032 onwards, they also help Ghana to meet its commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, COP26, COP27 and the commitments undersigned in Sharm El-Sheik in 2023.