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Friday, 26th January 2007 (3222 views)

Gold Fields and three other mining companies are planning to build an electricity generating plant in order to stop the damaging effects that ongoing power shortages are having in Ghana.

Newmont, Golden Star and AngloGold Ashanti are collaborating to install a plant because the Volta River Authority has called on industrial users to cut back on their electricity consumption. This is due to low water levels in the river.

The plant will be second hand with a power of 18 megawatts.

The group of mining companies are also in talks with South Africa's state-owned power company Eskom over ways they can save electricity, because power supply is to become as big a challenge for South Africa too.

Terence Goodlace, head of Gold Fields operations in South Africa, said: "What has been envisaged with this plant is we will not have to do load shedding for 50 per cent of the combined capacity for all four of those consortium members."

He said that the firms will also have insurance so that if there is load shedding in the future then they will be protected for 50 per cent of their requirement.

 

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