Firm commences construction of $552m power plant
The ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund, (ARMHIF), has commenced the construction of the $552 million Amandi Energy Power Plant, a 200 megawatt combined cycle, dual-fuel power project in Aboadze, Ghana.
In a statement made available by the project company to Daily Trust in Lagos, the facility also known as Amandi Independent Power Project, (IPP), is described as “the only large scale base-load independent power generation project in sub-Saharan Africa.”
The statement added on completion, the plant will be one of the most efficient in the country and will produce more than 1,600 gigawatts hours per year, energising up to one million Ghanaian households.
According to the statement, the $552 million investment required for the project, US$134 million in equity comes from the sponsor group, which includes Endeavor Energy, Amandi Founder Group, Aldwych International, Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 (PAIDF2) managed by Harith General Partners and ARMHIF.
It said: “The $418 million in debt financing is provided by a group of lenders, including the U.S. Government’s development finance institution, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), which will provide a US$250 million loan; CDC Group plc, which will provide an US$83 million loan; as well as Nedbank Limited and Rand Merchant Bank.
The statement noted that if taken together with the $868 million AzuraEdo IPP in Nigeria, for which financial close was achieved in 2016, ARMHIF can be said to have invested in two significant power assets that give further credence to the Fund’s West Africa strategy.