Africa’s largest floating solar system

DW (English)

Ghana has installed a huge solar energy array on the Bui reservoir, cutting land use and boosting renewable energy output. The project can also protect aquatic life from overheating.

Transcript

00:00It covers the size of five football pitches and floats on the Bui Reservoir on the Black

00:07Volta River in Western Ghana.

00:10This swimming solar power farm is the first of its kind in West Africa.

00:17Panels are resting on the floaters and we are using the same floaters as the walkway

00:22as you can see that I'm standing on one.

00:25For maintenance purposes we are able to come and have a daily inspection as you can see

00:31my team doing.

00:32So each day we do an inspection on the PV models and the cables that we have here.

00:41Floating solar panels have some advantages over those on land.

00:44They take up less space and can be positioned closer together.

00:48The swimming panels generate energy from light above and below.

00:56The sun is reflecting up here and we are having another reflection below the PV models because

01:05we call something the albedo index.

01:07The reflective index of the river is very high and so we are able to also generate from below.

01:15The floating solar power plant currently generates five megawatts at peak output.

01:20According to the energy company, this is enough to power the closest town, Wenshi, with a

01:25population of around 40,000.

01:28Combined with the electricity from Bui's hydroelectric plant and the panels on the land, hundreds

01:33of thousands of homes can be supplied with clean energy.

01:40In the control room of the floating power station, engineers check that everything is

01:44running smoothly.

01:47Outside, the inspection is still ongoing.

01:53The power plant has given many women the opportunity to work in a field that used to be male-dominated.

02:01Working here has given me a lot of opportunities and I've got a lot of satisfaction working

02:06in a male-dominated area.

02:07The authority has some strategic policies that allows you to work and feel okay in terms

02:16of no one will feel neglected, bullied.

02:19We are operating in an environment where all voices are heard.

02:23No one will take you for granted.

02:24Sexual harassment is not tolerated here because there are a lot of strict and strategic policies

02:31that guide us here.

02:33The Bui hydro power plant was finished in 2013, but has not been without controversy.

02:39Its dam flooded around a fifth of the bordering national park and fertile farmland.

02:45More than a thousand people from eight communities, including the village of Bato Akanyakrom,

02:50were resettled.

02:52This poster challenged their livelihoods, but some were compensated.

03:01They asked us what trade we want to learn and each one made their choice.

03:05I chose tailor.

03:06They bought me the machine and paid for training.

03:09Now I am close to graduation and will soon be making my own money.

03:20Others living downstream from the dam complain that conditions have worsened since it was

03:24built.

03:30When the dam wasn't there, fishing was good, but now they control the water and that affects

03:36those of us who fish on the periphery.

03:39We used to get good catches, now we are struggling.

03:43Engineer Maximilan Kwateng, however, says that fingerling populations below the solar

03:48panels appear to be thriving.

03:50The shade from the panels is also believed to help prevent evaporation.

03:58Some experts believe that the floating plant could negatively affect aquatic life in the

04:02river.

04:03We are covering the water surface with the PV system, reducing the penetration of light

04:14into the water.

04:15So it is possible that there is aquatic life in there that needs some appreciable amount

04:23of sunshine that will be affected.

04:28There are also plants that will not get sufficient sunlight for their growth because they will

04:38need that for their photosynthesis and therefore there are fish that also depend on those plants.

04:45There is no doubt that the dam has had an impact, both positive and negative, on the

04:51region.

04:53But the combination of hydro and solar power is helping Ghana become more energy independent

04:58and shift away from fossil fuels.

05:02Now it generates only 1% of its electricity from renewables.

05:07It's aiming for 10% by 2030.

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