Interconnection Bolgatanga Ouagadougou - IRS for EIB

The 210 km long 225 kV power interconnection between Bolgatanga in Ghana and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso – 171 km in Burkina Faso and 17 km in Ghana – will enable up to 100 MW of electricity generated in Ghana to be exported to Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in the Sahel region, where power generation, essentially produced by thermal power plants, is expensive. This operation will also serve to make the supply of power by SONABEL, the electricity company in Burkina Faso alongside GRIDCo, Ghana’s grid company, more reliable. This is one of the priority projects of the West African Power Pool, an entity of ECOWAS aimed at creating a regional electricity market in West Africa.

The project further includes the expansion of the existing 161/34.5 kV into a 225/161/34.5 kV substation at Bolgatanga, as well as the 225/90 kV substation at Zagtouli in Burkina Faso, plus a new 90/33 kV substation at Patte d’Oie, also in Burkina Faso, as well as associated national SCADA systems and rural electrification of villages located along the line in Burkina Faso.

A power purchase agreement was signed between Volta River Authority in charge of generation in Ghana and SONABEL. In addition, a power transfer agreement was sealed also between GRIDCO and SONABEL.

The total cost of the interconnection project of about EUR 81m was financed by the World Bank, AFD, EIB, SONABEL and GRIDCO.

The interconnection line is commissioned and in operation since June 2018 allowing the export of 40-50 MW of electricity from Ghana to Burkina Faso. The implementation of this line is a step further towards regional electricity integration in West Africa, as envisioned by the West African Power Pool.