On 9th May 2016, the final Power Purchase Agreement for the 225 MW wind farm at Ayitepa was signed at the Headquarters of the Electricity Company of Ghana Ltd. (ECG) in Accra.

Signing took place after a longer period of negotiations between the Ghanaian Authorities and us after this PPA was initialed already back in March 2015. The Agreement is two-phased and secures to the project company Upwind Ayitepa Ltd. the delivery of 150 MW of clean wind power in a first phase with the clear intention to increase the project to 225 MW in a second phase. It is the first PPA signed in Ghana for a wind park and therefore has a pioneering character.

With this very important project development step, the last document required for the completion of the permitting process could be secured. The Ayitepa wind farm project has now received all permits and contracts to reach financial close in the near future.

The PPA was signed by Mr. Robert Dwamena, acting Managing Director of ECG, and Mr. Michael Wuddah-Martey, NEK’s country manager for Ghana. The document was witnessed by Mrs. Louisa Dei, who works for NEK (Ghana) Ltd. related to ECG issues, and by Mr. Cephas Galley, legal counsel at ECG.

Commenting on this PPA, Mr. Michael Wuddah-Martey said: “This is the biggest milestone for our first large scale wind project in Western Africa. This signature shows that the Government of Ghana is supporting the implementation of renewables in the future. We will now together with our partners for this project ensure that construction of the wind farm Ayitepa will start as quickly as possible in order to deliver the first clean power already in early 2017 to the population.

Dr. Christoph Kapp, Upwind’s CEO, commented: “This agreement is the last important permit for this wind farm and a requirement to conclude the PCOA negotiations with the Government of Ghana. It will give the investors and lenders of the project enough leverage to quickly get to financial close in the very near future.”

This project is being developed by us for Lekela Power BV, a joint venture partnership between Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd. and Actis, a leading investor in emerging markets.