Ghana has secured US $36 million green loan from the UK government to bolster solar-powered water project in rural Ghana. The solar-powered water project set to begin in September will use a technology developed by UK-based firm Aqua Africa, to sterilise drinking water for communities in Ghana.
An agreement between Aqua Africa and Ghana’s sanitation and water resources ministry saw the country secure the direct UK Export Finance (UKEF) loan in support of a project that is aiming to alleviate clean water stress for about 225,000 people in Ghana.
According to the project partners, the first phase will see filtration units deployed to deliver water to about 225,000 people starting January next year and five further phases will subsequently see the project deliver the rollout of the water pipe systems to the remaining 200,000 people, while deploying smart metering and cashless payment systems to provide income from water sales by mid-2022.
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Ghana’s Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Cecilia Dapaah was optimistic that the green loan would play a key role in the push to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals covering climate action, clean water, and sanitation.
The water sanitation loan is part of a US $186 million package of financial support for Ghana announced by the UK government, which also includes over US $93 million in direct loans.
Aqua-Africa missionin Africa, to provide access to clean water for communities in need, is already being achieved in Southern Sudan where it has developed water supply systems (WSS) integrated with solar energy.
In one village, in the southwest of South Sudan, Aqua Africa has managed to pumps water from the groundwater table using a solar powered off grid system. The water flows up into a water tower and down to five distribution points that can provide drinking water to 2,500 people daily. The solar off grid system is equipped with batteries, which allows the water supply system to serve the population several hours after the sun goes down.
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An off-grid solar system is designed for the power needs of mid- to large-size projects. Off-grid systems have no connection to the utility grid, and must make all the electricity necessary to power a project.
Off-grid solar systems operate from the stored energy in a battery bank. Solar panels generate power to charge the battery bank. Off-grid solar system must be sized properly to meet the daily power needs and replace the stored energy pulled from the battery bank.