Amandi Energy 200MW combined cycle dual-fuel power plant

Overview:

• Amandi Energy has announced that it has successfully reached financial close and begun construction of its Amandi Energy Power Plant, a 200MW combined cycle, dual-fuel power project in Aboadze, Ghana. 
• The project was the only base-load independent power generation (IPP) project in Sub-Saharan Africa, of this scale, to achieve financial close in 2016, and should be completed by 2019.  
• The project will help Ghana to meet its rising power requirements, producing over 1600 GWh per year - enough to provide for a million Ghanaian households. 
• Financing for the project ran to $522 million, $134 million was provided in equity from the sponsor group and $418 million in debt financing by a group of lenders. 
• The sponsor group was made up of Endeavor, Association Francaise de Gestion financière, Aldwych, Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund 2 (a fund managed by Harith General Partners) and ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund (ARMHIF). 
• Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) provided a $250 million loan, CDC Group provided an $83 million loan and Nedbank Limited and Rand Merchant Bank made up the balance. 
• OPIC's involvement is the latest in the United States' Power Africa programme. 

John Crabb - Journalist