Kaleo Solar Power Station

The Kaleo Power Station is a 13 MW solar power plant in Ghana. The solar farm is owned and was developed by the Volta River Authority, between February 2020 and August 2022. The power off-taker is GRIDCo (Ghana Grid Company), which integrates the electricity into the national grid.

Location
The power station is located on 20.4 ha, in the town of Kaleo, in Nadowli-Kaleo District, in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Kaleo is located approximately 27.5 km southeast of the town of Nadowli, the district headquarters. This is about 18.5 km northwest of the city of Wa, the capital of Ghana's Upper West Region. Kaleo is located approximately 714 km northwest of Accra the capital and largest city of Ghana. The geographical coordinates of Kaleo Solar Farm are:10°10'27.0"N, 2°32'01.0"W (Latitude:10.174167; Longitude:-2.533611).

Overview
The power station has a generation capacity of 13 MW in the first phase. The second phase with new generation capacity of 15 MW is expected to start construction in 2022 and reach commercial commissioning in 2023. This will bring generation capacity at Kaleo to a total of 28 MW.

The power is evacuated via a 167kV high voltage transmission line to a GRIDCo substation in Wa, about 15 km away, where the electricity is fed into the national grid. This power station, together with Lawra Solar Power Station, with capacity of 4 MW are intended to supply stable renewable power to the city of Wa and the surrounding metropolis.

Developers
The power station was developed by Volta River Authority (VRA), who also own and operate the solar farm. At the same time, VRA developed the 4 MW Lawra Solar Power Station, on 6.13 ha in the town of Lawra. The town of Lawra, Ghana is located about 71 km northwest of Kaleo, close to the border with Burkina Faso.

Construction and funding
The construction costs for Kaleo Solar Farm (13 MW) and Lawra Solar Farm (4 MW) were reported to be approximately US$25 million (€20.2 million), with loan support from the German Development Bank (KfW). VRA is expected to borrow another €15 million from KfW to add another 15 MW in the second phase at Kaleo.