With Ghana experiencing an erratic power supply and regular blackouts known as “Dumsor”, a successful Ghanaian business woman reached out to a UK Outback specialist to help take the power into her community’s own hands. Gloria Rego, who generously supports schools, churches, and community projects in the area, set out to find a solution to the regular power outages and price hikes that has blighted Ghanaian for years.
With plans to open a soft drinks factory in Kpong, employing more than 100 local people, Gloria needed to overcome Dumsor and rectify her unreliable three-phase power grid which regularly lost phases and fluctuated from 100 to 180 volts per phase, damaging electrical equipment.
Having researched a number of renewable energy suppliers to help, Gloria came across Yorkshire-based Xerogrid, an Outback distributor and authorised service centre in the UK and Spain. As a solus outback distributor, designer and installer, Xerogrid specialise in outback off-grid renewable solutions across the globe.
Xerogrid were tasked with supplying reliable, clean three-phase electricity to run a soft drinks production line of up to 60kw peak during the day, using solar as the primary power source, with grid back up. They needed to install a combination of battery and grid power to run offices and staff accommodation at night time.
To provide a solution to allow Gloria to become more independent of the unreliable grid, and able to avoid regular price increases, also to keep the use of a 30 year old generator to the absolute minimum, negating the need to buy a new one. The many benefits of this solar project include :
Uninterrupted production runs during the day, without equipment damage from a fluctuating grid. This is Ghana’s largest privately owned grid supported solar system has become an attraction in Kpong.
There has been a significant cost reduction against diesel generator use and repairs, negating the need to purchase and expensive new one. In addition the factory benefits from night time power and the luxury of fans, lights and air conditioning, keeping the offices running and the factory secure. Without reliable power, it would have been impossible to consider such a project in this area.
Within sight of the Okosombo hydroelectric plant, once Ghana’s only source of power, an exciting, practical and cost effective new way to produce power is now seeing Gloria Rego’s ambitious plans to offer a reliable supply of cool fruit drinks and Volta water, coming to fruition.
Most nights the offices and factory shop are administering and selling cool, locally-produced drinks after a full production run during the day. The radian inverters keep grid and generator use to an absolute minimum, even in the rainy season, giving a good return on investment.
When “Dumsor “ comes at night, and Kpong is cast into darkness, Gloria’s factory can be seen for miles, as the place to buy cool drinks in the heat that is Ghana.