Key Takeaways:
- Ghana plans to sign a deal for a 1,200MW state-owned gas-fired power plant before the end of 2026.
- The facility would be the country’s largest single power plant by installed capacity.
- President John Mahama says the project will be financed with Ghana’s own money.
Ghana plans to add a 1,200-megawatt gas-fired power plant to its electricity system, in what would become the country’s largest single generating facility.
President John Dramani Mahama announced the plan during a town hall meeting with Ghanaians in New York on Friday, saying the government would sign an agreement for the project before the end of 2026.
“We are going to build the biggest thermal capacity in Ghana. Before the end of this year, we’re going to sign 1,200 megawatts of gas thermal power,” Mahama said.
The proposed plant would have a higher installed capacity than the 1,020MW Akosombo Hydroelectric Power Station, currently Ghana’s largest single generating facility.
Ghana plans to fund plant itself
Mahama said the project would not require new borrowing, with the government intending to finance it from its own resources.
“You know we are not borrowing a dime to do it. We’re doing it with our own money. We are paying for it with our own money,” he said.
The project is not a new policy proposal. Ghana’s 2026 budget had already provided for the construction of a 1,200MW state-owned thermal power plant, to use additional gas expected from the Offshore Cape Three Points and Jubilee fields and Ghana Gas’ second processing plant.
Government documents say the additional 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day is expected to be enough to generate up to 1,200MW of power.
Plant would rely on Ghana’s growing gas supply
Mahama said the government’s decision to expand state-owned generation comes as Ghana assesses changes in the global energy market, including the growth of renewable energy and electric vehicles.
He also said increased gas production from new investments in the oil and gas sector would provide fuel for the planned thermal capacity.
Ghana’s medium-term development plan describes the 1,200MW project as part of its “Big Push” agenda, aimed at reducing over-reliance on independent power producers and strengthening state-owned generation capacity.
The government has also been working to address financial pressures in the power sector. The Finance Ministry said it paid about $1.47 billion in 2025 to clear energy-sector obligations, including debts to gas suppliers and independent power producers.
If the agreement is signed as planned, the 1,200MW project would mark one of Ghana’s largest additions of state-owned generation capacity and would exceed the installed capacity of the country’s existing largest power facility.
