Ghana awards US$80m water plant contract

The Ghana Water Company has awarded a €70 million (US$78 million) contract to Strabag for the design and construction of a new water treatment plant. 

The new facility will provide clean drinking water for the twin city of Sekondi-Takoradi, which has an estimated population of around 500,000 people.

Thomas Birtel, CEO of Strabag SE, said, “The Strabag Water Technologies business field, which has been successfully operating in Ghana since 2012, is strengthening its market presence with this order and paving the way as a reliable contract partner for further sustainable projects in the drinking water sector both in Ghana and throughout West Africa.”

The new plant, which will incorporate a “robust and efficient” water processing technology, is being built as a replacement for the city’s existing, and now outdated plant, which was commissioned in 1961.

Strabag, which was recently also commissioned to build a new 205m-tall skyscraper in Frankfurt, said construction of the facility is expected to take 40 months to complete, with work on the project’s 10-month design phase to start in February of 2022.

Upon completion, the new plant will supply the region’s existing water supply network with up to 100,000m³ of drinking water per day. 

The Austria-based company will then operate and maintain the facility for the warranty period, during which time it will also provide training to Ghana Water Company’s local staff.  

The project is one of several new projects being pushed through by the Government of Ghana, which is proactively working towards improving water supply across the country.

According to Strabag, construction of the water treatment plant is being “handled via export financing”.

Strabag said, “The combined export guarantee protects against economic and political risks. It was possible to obtain this sort of financing because the project involves an export transaction with a minimum Austrian value added of 50%”.