Prior to the substation installation, frequent outages and low voltage were a common occurrence. This substation seeks to address the voltage fluctuation problems in these communities. Power is evacuated to the UGMC and other load centres through 41.4km of 11KV offloading circuits.

SMEC provided engineering design, project management and technical expertise for the construction and implementation of the project. SMEC also supervised the commissioning of the substation. The $11million project was funded by the United States government acting Millennium Challenge Corporation and is part of the Ghana Power Compact Program.

New equipment within the substation includes two 26MVA transformers located outdoors and switching equipment housed in an adjacent control building. The substation has been designed for scalability, with capacity to extend the 33kV and 11kV switchgear in future.

The new facility has capacity to provide reliable power supply to the University of Ghana Medical Centre and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research – while also serving as an alternative source of supply to the University of Ghana, the Ghana Institute of Public Administration, Ghana Standards Authority, and surrounding communities.

The deputy minister for Energy, Mohammed Amin Adam said the UGMC would benefit from a more stable and reliable energy supply,

“UGMC Primary Substation is one of many electric infrastructural assets, which form part of the Ghana Power Compact Programme. With the substation in close proximity to these institutions and with sufficient redundant capacity, the risk of equipment failure due to voltage fluctuations is significantly reduced”

• Award/completion: January 2020 – April 2022 (14 months)
• Client: Millennium Development Authority
• Funding- Millennium Challenge Corporation
• Contractor – Eiffage Energies Systems/TBEA CO. LTD.
• Date of event: Wednesday 27th April 2022
• Location: University of Ghana Medical Center, Legon