Africa Geospatial Forum Geospatial Empowering Utilities

Presentation on The Use of Geospatial Technology for the Enhancement of GRIDCo Operations Norbert Anku Director, Southern Network Services GRIDCo

Introduction to GRIDCo Part of Volta River Authority (VRA) till 2008 Hived off under power sector reforms as system operator and transmission network owner 3

Ghana Power System State owned (VRA) and a few IPPs presently producing about 2,500MW from hydro and thermal (50-50) About 700MW under construction Additional 1,000MW within 5 years Demand to grow from 1,900MW to 3,000MW by 2018 Bulk consumers – ECG in the south, NEDCO in the north and mining companies and VALCO 4

Ghana Power System GRIDCo provides power evacuation and transmission functions by development, operation and maintenance of about 5,000km of 330/161/69kV lines and about 50 EHV/HV substations Additional 20 substations and 3,000km of lines to be added by 2018 Network expansion budget of about US$1,200million 5

Ghana Power System 6

Present Use of Geospatial Technology Due to inadequate resources, knowledge, and land use data, geospatial technology used in only basic engineering activities Main areas are site and route selection, line design and construction, valuation, compensation and environmental impact assessment 7

Present Use of Geospatial Technology Outcome is delays in project completion and major increases in project costs as a result of diversions, conflicts with EIA, land litigation, compensation payment conflicts. Optimal line lengths not achieved Examples 45km line planned for 8months only achieved after 24months Section of 190km of 330kV line suspended for past 6months due to land litigation 8

Potential Uses of Advanced Geospatial Technology - Construction Procure updated satellite image of route and site Acquisition of land use maps and relevant data Use advance survey techniques such as aerial survey and mapping 9

Potential Uses of Advanced Geospatial Technology – O&M GRIDCo does not take advantage of any form of geospatial technology in its operating and maintenance activities 10

Potential Uses of Advanced Geospatial Technology – O&M Potential Areas include ROW vegetation management Identification of line hardware status Identification and repair of tower or conductor breaks ROW encroachment management Intruders into property 11

Investment in data acquisition Upgrade technological knowledge Transform existing analogue data into digital data Adopt advanced survey techniques if affordable Development of GIS centre in the Company 12 The Way Forward

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