Taqa, the global energy company based in Abu Dhabi, celebrated the ground-breaking ceremony of the Takoradi 2 power plant expansion project in Ghana. Once complete, the plant will account for approximately 15 per cent of Ghana's generation capacity, providing power to more than a million people. The ground-breaking ceremony was held in Takoradi in the presence of John Dramani Mahama, the President of Ghana; Emmanual Armah-Kofi Buah, Minister of Energy of Ghana; Khalid Al-Ghaith, Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs for the United Arab Emirates. Addressing guests during the ground-breaking ceremony held at Takoradi power plant, John Dramani Mahama, the President of Ghana, said, "The Takoradi 2 expansion project reflects our energy for growth programme aimed at increasing investments in the energy sector to build capacity for the future. The role of independent power producers has become vital and the partnership of Taqa and VRA has demonstrated that Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) work in Ghana.” During his speech, Khalid Al-Ghaith, Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic Affairs for the UAE, said, "We are encouraging investments in Africa and will continue to back our sovereign companies such as Taqa. We look forward to strengthen the relationship between Ghana and UAE and look forward to seeing more official visits and further agreements.” Carl Sheldon, CEO at Taqa, said, "The Takoradi 2 power plant expansion project builds on TAQA's position as a trusted operator of strategic energy infrastructure in Ghana. By deploying a world-class combined cycle turbine in Takoradi, we are helping Ghana to meet its growing energy needs while increasing the efficiency of the electricity generation system.”