Partners in Power

This article focuses on investors who back major power projects throughout in Africa. They are also working jointly with local businesses and governments to improve infrastructures and raise living standards. An African expansion project for CMS Generation involves acquiring and expanding the Takoradi natural gas-fired power plant near Aboadze, Ghana. CMS formed the Takoradi Power Company with the Volta River Authority as a 50-percent partner. CMS Energy’s third major African venture will extend its power generation business into chemical processing. AMPCO has awarded a $300 million engineering, procurement, and construction turnkey contract to Raytheon Engineers & Constructors, Lexington, MA, to construct the methanol plant on Bioko Island. The plant will use a proven, three-stage design. In the first stage, natural gas feedstock and steam are sent to a reformer and are exposed to elevated temperatures and pressure in the presence of a catalyst, forming synthetic gas made of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.