Osagyefo Barge

The Osagyefo Barge is a barge-mounted gas turbine power generating station moored at Effasu-Mangyea in the Jomoro District of the Western Region of Ghana. The Jomoro Municipal Assembly lists it among the municipality's places of attraction, alongside sites such as Nzulezo and the Apollonia Fort, and classifies it under heritage and history. It is an industrial heritage structure rather than a working facility.

The barge is about 77 metres long and carries a pair of single-cycle heavy-duty gas turbines built by Ansaldo, with a combined nameplate capacity of 125 MW, designed to burn either natural gas or diesel. Ordered by the Ghanaian government in 1995 with financial assistance from the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund of Japan, it was built in Italy at the Navalmare Yard, completed in 1999 and delivered to Ghana in October 2002. It was moored at Sekondi Naval Base until 2005, then moved to Effasu after harbour dredging.

Offshore gas fields did not develop as expected, so the barge never operated and deteriorated from corrosion. In July 2007 Ghana signed a 20-year lease with Balkan Energy Ghana to refurbish and operate it, with plans to raise capacity to 185 MW; the unit never operated and the expansion was not completed, leading to litigation. A 2019 USAID-funded technical audit found refurbishment not commercially viable and recommended decommissioning. By early 2023 about 90 per cent of the barge had been dismantled without authorisation, according to a Deputy Energy Minister's statement to Parliament. The name "Osagyefo" commemorates Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president.

Effasu, also written Effasu-Mangyea, is a farming community in the Jomoro District, and the barge is located at Effasu. Its recorded position is approximately 5°04′46″N 3°02′18″W.

Visitors should plan around what this site is: a largely dismantled industrial structure in a rural coastal district, not a managed attraction with facilities. No opening hours, entry fees, guided tours, viewing arrangements or safety guidance are documented in the available sources, and the condition of what remains is not established. Anyone considering a visit should treat access details as unconfirmed and verify locally before travelling.