TAQA strengthens presence in Africa and India

As part of the company's ongoing commitment to developing its business across Asia and Africa, Ramanathan Balachandar will join TAQA's Indian headquarters as President and CEO of STCMS, a TAQA's subsidiary , and Osafo Adjei has been appointed General Manager at the company's operations in Ghana.

Commenting on the appointments, Peter Barker Homek, CEO of TAQA said: "I am delighted to announce the appointments of Balachandar and Osafo to our ever-expanding teams in India and Ghana. Both of these men have extensive expertise in their respective fields and are ideally qualified to drive the future growth and expansion of TAQA's operations across Asia and Africa."

Based at Chennai in India, Ramanathan Balachandar will be responsible for the overall management of the TAQA's facility Neveyli Power Plant. In addition, Balachandar will play an active role in the sourcing and assessment of new business opportunities for TAQA in India. Balachandar joined TAQA in May 2007 when TAQA acquired Takoradi. With over 27 years of experience in the power industry, Balachandar has extensive knowledge and experience in large thermal power plants and an in-depth understanding of the energy industry across India. Prior to joining TAQA he worked for CMS power generation for 6 years, a company which TAQA acquired in 2007.

As General Manager of TAQA's Takoradi Thermal Power Utility in Ghana, Osafo Adjei's will be responsible for the strategic management of the plant, to enable TAQA to drive the growth of the plant's diversified potentials, including power, oil and gas, in Ghana and in the West African sub-region. Osafo is a management and communications specialist with over 15 years experience with Ghana's public power utility, Volta River Authority. Osafo has worked for TAQA for one year, and prior to joining TAQA he worked at TICO for CMS power generation, a company which TAQA acquired in 2007. Osafo's first task is to lead the expansion of Takoradi to a 330 MW CCGT.