Volta Aluminum Company, known as Valco, is an aluminium company based in Ghana founded by Kaiser Aluminum and now wholly owned by the government of Ghana. Valco is a joint venture with Alcoa, the major aluminum conglomerate based in the United States. In 1961 Valco invested in the Akosombo Dam hydroelectric power project to provide energy for its aluminum smelters. The company had negotiated favorable terms for power purchase with the government. The agreement was re-negotiated in 1985, as part of the program of the Rawlings government, to reflect the increased value of electrical energy. [1]
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Valco smelts alumina to produce aluminium ingots at its smelter at Tema. Locally, a major Ghanaian customer of Valco is Aluworks. While one motivation for establishing the plant was the local availability of alumina, mostly it was imported from Jamaica.
In May 2003 Valco closed completely due to problems in negotiating a supply of electricity. It reopened in early 2006. [2] [3]
In 2004 the government purchased most of the company. In June 2008 Alcoa sold its 10% stake in Valco to the government of Ghana. [4]
The smelter has a capacity of 200,000 metric tons per year of ingots but was shut down between 2007 and 2011. In early 2011 it has been operating at about 20% of its capacity, producing 3000 tons per month, mostly for local consumption, with plans to activate a second potline to bring monthly production up to 6000 tons. [5]