By: Ashiadey Dotse
The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has announced that the government has started installing 23,500 solar-powered streetlights across the country. The move is part of efforts to reduce pressure on Ghana’s national power grid and improve energy efficiency.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Wednesday July 16, 2025, Mr. Jinapor said the solar streetlights will cover a total distance of 700 kilometers. He explained that the goal is to reduce the country’s reliance on electricity from the national grid by shifting to renewable energy sources like solar.
“As part of our streetlighting project, I’m happy to announce that we’ve commenced the installation of all-in-one solar streetlights. We intend to do 23,500 units covering a distance of 700km, so that gradually we can take solar as the main focus and move our streetlights away from the grid” he said.
Mr. Jinapor highlighted that streetlights are a major contributor to high electricity demand, especially during peak hours in the evening. According to him, streetlights alone account for over 200 megawatts of electricity demand during peak times.
“The streetlights depend largely on the grid and unfortunately come on during the peak period. The difference between the peak period and off-peak can range around 400-600 megawatts, and these streetlights alone account for more than 200 megawatts,” he said.
He added that the use of solar-powered lights will help reduce this load by up to 300 megawatts, describing it as a major step toward energy efficiency.
