Government has challenged claims that it has not added a single Megawatt to the country’s energy mix since assuming office.
According to the Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Marfo, more than 35 megawatts of renewable energy has been added and this is expected to increase by the end of the year (2020).
Speaking at the sixth Ghana Renewable Energy Fair which is being held virtually, the Senior Minister said a 20 Megawatt solar power plant has been constructed in Winneba, 6.5 megawatt solar power plant in Lawra and a 10 megawatt solar power plant at Bui which is expected to scale up to 50 Megawatt by the end of the year.
He said since assuming office, government has taken steps to prioritise industrialization as a major driver of growth, adding that at the core of this industrialisation agenda is the need for affordable, reliable, accessible and sustainable energy to make the cost of local manufacturing of goods and provision of services competitive internationally.
It is for this reason that government is providing infrastructure support including road, electricity and water and also access to funding to these companies.
Mr Osafo Marfo assured of Government’s commitment to the promotion of renewable energy as a sustainable option for the country.
He said this commitment is shown by implementing projects such as the 20 MegaWatt solar power plant at Gomoa Onyadze, near Winneba in the Central Region and 6.5 MegaWatt solar power plant at Lawra in the Upper West Region, which would eventually be scaled up to 17MWp among others.
He noted that the relevant agencies are working assiduously towards increasing the electricity access rate which now stands at 85% by introducing the use of renewable energy technologies such as mini-grids to island communities.
Addressing participants, the Minister of Energy, John Peter Amewu said the unpopular and painful decision taken by government in the last few years has opened up the energy sector for power generation.
Accordingly, government has directed the Electricity Company of Ghana to initiate Competitive procurement for a 100 megawatt solar plant.
He informed participants that the Renewable Energy Act 2011 has been amended to provide the legal backing for the above actions.
Mr Amewu said Amendment Bill which encourages small-scale self-generation and net-metering from renewables is currently before Cabinet for consideration and approval by Parliament.
The Bill also mandates fossil fuel-based wholesale electricity suppliers, fossil fuel producers, and other companies that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions to complement the global effort of climate change mitigation by investing in non-utility scale renewable energy technologies particularly for off-grid electrification.
He hoped Parliament will approve the bill before going on recess.
On rural electrification,the Energy Minister said for island and lake-side communities where grid electricity cannot be extended in the immediate future, the strategy is to deploy decentralized mini-grid systems.
He said by this strategy, mini-grid electrification will now become an integral part of the rural electrification scheme and will be public sector-led investments where the assets and infrastructure are handled in the same manner as grid extension.
In that regard, government will engage the private sector to undertake the supply and installation of mini-grid systems and then hand them over to a public utility entity to manage and operate just like what pertains under rural electrification through grid extension.
He added that mini-grid consumers will also pay the same electricity tariff as prescribed by PURC for the public distribution entities (ECG and NEDCO) for life-line, residential and non-residential consumer classification.
For his part, Board Chairman of the Energy Commission, Prof George Panyin Hagan said the theme for the Fair, “RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN ACHIEVING GHANA’S INDUSTRIALISATION AGENDA” is to invite stakeholders in the energy sector to pay close attention to and focus directly on how to harness the abundant renewable energy resources of the country to implement the Government’s flagship programmes, One-District, One-Factory and Planting for Food and Jobs.
He noted that it is with this objective in view that the Energy Commission has over the last two years endeavoured to produce the renewable energy resources profile of the 216 districts of Ghana.
He said the Energy Commission expects that the profile which will soon be unveiled, will help both local and foreign investors to see the possibility of developing the energy resources of the districts as a profitable enterprise and also to support agricultural activities and small scale rural industries of all kinds.
STORY BY: DOREEN AMPOFO.
