The Ministry of Energy is putting in place measures to increase renewable energy generation in Ghana from the current one percent to 10 percent in the next five years.
An official of the ministry, Steve Nado in an interview on the sidelines of the 3rd Africa Petroleum Data Management seminar in Accra said government is determined to increase the renewable energy rate in the country despite the high cost.
“Initial cost of renewable energy is high, we require both internal and external funding to meet the cost challenge. The solar roof and biomass projects being undertaken by the Energy Commission are all part of expanding renewable energy generation across the country,” he stated.
The Energy Commission is developing and expanding policies and strategies for all renewable resources such as biomass, solar, geothermal, water and wind, as well as the technologies, demand and supply side management, including solar photovoltaic systems for both stand-alone and grid connected, wind energy resource assessment and generation and others.
The Commission is resolved to tackle the difficult but not insurmountable problems of changing energy consumption patterns and attitudes of energy users which results in wastage and high energy consumptions costs
It will be recalled that Ghana and Germany in 2017 signed a 100-million Euro bilateral investment and reform partnership agreement to promote private investment in renewable energy and vocational training in Ghana. The agreement was part of Germany’s G-20 Compact with Africa for sustainable economic development.
The partnership with Ghana is geared towards improving conditions for sustainable private sector investment, investment in infrastructure, economic participation and employment in the country.
By Adu Koranteng
