Investors urged to venture into renewable energy supply
The Director of Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Power, Mr Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, has urged investors to take advantage of the enabling environment provided by the government to invest in energy from renewable sources.
He said the Renewable Energy Act, 2011 (Act 832), for instance, provided the opportunity for the private sector to invest in renewable energy options and urged them to take advantage of the opportunity.
“There are a lot of efforts going on as far as renewable energy integration was concerned. We have the law which provides opportunity for the private sector to come on board, there is also an opportunity for large-scale operations and we also have opportunity for energy efficiency,” he said.
Mr Ahiataku-Togobo said this at a renewable energy forum in Accra organised by the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Ghana (AHK Ghana) in collaboration with the GIZ-Project Development Programme (PDP).
It was on the theme, “ensuring reliable and affordable power supply: Renewable energy applications for industries in Ghana."
The forum was part of a trade mission from Germany which is in the country to explore opportunities and partner local companies to deliver RE projects, services and support systems.
They will also train local personnel in requisite skills and knowledge to support the industry.
Currently, the contribution of renewable energy sources to the national grid is around 2.5 Megawatts (MW), largely from solar sources. The target, however, is for renewable energy to contribute 10 per cent to power generation capacity by 2020.
Investment requirement
The Director of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the Energy Commission, Mr Kwabena Otu-Danquah, who took participants through the requirements for investing in the sector, said companies which wanted to invest in the sector must first secure the market and then proceed to get the licence.
He said there were three stages involved in acquiring a wholesale electricity supply licence.
“The first stage is to acquire the provisional licence. The second stage is in two phases, where you acquire the siting permit and the construction permit. The final stage is to acquire the operational licence,” he said.
Touching on the National Rooftop Solar Programme, he said the commission had so far received more than 150 applications.
The primary objective of the programme is to provide 200MW peak load relief on the national grid through solar PV technology in the medium-term.
Time for renewables
The Team Leader in charge of Renewable Energy at the German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) Ghana, Mr Steffen Behrle, said the contribution of renewable energy to power supply in the country remained critical to ensure reliable and affordable power supply.
According to him, with the country’s growing demand for power for both households and industries, it was necessary to consider renewable energy sources such as biomass, solar, water and wind.
“Ghana is in crucial need for renewable energy sources,” he said, explaining that many private households were looking for alternative power supplies looking at electricity tariffs currently being charged.
“Ghana has an advanced regulatory framework with regards to renewable energy. Electricity tariffs are such that a many private households are looking for alternative supplies either from the grid or from the backup system,” he said.