Page 21 - Apmor 2018

country profile energy

• Solar However, Ghana does have an abundance Notably, on Climatescope’s ‘Enabling
Solar resource is abundant, with Ghana’s of alternative biomass resources - including Framework Parameter’, Ghana rose fifteen
solar irradiation level ranging from productive crop-lands, organic municipal places between 2015 and 2016, with its
approximately 4.4 to 6.0 kWh/m2/day, waste, agricultural waste, wood waste - score benefiting from improvements in policy
with sunshine duration of between 1,800 which can be converted into a wide range and regulation, including the introduction of
and 3,000 hours per annum. The highest of solid and liquid bio fuels. energy targets, as well as a growing national
irradiation levels occur in the northern half Furthermore, in 2010, Ghana introduced electrification rate.
of the country.
a bioenergy policy that aims to substitute Since the 1990’s Ghana’s power sector has
However, at present, while the the country’s petroleum oil with 10 percent undergone significant restructuring and
Government is piloting a number of biofuels by 2020 and 20 percent by 2030, reforms, guided by a variety of policies,
initiatives on the deployment of solar respectively, as well as promoting private strategies and plans, resulting in the current
energy systems, little has been done to sector participation in the biofuel industry. unbundled structure of Ghana’s power sector.
exploit this resource, and the solar market • Wave and Tidal These reforms enhanced transparency in the
remains relatively untapped. Furthermore, Finally, tidal energy – a form of hydropower regulation of the sector, and further opened
with approximately 20 percent of Ghana’s that converts the energy of tides into up the industry to private sector participation
population believed to be off-grid, useful forms of power – is produced using through Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
the market for rural solar power – for tidal energy converters. Notably, Ghana’s commitment towards
electricity, lighting, water heating and renewable energy is largely being driven by
drying – in particular, is huge. Notably, while tides are a more predictable the Renewable Energy Act, introduced in
source of energy than wind and solar
• Wind power, tidal energy has traditionally 2011, which aims to develop and expand the
Ghana has moderate wind energy suffered from relatively high start up country’s renewable energy sub-sector. One of
potential emanating from the country’s and running costs, as well as a limited the key provisions of this Act includes a Feed
annual average wind speed above 50m availability of sites that have sufficiently in Tariff (FIT) scheme, guaranteeing the sale of
at 8m/s. The optimal wind resources are high tidal ranges or flow velocities. electricity generated from renewable energy
located along narrow stretches of Ghana’s sources.
eastern coastline, in the hills around the However, at present one wave energy Notably, the Public Utilities Regulatory
Volta Lake and along the border with Togo. plant – consisting of six wave energy Commission (PURC) – an independent
As with hydropower, further research and converters – is being installed in Ghana’s regulatory body established to approve tariff
development are needed in this area. Ada Estuary, where the tidal waves are rates for electricity customers – sets these FITs
very high. The project is being carried
• Biomass and Waste-to-Energy out by Ghanaian TC’s Energy Limited in to remain in force for a 10-year period, after
While biomass – predominantly in the form association with Swedish Seabased Wave which they are subject to review every two
of wood fuel – already dominates Ghana’s Energy. years.
energy supply, the country’s reliance on While the government claims that investment
the product is not sustainable. Indeed, Incentives for Foreign Participation interest for utility scale renewable energy grid
more than 70 percent of households in In 2016 Climatescope, which is an index that integration is high due to the very attractive
Ghana continue to rely on firewood and assesses 55 countries for their clean-energy FIT scheme, the guaranteed period of 10 years
charcoal as their main source of cooking investment potential, ranked Ghana the eighth is likely to be of concern for some project
fuel, but the government is aiming to most attractive country in Africa for overseas developers due to the high risk of uncertainty
reduce this number to 50 percent by 2020 investors. after this initial period has expired.
through the use of alternative options.

Akosombo hydro-electric dam in Ghana

AFRICAN POWER Mining & Oil Review Vol 21, Issue 20, 2017 | 21