Accra, Nov. 18, GNA – The Volta River Authority (VRA) says it is taking proactive steps to ensure that more renewable sources of energy are rolled out nationwide for a net-zero operation.
The Authority said it had already reduced its emissions drastically after shifting from the use of liquid fuel to gas to power its thermal plants.
This is in line with the goal of the country’s updated Nationally Determined Contributions, to generate absolute greenhouse gas emission reductions of 64 million tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent.
Mr Emmanuel Dankwa Osafo, the Deputy Chief Executive in Charge of Engineering and Operations at VRA, told the Ghana News Agency, on the sidelines of the 2021 Safety Awareness Day, held on Thursday in Accra.
The event, on the theme, “VRA in the Era of Covid-19: Our Business Sustainability,’’ seeks to create awareness on the importance of occupational health and safety for VRA and other organisations in the country.
According to World data Atlas in 2014, CO2 emissions from electricity production for Ghana was 24.3 per cent.
He explained that the Authority was aggressively undertaking more solar, hydro, and wind energy projects as part of the country’s energy mix to power industries and homes to reduce emissions.
Mr Osafo said already, the first phase of the 4 Megawatts (MWh) and 13WM solar power project in Lawra and Kaleo in the Upper West Region had been completed and paving the way for the second phase.
“The Pawlugu 50 MWp photovoltaic solar power plant will come on stream soon. We are looking at establishing a wind energy plant through a partner. In the next five years all these projects will come on stream to boost our renewables,” he said.
Mr Osafo said the Authority had started a digitisation project to automate all operations where its plants could be controlled anywhere.
“This has started so the manual mode of having to visit a control room in person before controlling a plant is a thing of the past. We have done it in Akuse and it is ongoing in Akosombo. At a click of a button, you can see the operation of the plant,” he said.
The Deputy Chief Executive indicated that the Authority was working towards converting Akosombo into a green and smart city in West Africa by leveraging Information Communication Technology.
He said, “We want to transform the city into a smart one,” where people can use different electronic methods to get information to better their lives.
GNA