Albert Oppong-Ansah
Abu Dhabi (UAE) Jan. 14, GNA The International Renewable Agency (IRENA) through the Accelerated Partnership for Renewable Energy in Africa (APRA), a collaborative initiative between African governments and international stakeholders, focused on renewable energy adoption is supporting Ghana to advance its renewable energy and energy transition.
Working with the team from APRA, Ghana has identified key actions that need to be taken to harness the renewable energy potentials, which is in line with the country’s vision of meeting growing electricity demand sustainably through diversified energy sources by 2030.
Ghana would establish a Renewable Energy Authority (REA) to drive the energy transition and overall development of the renewable energy sector.
Mr Seth Mahu, Director of Renewable Energy at the Ministry of Energy, disclosed this to the Ghana News Agency at the sidelines of the 15th IRENA Assembly ongoing in Abu Dhabi.
On the theme: “Accelerating the Renewable Energy Transition – The Way Forward,” the two-day meetings brought together ministers and high-level delegates from IRENA’s 139 Member States, academia, development banks, chief executives and youth, to enhance wider, cross-sectoral collaboration on the energy transition.
The key discussions would focus on tripling renewable energy capacity by 2030, enhancing ambition in Nationally Determined Contributions, supporting transitions in emerging economies, and leveraging innovative financial flows in developing countries.
Mr Mahu said the key areas of collaboration with IRENA were the mobilization of funds to undertake grid expansion, off-grid access, and e-mobility.
Others are capacity building of institutional and human resource, especially for women, in Artificial Intelligence and renewable energy market development as well as funding and technical assistance for the establishment of the Renewable Energy Authority.
He stated that although eight out of 10 Ghanaians had access to electricity as at 2024, the government was committed to providing energy for all hence their quest to increase the deployment of renewable energy to the unserved populace.
Ghana had over 170 island communities, lakeside communities with inhabitants nearing two million where access to electricity remains a distant hope.
“To expand off-grid energy access in underserved areas, we commissioned three renewable energy-based mini-grids in 2024 and commenced construction on 35 more, with support from the African Development Bank, Climate Investment Fund, and the Swiss Government. We have prepared an investment portfolio of $100 million to fund 150 mini-grids for island communities,” he said.
He said the government would through the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme, supported by $85 million in grant financing from the Climate Investment Fund, Swiss Government, and the Government of Ghana, to deploy 12,000 net-metered solar PV installations for homes, businesses, and public facilities.
Mr Mahu recounted that a 30 MW floating solar plant was under construction at the Bui Hydropower Generating Station, with floaters manufactured locally which reflected the country’s commitment to green industrialisation and the African Continental Free Trade Area.
To reduce fiscal imbalances in the power sector, Ghana had developed the Public Facilities Sustainable Energy Action Plan with support from the German Government, he said.
“These projects sought to integrates, distributed renewable energy into public facilities to cut national grid consumption and government utility debt. The initiative has already secured €30 million from Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau to install 22 MW of solar PV capacity in public universities, ministries, and departments,” he said.
Mr Mahu disclosed that the Volta River Authority, in partnership with the West Africa Power Pool with funding from the European Delegation, was developing a 150 MW solar power project to strengthen the regional grid and incorporate battery energy storage systems at the nodal level.
GNA