RENEWABLE RESOURCES
With a population growth rate of 2.3% annually, the supply and distribution of potable water and electricity have become a prime focus for the Ghanaian government. One option identified by the government to make more electricity available at affordable prices is to focus on renewable energies.
The Government of Ghana is strongly committed to developing policies and strategies for the development of renewable resources, such as biomass, solar energy (both stand-alone and grid-connected photovoltaic systems), geothermal, hydroelectric and wind energy. In 2011 the "Renewable Energy Act" was adopted and in 2015 the "Renewable Energy Program Investment Plan" announced investments of 230 million dollars.
In addition to these interventions, in 2017 President Akufa-Addo announced his intention to extend the "Renewable Energy Program" by increasing investments and adopting a plan of preferential tariffs in order to encourage investors to undertake initiatives as private producers of power.
The Government has declared that by 2020 10% of the energy produced will have to come from renewable sources complementary to the hydroelectric chain which includes photovoltaic, wind, biomass and waste, with the hoped-for intervention of capital (and technologies) from abroad. Currently, only one 2 megawatt photovoltaic plant is in operation in Punga, in the northeast of the country, managed by the Volta River Authority. Irradiance levels are quite favorable ranging from 1,800 to 3,000 days a year.
The use of photovoltaics should mainly serve to cover locations isolated from the national grid. These are the so-called "off-grid" plants, for which substantial contributions are also foreseen by the African Development Bank. In the wind sector there are some projects located along the coast of a Swiss group and a Danish one. In the hydroelectric sector, the Ministry of Energy has identified 16 sites suitable for powering small and medium-sized plants ranging from a minimum power of 17MW to a maximum of 95MW. Ghana has good potential for the production of energy from biomass related to various agricultural productions (oil palm, sugar cane, cocoa), but at the moment there are no significant projects in this sector. A further area of intervention concerns the introduction of sustainable and efficient wood fuels to replace the traditional use of wood and coal for domestic use (cooking, hot water, etc.) which have a preponderant share in the overall energy balance of the country ( 60%). Finally, the program aims to develop a biofuel chain to replace most of the fuels used for transport and the production of static energy (supply of agricultural irrigation pumps and others).
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