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| Fig. 1: Akosombo Dam on the Volta River in Ghana, an example of hydropower energy source. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
In recent decades, Ghana has been the center of West Africa for its fast-paced urbanization, particularly across the fields of education, technology, and economy. Due to industrialization, the country's demand for electricity has been growing and the government as well as public sectors are seeking alternative renewable energy sources to complement the currently dominant hydropower energy supply, such as the Akosombo Dam on Volta River (see Fig. 1). The prominent electricity generation company, the Volta River Authority, is incapable of generating enough electricity for all the demand sectors. [1] Therefore, the nation has been struggling with increased electricity shutdowns over the past ten years. [1] The expansion of renewable energy is imperative to Ghana not only to fulfill people's electrical needs but also to take initiative in reducing carbon gas emissions and in combatting climate change. Some potential nationwide solutions for renewable energy include bio energy, tidal and wave power, solar power, wind power, and small-scale hydropower. [2]
Solar energy is a highly attractive and emerging renewable energy in Ghana due to environmental and social factors. The energy commission of Ghana reported that the country possesses abundant solar energy of daily irradiation levels ranging between 4 kWh/m2 to 6 kWh/m2. [3] The annual sunshine duration is estimated to lie between 1800 to 3000 hours per annum, which possibly enables grid connection. However, the solar market remains quite stagnant due to budget constraints and conventional attachment to energy sources. [2] Various projects supervised by licensed companies can thus ignite investments and expansion of solar energy.
Bio energy is another potential renewable energy that could benefit the country's power system. The general term of "bio energy" includes biomass, biofuel, and municipal waste-to-energy. [2] Biomass in the form of charcoal is widely used in rural regions of Ghana, but data from the energy commission show that its usage is diminishing, aligning with the government's longterm goal. Biofuel did not receive as much attention as other energy sources but could be implemented in automobile or farming industries. Moreover, waste-to-energy is another sustainable option as the organic composition make up more than 60 percent of the total waste in Ghana.
The energy commission of Ghana reported that wind energy could be another potential power source, although it's not necessarily the most viable gateway in the face of electricity shortage. The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) National Report shows that Ghana's gross wind resource potential is 5640 MW, which is a sufficient amount. [4] However, due to restrictions on land availability, suitability, and topography, the actual exploitable wind power capacity in Ghana is discovered to be around 200 MW to 300 MW, according to the energy commission. [4] Five companies are currently working on establishing wind farms around the east coast area and Volta Lake hill tops where best wind resources can be found. Upwind Akplabnya Ltd., for instance, has built a 250 MW wind farm in Nigo Prampram, located in the Greater Accra Region. [2]
According to the Renewable Energy Act (2011) documented in the 832nd Act of the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana, the government has agreed to invest on the development, management, utilization, sustainability, and adequate supply of renewable energy for heat and power purposes by the year of 2020. [3] Ghana's medium term national development policy further states that the government will actively support in increasing the supply of renewable energy sources, particularly solar, wind, mini-hydro and waste-to-energy. [2] Other policies and strategic frameworks regarding renewable energy include Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program in Ghana (SREP) Investment Plan (2015), the Strategic National Energy Plan (2006-2020), Energy Sector Strategy and Development plan, and Bioenergy Policy for Ghana (2010-onwards). These policies unanimously aim to expand and develop renewable energy opportunities in Ghana by building practical frameworks and formulating constructive projects. [2]
Research and evidence show that Ghana has a plethora of potential resources that could be utilized as renewable energy, including solar, wave, bio energy, and hydropower. Ongoing efforts from private and public sectors as well as government policies all cohesively create more opportunities for realistic expansion on renewable energy. This auspicious outlook will certainly help mitigate the current energy crisis that Ghana is faced with and further lead to economic growth.
© Hannah Park. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] S. Gyamfi et al., "Improving Electricity Supply Security in Ghana - The Potential of Renewable Energy", Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 43, 1035 (2015).
[2] "Business Opportunities for Renewable Energy in Ghana," Netherlands Enterprise Agency, March 2016.
[3] S. Asumadu-Sarkodie amd P. A. Owusu, "A Review of Ghana's Solar Energy Potential," AIMS Energy 4, 675 (2016).
[4] E. Essandoh et al., "Prospects of Wind Power Generation in Ghana," Int. J. Mech. Eng. Technol. 5, 156 (2014).
