Solar energy will be compulsory under NDP regime – Konadu

A solution to Ghana’s perennial energy problems is a law making it compulsory for every household to install solar systems, the presidential candidate for the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, has suggested.

“There has to be a law making sure that those who are in real estate development put solar panels on their houses [and include it] as part of the cost. Every house that they build must have solar on top but you cannot force people when you do not have the law, so first we must make the law and then get them to do it,” she noted.

This, she said, her party would pursue to reduce the pressure on the hydroelectric and thermal energy sources of the country if she wins the December 7 elections to become president of the country.

She made this known during the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) presidential encounter on Wednesday July 27.

The former first lady felt the leaders of the country were not doing enough to solve the energy crisis and was high time Ghana explored sustainable energy solutions to deal with the problem once and for all.

For her, the initiative had been implemented in several jurisdictions across the globe with positive results and could be replicated in Ghana, a country with abundance of sunshine.

“…It will be like travelling to Spain or some of the South American countries where every house there is a solar [panel] on top of it,” she stressed.

She continued: “Even in some North American countries as well. At places like Arizona you do not see anybody without solar. If they can do it, then we can do it too.”

For her the initiative can be extended “so we can have solar farms as well. Akosombo has started some solar farm and I think it is doing well”.

She believed government could champion a project to have solar power in every region so that there would be a shift to a more reliable source of energy, which may be expensive to set up but cheaper over a long period of time.

Critics have asked the government to be upfront with Ghanaians about the resurgence of the power crisis, but authorities have downplayed the state of the energy situation, insisting that it has not gotten to levels that require load shedding.

Ghana experienced four years of erratic power supply that led to the collapse of some businesses and retrenchment of workers in some cases. The problem was eased after the arrival of two emergency power ships at the beginning of 2016.

However, in the past month, several areas have reported erratic power supply and blackouts – sometimes for a whole day. At Mamprobi, some residents have had cause to complain of power cuts for several hours, at least, thrice a week. The situation is no different for residents at Dansoman, Awoshie, Achimota, Taifa, Mile 7, and Kasoa.

A 400MW power deal at a cost of US$953million aimed at augmenting production shortfall is currently being considered by the Mines and Energy Committee in parliament to salvage the situation.

The project involves the development, ownership, operation, and management of the plant to be fuelled by either Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) or Natural Gas (NG) for a 25-year period by Early Power Limited in Tema, strategically close to the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR).