Ghana needs more energy - Minister

The Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, has said Ghana needs to generate more power as the country's population keeps growing.

He made this statement during the opening of a four-day Energy Sector Work Programme Retreat for 2021 at Ada in the Greater Accra Region

According to the energy minister, his vision for the sector resonates with the president’s vision of safe, reliable energy for Ghana.

This vision, he said, is geared towards Ghana meeting its energy needs for domestic consumption and industrialization.

Commenting on the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) currently being renegotiated with Independent Producers (IPPs) Dr. Prempeh said those agreements were negotiated in an emergency.

He explained that at that time the nation had fallen on hard times and therefore meant we were in a weaker position to negotiate those agreements in our favour.

Going forward, the Minister called for a ‘take and pay’ position as he said that “We need to negotiate now, not when we are in hard times”.

The event brought together directors of the Ministry of Energy and senior management of various agencies in the sector to discuss the agencies’ programmes last year as well as their projections and key performance indicators going forward in 2021. Other stakeholders such as the Nuclear Power Ghana and the State Interests and Governance Authority (SIGA).