Government’s plans to embark on solar programme is in right direction - Minister

Mr Mustapha Abdul Hamid, Minister of Information, has said Government’s plan to embark on an MDA Solar Rooftop Programme from 2018 was in the right direction.

He said programme dubbed: “Government Goes Solar” will ensure that government institutions switch to renewable energy to reduce Government’s expenditure on utilities.

The “Government Goes Solar “project also seeks to address the huge expenditure of state institutions to purchase power into prepaid meters. Mr Abdul Hamid said this when Photon Energy, a Private Solar Energy Firm, handed over a 15 Kilowatts Solar Power Panel to Ministry of Information in Accra.

The Solar Panel is being donated to the Ministry as a test system to complement their efforts to reduce the Ministry’s cost of electricity payment. He said his outfit was already saddened with electricity debts and that the solar panel will help in bailing out the Ministry by reducing its power purchase.

The Minister said it is very rare to see institutions donating to Government agencies, adding that, “We live in a society where everybody is requesting what they want from Government.”

This he said the donation will register the company ‘Photon Energy’ name in the good record book of Government as the country was preparing to move away from Hydro and Thermal to Renewable Energy.

Mr Isaac Okyere, General Manager of Photon Energy said the objectives of their existence in the country was to provide cheap power and create jobs to compliment the Government efforts, adding that, “Since charity begins at home, we thought it wise that one of our initial installations should be a donation to a leading government institution like the Ministry of Information.”

“We hope this system provides power fort the offices of the ministry, backup battery to store excess power for use in non-sunny periods and a net reverse meter which can feed excess power back into the national grid to net-reduce grid bills and assist in working for mother Ghana”, Mr Okyere said.

He said Government’s intention of moving all state facilities on to renewable energy platforms in 2018, should lead businesses and households to adopting renewable energy systems.

The General Manager said the usage of renewal energy will cut the cost of energy and help Ghana in its effort to fighting climate change. Mr Joseph Cudjoe, a Deputy Minister of Energy, said Government through the Ministry of Energy was determined to leverage on the benefits of solar energy and expand its usage across the country.

He said the switch to solar power will mitigate the power crisis the country has been facing for the past four years which has led to a general discontent amongst the populace.

Ghana and Germany on Wednesday December 13, 2017 jointly signed a $100 million agreement towards a mutual programme in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energies to the G20-Africa renewable programme, based on reform initiatives in Ghana.

This agreement follows an earlier Memorandum of Understand signed between the two countries in Berlin, Germany, on the sidelines of the G20-Africa Partnership Summit in June this year.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) enjoins countries to provide sustainable, affordable and reliable energy for all by 2030. GNA