Photos: Workshop On Energy and Infrastructure Photo 5
H. E. Bawuah-Edusei offering his introductory remarks
The Embassy of Ghana, in Washington D.C. recently organized a one-day
workshop on "Energy and Infrastructure in Ghana". The Workshop was amongst
the series of activities organized by the Mission to mark Ghana's 50 th
Anniversary Celebrations. Ghana like many West African countries has in
recent years been facing challenges in its energy and water delivery, as
demand far exceeds supply. It is in this light that the Embassy invited
experts and stakeholders to discuss the challenges facing the energy and
water sectors with the hope of brainstorming and making recommendations, on
how Ghana could develop its energy resources on a more sustainable basis.
Participants at the workshop included Senior Ministers of State, top
officials of Electricity Corporation of Ghana and Volta River Authority
(VRA), officials of Montgomery County (Department of Environmental
Protection), the EXIM Bank of USA, US Business Executives from Houston
(which happens to be the energy capital of the world) and friends of Ghana.
In his introductory remarks, H. E. Dr. Kwame Bawuah-Edusei, Ghana's
Ambassador to the United States noted that the importance of the workshop,
(which was taking place at a time Ghana was facing energy crisis) could not
be over-emphasized. He, therefore, expressed the hope that by the end of the
workshop, pragmatic short, medium and long term contributions would be made
to help address the energy challenges facing Ghana. Honourable Hackman Owusu
Agyemang, Ghana's Minster for Water Resources, Works and Housing, who was
the Chairman for the occasion, indicated that apart from being the only
haven of peace in the troubled West African Sub-region, Ghana had also put
in place, systems and modalities such as the Double Taxation Act and other
generous incentive schemes to attract Foreign Direct Investment which would
make Ghana a destination for potential investors. He lauded the current
excellent and cordial relations between the US and Ghana and said this
should encourage US investors to go to Ghana. He added that it had been
projected that Ghana would attain the status of a middle income country and
have access to 75% portable water by the year 2015. He, however, indicated
that one major setback had been in the area of energy and invited
participants to come out with suggestions that would help address Ghana's
energy problem.
Some of the observations and comments made during presentations included:
Ghana's energy portfolio had changed from pure hydro to a mixture
hydro/thermal. The thermal component in the mix was expected to increase and
dominate.
A major challenge to the energy sector was how to obtain investment capital
for expansion to assure reliable electricity supply in the future.
The challenges in the energy sector presented significant
investment/opportunities.
The development of the West African Gas Pipeline was expected to
significantly reduce thermal plant fuel cost whilst the West African Power
Pool was expected to open up electricity markets.
Future prospects for Ghana's electricity supply were bright in spite of the
short term challenges.
Over the next 5 years domestic demand for electricity was expected to grow
at an average rate of about 7.6%
An approximate amount of US $240.8 million was needed for the next five
years by the Electricity Company to revamp its operations.
Participants were also informed that some of the strategies that had been
put help address challenges included the installation of additional thermal
generation plants and the importation of power from outside; the importation
of millions energy saving lamps; intensification of Revenue Protection
Unit's activities to control and stem commercial losses; the installation of
prepayment metering system nationwide and the commitment of Public Utilities
Regulations Commission (PURC) to review major tariffs every 4 years so that
consumers could pay realistic economic tariff.
After a day of fruitful deliberations, the following
recommendations/suggestions were made by the participants as to the way
forward:
It was agreed Ghana could learn the from the success story of Montgomery
County (a County in the State of Maryland, USA) by diversifying its power
generation and not relying only on hydro and thermal. Montgomery County
presently depends on Coal ? 52.5%, Nuclear ? 37.20%, Gas ? 6.90%, Hydro ?
1.40, Oil ? 1.10 as well as methane gas, solid waste and wind compared to
Ghana's dependence on mainly hydro and thermal.
The EXIM Bank was in the position to provide potential investors in the
energy sector with the necessary assistance in the area of funding for goods
and services of US origin under the Banks Export Credit Insurance and
Guarantees schemes.
In view of the capital intensive nature of investment in the energy sector,
it was suggested that Ghanaians could internally form cooperative groups,
build up the necessary equity and then contact the EXIM Bank and other
financial sources for the necessary financial support to enable them invest
in the energy sector.
There was the need to explore waste to energy technology. Interested
potential investors present at the workshop were directed to contact the
Ministry of Energy and other relevant agencies in Ghana for further
discussions.
A proposal was put forward that to be able to attract independent Power
Producers, there should be tariff reform to reflect the actual cost of
production. It was noted, however, that was important to improve upon the
service delivery first before the upward review of tariffs. It was also
explained that the Government was ready and prepared to absorb any
additional costs that would be incurred by the Independent Power Producers
should they decide to invest in Ghana.
Government was to make it a major policy to build one power generating plant
every year depending on availability of resources.
The country should explore other types of renewable energy no matter how
insignificant its contribution would be to the national grid and
systematically develop and improve on them over the years.
There was an urgent need for an improvement in the distribution network by
the service providers and attention given to the regular maintenance of
equipment.
There was also the need for Government to be more aggressive in sourcing for
funds in view of Ghana's good credit rating.
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