President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has announced that government will be installing 200,000 solar systems in the country.
This he says is geared towards providing power to households, commercial and government facilities in urban and selected non-electrified communities.
The initiative is part of government’s commitment to increase the use of renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix, while expanding access to electricity across the country.
President Akufo-Addo made the announcement at the maiden conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in New Delhi, India.
The conference, which was co-organised by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, brought together leaders from 24 countries within the tropical zone of the world that have signed and ratified the ISA framework.
The purpose of the ISA is to provide a dedicated platform for solar-rich countries to further develop world’s solar energy resources and make it globally available, affordable and a preferred choice for global energy solutions.
The leaders during the conference deliberated and shared ideas on how they can harness the power of the sun to reduce their countries’ dependency on the use of fossil fuel, and address the adverse effects of climate change.
President Akufo-Addo, in his address, announced plans made by government to provide two million solar lanterns to replace kerosene lanterns currently used by residents in rural and non-electrified communities in the country.
He bemoaned Ghana’s inability to exploit its solar resources potentials to meet its energy demands, despite its unique position on the globe and the abundant sunshine.
“Ghana is located around the Equatorial Sunbelt with many parts of the country enjoying high solar. The country is endowed with abundant solar resources which can be harnessed to increase the contribution of renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix”.
“It is unfortunate that despite the abundance of sunshine, Ghana’s energy mix comprises 59 per cent fossil, 40 per cent hydro and only one per cent solar,” he said.
President Akufo-Addo also said Ghana was committed to achieving SDG 13 which urges countries to take urgent action to combat climate change.
He mentioned that although Ghana was not a major emitter of greenhouse, the country had demonstrated its commitment, under the Paris Agreement, to lower its greenhouse emission by 15 per cent by the year 2030.
According to him, government was committed to the development of utility scale solar energy projects and accelerate the development of grid solutions in upgrade and island communities for lighting, irrigation and other economic activities.
