Background
The Government of Ghana (GoG) attaches high priority to developing renewable energy (RE). Wind and solar power are indigenous sources of energy that can reduce carbon emissions and enhance sustainability. GoG therefore has a strong interest in promoting and integrating them into the national energy supply system.
Furthermore, GoG is committed to transferring RE technologies to Ghana. As well as building expertise, it also intends to develop the domestic market for RE. And it intends to make electricity generated from renewable sources an integral part of the mix. Finally, in the near future Ghana aspires to become a net-exporter of energy in the sub-region. To create the enabling framework needed for this, in 2011 the
Ghanaian Parliament adopted the Renewable Energy Act.
In 2015 Ghana published its Nationally Determined Contribution for the UNFCCC. In it, GoG also makes its national strategic target of generating 10 percent of electricity from renewables by 2030 part of Ghana’s contribution to the international climate agenda.
Objective
The overall objective of the project is to improve the planning, technical, and institutional capacities of key institutions in the energy sector for successfully implementing the Renewable Energy Act. The project specifically aims to improve the capacity of partner institutions for integrating RE into the national grid.
Approach
The joint programme supports the development of capacity for the Ministry of Energy’s Directorate for Renewable & Alternative Energy; the technical and financial regulators (Energy Commission and PURC); the generation and distribution utilities (VRA, ECG and NEDCo); the transmission grid operator (GRIDCo); the private sector (including bulk electricity customers) and educational institutions.
Key elements of the approach include developing an RE implementation strategy; facilitating the adoption of regulation and legislative instruments underpinning the provisions of the Renewable Energy Act and developing RE baselines and scenarios.
Principal areas of activity are:
- Grid integration of larger, grid-connected RE facilitated by international competitive tendering and the RE purchase obligation
- Integration of decentralised, grid-connected RE using the instrument of net-metering, and
- Promotion of energy efficiency for endusers/households