Energy Strategist, Dr. Yussif Sulemana has called for the expansion of nation’s renewable energy generation mix in order to provide electricity to all parts of the country.
Speaking in an interview with the Vaultz News, he stated that, there are actually some areas that the nation clearly might not be able to send electricity to within the national grid and as such must consider the expansion of renewable energy generation mix.
“We clearly will have those difficulties. So, to achieve this penetration, that is the hundred percent energy penetration in this nation, we need to increase our renewable energy base.”
He further stated that, the government also has to capitalise on the country’s solar generation potential and wind power generation potential, so that, some of the hinterlands and areas that hitherto the national grid will not be able to reach, could have many solar plants that will be able to supply power to those areas.
“And again, we are so much lacking in this area. We promised to achieve ten percent by 2020, that eluded us because we didn’t do the right thing. We have shifted that target to 2030; are we going to do something different?”
He further espoused that, the problem was an accumulated one and the government should have new ways of doing things differently, such as increasing the investment portfolio of the renewable energy base and also making it competitive.
“With that, even if the government of the day invest by itself into the renewables, the government can open up the space for private sector to invest into the renewables. So, if we are able to increase our renewable energy generation mix, it will also enhance our ability to be able to supply power to every corner of this nation.”
He further iterated the fact that the nation was still struggling to have a cost-efficient method of generating power, and posited that, until the nation moves from this quadrant, the government will not be able to send power to every corner of the nation as it has already been announced by the President.
He further added that, if the country does not move from the liquid base generation mix which is expensive and quite detrimental to the environment, to the gaseous mix of generating power, the quest of providing electricity to all parts of the country will be a quest in futility.
He also suggested that, the government builds and expand the capacity of Ghana Gas, due to the limited capacity it has, in order to process the gas for power production in the country.
“In fact, we have about billions and trillions of gas reserves within our shores, so we need to expand Ghana Gas. Once we expand it, take the gas through Ghana Gas, process it and we also build the infrastructure in terms of pipelines, … after it is generated because we need to send it all the power generating points. That is also lacking as we speak now.”
Additionally, he averred that, until the government is able to look into these few bottlenecks with regards to energy generation, the nation can be assured of its goal of providing electricity to all parts of the country.
