Distributed renewable energy generation is growing steadily in the Republic of Ghana, data from Ghana’s technical electricity regulator, Energy Commission, has revealed.
From a paltry 495kWp in 2013 distributed, energy sources have grown to 30, 920 kWp in 2020.
Distributed generation is the term used when electricity is generated from sources, often renewable energy sources, near the point of use instead of centralized generation sources from power plants.
Presenting a document titled: ‘Making Distributed Energy Resources and Renewable Energy Investments Attractive: Context Of Ghana’s Regulations’, at a webinar hosted by USAID, Fredrick Ken Appiah, Head of Renewable Energy at the Energy Commission, attributed the steady growth in distributed energy to a stable socio-political-economic environment, high cost of electricity for commercial and industries, innovative business and financial model as well as the power crisis the country experienced between 2012 and 2016.
Ghana has set a target to achieve 10 per cent renewable energy penetration in the energy mix by 2030, 200MW of Renewable Energy Distributed Generation by 2030 and universal electricity access by 2025.
Discussing how to advance distributed energy resources in Ghana, Mr Appiah suggested the development of a compensation mechanism such as capacity (demand) charge for distributed generation systems that depend on distribution network for support, adoption of net metering, the introduction of a National Threshold Capacity, Change Distribution Utility’s Business Model and Financial/Technical Impact Assessment.
In his concluding remarks, Mr Appiah said nobody can stop the adoption of distributed generation power.
“We just need to be innovative and adapt to change based on our needs, not international pressure,” he noted.
He added that there is a need to support industries to reduce their cost of production by using cheap distributed energy resources.
He further stressed that Ghana takes a second look at the tariff structure.
Mr Kobina Nyanteh, from the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), enumerated some of the challenges that the RE sector faces.
He mentioned insufficient experience, absence of net metering, lack of support for projects, high commercial interest rates, limited tenor loans, high inflation and currency depreciation.
To address the challenges, Mr Kobina Nyanteh proposed increasing generation capacity through utility-scale projects, mini-grids standalone app applications for street lighting, traffic control, aviation signals, telecommunications and light electronic device.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com