Ghana Risks Electricity Imports Without Renewable Energy Investment, Tanoh Warns

Presidential Advisor to the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Secretariat, Goosie Tanoh, has called for urgent investment in renewable energy to expand Ghana’s electricity generation capacity and support the country’s industrialisation agenda.

Tanoh said Ghana risked becoming dependent on imported electricity if it failed to make strategic investments in renewable energy while other countries continued to build cheaper and cleaner power generation systems.

Speaking at Ghana Investment and Trade Week, organised by the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, Tanoh outlined a number of renewable energy projects the Secretariat is implementing with private investors at its industrial parks to help power the government’s 24-hour economy initiative.

He said renewable energy offered a cheaper and more sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, which are finite and increasingly expensive for electricity generation.

“Renewable energy does not run out. The sun rises over Ghana every day at no charge, and the cost of equipment that captures it has fallen by about 90% over recent years. An economy that runs on fossil fuel must buy fossil fuel again every year in foreign currency. An economy that runs on renewable energy pays for the equipment once, and the energy costs nothing thereafter,” Tanoh said.

He said disruptions to global energy markets caused by tensions in the Middle East, including concerns over shipping through the Strait of Hormuz during the recent Iran-Israel conflict and U.S. military involvement, underscored the need for Ghana to accelerate its transition to renewable energy.

Citing China, Tanoh said the country had, over the past two decades, installed more solar power capacity than any other nation, helping to drive industrial growth and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

He also referred to the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, under which the Biden administration committed hundreds of billions of dollars to clean energy investment, including solar power.

He said Texas had installed more new solar generating capacity than any other U.S. state because it had become one of the cheapest sources of electricity.

Turning to Africa, Tanoh cited Morocco’s Noor Ouarzazate Solar Complex, one of the world’s largest concentrated solar power facilities with a total installed capacity of about 580 megawatts, as an example of how renewable energy can support industrialisation.

Tanoh said the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Secretariat was committed to developing solar power projects to supply its industrial parks with reliable electricity, enabling continuous industrial operations and supporting the government’s industrialisation drive.