Ghana’s second largest state power generation company, Bui Power Authority, has won five awards at this year’s HESS Awards night held in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The BPA won four awards while the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority, Mr. Fred Oware won the HESS CEO of the year award.
The awards BPA won are HESS Company of the YEAR, HESS Team of the Year, HESS Manager of the year and BEST Company in Employee Health Well-Being Initiative.
The HESS award is designed to identify, publicly recognise and celebrate outstanding companies for exceptional performance and innovations focused on occupational health, the environment and employee and stakeholder safety and security.
This year’s HESS Awards was on the theme: ‘Recognising outstanding achievements and celebrating business excellence and innovation focused on occupational health, safety, security and environment’.
Commenting on the awards in an interview with energynewsafrica.com via the telephone, Chief Executive Officer of Bui Power Authority, Mr Fred Oware noted that the awards were well deserved “because there are a number of things that we’re always doing to ensure the safety of the plant, workers and entire community to make sure that at the end of the day, we leave the plant in a safe environment.”
Continuing, Mr Oware said every year, the Authority engages medical doctors from the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital to take head office staff through health screening exercises while doctors from the Wenchi Methodist Church Hospital are engaged to do same for the staff at the plant site at Bui and the entire community.
Touching on other measures they adopted which he believed contributed to BPA’s chances of winning the awards, Mr Oware explained that “when the Covid-19 started, we imposed travelling ban on all the staff. Those who were at the plant site couldn’t leave and those who were outside couldn’t come in. From that time till date, we have supplied all the staff and their dependents, as well as the communities around the dam site, essential vitamins to boost their immune system to make sure that even if anybody had the virus, the effects would be lessened.”
Mr Oware said the Authority also increased its medical counseling to staff by educating them on how they could prevent contracting Covid-19 virus and what they could do in case they contracted the virus.
He said they extended this to the members of the communities around the dam and also supplied them with alcohol–based hand sanitizers and soaps to enable them observe the covid-19 safety protocols.
According to Mr Oware, BPA also set up a Standing Committee for disease control which monitors Covid-19 situation in the country and other diseases and passed on the information to the staff.
Mr Fred Oware, CEO of Bui Power Authority (BPA)
“Every day since the start of Covid-19, we put information on disease control and everything we can pick from anywhere,” he said.
Apart from the efforts the BPA made in protecting the workers and the residents around the dam site, Mr Oware said management also improved on their maintenance culture by making sure that the Bui reservoir, equipment of the plant and its systems were properly maintained to avoid breakdown.
He believed those steps the Authority took caught the attention of the HESS Awards organisers and nominated BPA after doing their independent assessment of the measures put in place.
He commended the staff of BPA for supporting management in all the steps they initiated and adhering to the Covid-19 safety protocols management put in place for their safety.
“As a leader, I’m grateful to my staff for their contribution, having been through this whole thing and taking instructions and following whatever we said we were going to do and did not expose anyone to danger.
“My staff has done really well and I’m grateful to them. I thank them most sincerely and I want them to know that I appreciate them,” he said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Nuclear power is an indispensable part of the Biden administration’s plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 52 percent over the next ten years, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said at the annual general meeting of the American Nuclear Society.
“President Biden is absolutely committed to getting this country powered by clean energy, using every single clean energy tool available,” Secretary Granholm said, as quoted by World Nuclear News, adding that “Carbon-free nuclear power is an absolutely critical part of our decarbonisation equation.”
Nuclear power has a very low carbon footprint, but a bad rap has kept it outside the emissions-cutting spotlight.
There have been calls from the industry to include nuclear power in energy transition plans as experts argued that these plans will fail without nuclear.
Still, acceptance of this fact has been slow in coming for politicians, which makes Granholm’s statement a rare glimmer of hope for the nuclear industry.
Nuclear power in the U.S. has been increasingly going out of favor not just because of reputational problems but because of the abundance of cheap natural gas, which has compromised the competitiveness of many nuclear plants and has led to canceled plans for more capacity. This may change now with the Biden administration’s ambitious climate agenda.
The first step, Secretary Granholm said, is to preserve the existing nuclear capacity of the country, which generates a fifth of the total U.S. power output.
“DOE already works across the nuclear sector, which includes some of you. We work with you and we work with you on projects to reduce the operating costs and increase revenues from the nuclear fleet, and with this budget we’ve put USD175 million into these modernization efforts,” she said.
“A lot of it is going into developing and deploying new and improved fuels to enhance performance and to reduce costs. And we’re going to keep doing everything that we can to encourage our partners in the states to keep their reactors online.”
At the same time, the administration is looking into new nuclear power technology and has earmarked some $700 million for tapping their “huge potential”.
Source: Oilprice.com
The Africa Renewable Energy Fund II has achieved its first close at €125 million, following a joint investment of €17.5 million from The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund through the African Development Bank.
AREF II, a successor to the original Fund, is a 10-year closed-ended renewable energy Private Equity Fund with a $300 million target capitalization.
The Africa Renewable Energy Fund II, managed by Berkeley Energy, invests in early-stage renewable energy projects, thereby not only de-risking the most uncertain phase of power projects, but also promoting increased green baseload in Africa’s generation mix.
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund will each contribute roughly €8.7 million to mobilize private-sector investment into Africa’s renewable energy sector.
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa will also contribute financing to the AREF II Project Support Facility, which funds technical assistance and early-stage project support to improve bankability.
Other investors include the U.K’s CDC Group, Italy’s CDP, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and SwedFund.
“We are proud to be associated with Berkeley Energy and other like-minded investors, and look forward to AREF’s continued success and leadership in promoting sustainable power development on the continent,” said Dr. Kevin Kariuki, the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth.
In 2012, the African Development Bank selected Berkeley Energy, a seasoned fund manager of clean energy projects in global emerging markets to set up AREF. AREF II has a sharper strategic focus than its predecessor on “green baseload” projects that will deliver firm and dispatchable power to African power systems through hydro, solar, wind and battery storage technologies.
Luka Buljan, Berkeley Energy’s Managing Director, said: “We are very excited to have reached this milestone with strong support from our backers. The catalytic tranche from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund will assist in mobilising private institutional investors up to full fund size of €300 million. We now look forward to concluding the fundraising and delivering projects that will provide clean, reliable and affordable energy across African markets.”
“AREF is intertwined with the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa’s history and success, and we have worked closely over the last decade to create precedents in difficult markets and challenging technologies. We look forward to continued collaboration to accelerate the energy transition in Africa,” said Joao Duarte Cunha, Manager for Renewable Energy Initiatives at the African Development Bank and Coordinator of the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.
The Government of Ghana has paid about US$937.5 million to independent power producers (IPPs) in the West African nation as excess capacity charges in the last four years.
The country’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta who appeared before the country’s Parliament last Thursday to answer questions on payments to IPPs, told the lawmakers that the payments were made to three companies.
These were AKSA, which received US$347.2 million; Karpowership, which was paid US$359 million and Cenpower, which received US$231.3 million.
The present government of the West African nation has been lamenting over huge amount of money it pays on capacity charges due to a ‘take or pay’ agreement the then administration signed with the IPPs.
The Director General of Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Prof Benjamin Jabez Botwe Nyarko has indicated that Ghana has been applying nuclear technology for peaceful applications and wondered how some people would have erroneous perception that the Commission may be into the manufacture of atomic bomb.
According to him, the Commission was set up to champion the enormous benefits that can be derived from the atom and this has been the focus of the commission since its establishment.
He said Ghana has committed to the peaceful applications of nuclear technology by signing on to international conventions and treaties that empowers international bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect and monitor every activity of the Commission.
“You cannot engage in non-peaceful applications of nuclear technology in a secret way. You will be found out no matter where you’re doing the thing, so, atomic activities are not a secret activity,” he said during an exclusive interview with energynewsafrica.com.
“We have subscribed to Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) that we will not do anything apart from peaceful uses of nuclear applications,” he added.
The Ghana Atomic Energy Commission was established by an Act of Parliament, Act 204 of 1963, as the sole Agency in Ghana responsible for all matters relating to peaceful uses of atomic energy.
The Act 204 was amended in 1993 by PNDC Law 308 mainly to enable it to create other institutes under the Commission. This amendment resulted in the creation of two other institutes in addition to the National Nuclear Research Institute (NNRI), formerly Kwame Nkrumah Nuclear Research Institute (KNNRI), namely: the Radiation Protection Institute, and the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute (BNARI).
The founding Act 204 of 1963 has been superseded by Act 588 of 2000 to make provision for GAEC to undertake commercialisation of its research and development results. Currently, the commission has seven technical institutes engaged in various aspects of peaceful applications of nuclear technology.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Petrosol, an indigenous Ghanaian oil marketing company, has paid a whopping GHS568 million as petroleum taxes.
This covers six years’ period between 2014 and 2020.
The Chief Executive Officer of Petrosol, Michael Bozumbil revealed this last Friday.
“We will continue to be a good corporate citizen. What we need from the state is your support so we can do more,” he said.
Petrosol has received triple ISO certification, thus, making it the first indigenous OMC to receive three certification.
The company received ISO 9001: 2015 for Quality Management System, ISO14001:2015 for Environmental Management System and ISO 45001: 2018 for Occupational Health & Safety Management System.
“This means that PETROSOL has internationally accepted systems and processes in place for procuring, storing, distributing and marketing fuel and lubricants that enable you, our cherished customers and consumers, receive clean fuel in full quantity and in safe and environmentally sustainable manner,” Mr. Bozumbil said.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
A federal judge in Louisiana blocked the Biden administration’s pause on oil and gas leasing on U.S. public lands and waters.
U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order in January to indefinitely halt new oil and gas leasing in federal lands and waters. This came only days after Biden temporarily halted leasing in the same areas.
The move was part of a sweeping plan to rein in fossil-fuel extraction and combat the effects of climate change.
This halt was heavily criticised by both the oil industry and producing states, as well as industry associations like the International Association of GeoChemistry, Independent Petroleum Association of America, and the American Petroleum Institute.
The review of the future federal oil leasing program by the Biden administration started in late March and will be completed in the coming days.
Fourteen states filed lawsuits to counter Biden’s decision.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Okahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia filed one lawsuit in federal court in Louisiana.
The lawsuits allege the administration’s leasing pause violates the Mineral Leasing Act that requires quarterly lease sales.
The fourteenth state – Wyoming – filed its lawsuit in federal court in that state.
The Louisiana court ruled in favour of the thirteen states. According to Reuters, the judge’s decision, which applies to onshore and offshore leasing nationwide, will remain in effect pending the final resolution of the case or orders from higher courts, according to a court document.
Reuters said that, in the ruling, Judge Terry Doughty of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana said the states had met the requirements to establish that they would suffer injury from the pause on new oil and gas leases with ‘millions and possibly billions of dollars at stake’. Doughty also stated that the states had a ‘substantial likelihood of success’ with their lawsuit.
The Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry called it ‘a victory not only for the rule of law but also for the thousands of workers who produce affordable energy for Americans’.
It is worth noting the political side of this as the states which joined Louisiana’s lawsuit were all states with Republican attorneys general. Biden, of course, is a Democrat.
The Interior Department said it would comply with the ruling but did not say when auctions might resume while the API urged the administration ‘to move expeditiously to follow the court’s order and lift the federal leasing pause’.
Source: offshoreenergytoday.com
Nigeria borrowed a total of N1.3 trillion (US$3,170,731,590.00) since 2017 to ensure that generation companies and gas suppliers received adequate funds to continue generating electricity.
A local newspaper, The Punch quoted a report by World Bank titled ‘Resilience Through Reforms’ as saying.
The World Bank said Nigeria’s power sector will cost the Federal Government an additional N3.08 trillion through 2023 if current performance levels and low tariffs persist.
“To ensure that Gencos and gas suppliers receive enough payments to continue generating electricity, since 2017, the FGN has borrowed a total of N1.3tn ($4.2bn).
“In 2019, total FGN support reached N524bn ($1.7bn), 0.4 percent of GDP – higher than the N428bn budget for health and just 20 percent less than the N650bn budgeted for education.”
The Bank noted that even though all the six generation companies and eleven distribution companies have been privatised, the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company, buys electricity from the GENCOs and independent power producers before reselling to the Discos.
According to the Bank, government through the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission regulates tariff in the sector instead of allowing market forces to determine it.
It added that the transmission company of Nigeria was still strictly government-owned.
Nigerians pay less than the cost of production for electricity, the report said, adding that this resulted in revenue shortfall.
From 2015 through to 2019, the FG paid N1.68tn as cumulative tariff shortfall, it said, adding that because of foreign exchange depreciation and rising domestic inflation, tariff shortfalls had also been on the rise.
The bank said, “Every Nigerian who receives electricity from a Disco pays less for electricity than the cost of supplying it.
“However, 80 percent of the spending on tariff shortfalls benefits the richest 40 percent of the population; only eight percent benefits the bottom 40 percent, and of this, less than two percent benefits the poorest 20 per cent.
“Significant resources spent on funding tariff shortfalls disproportionately benefit the relatively wealthy who have access to the grid and use more electricity so that ultimately, a big chunk of government’s support goes to those who do not really need help with paying bills.”
The Bank said that 43 per cent of the population i.e. 85 million people lacked access to grid electricity, making Nigeria the nation with the world’s largest energy access deficit.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Vivo Energy Ghana, the exclusive marketers and distributors of Shell branded products and services in partnership with its transporters, S.O Frimpong, J. K. Horgle and J. K. Ahiadome Transport Company Limited and the National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) have launched a National Road Safety Campaign under the theme, “Driving Ghana Safe a collective responsibility.”
The ‘Stop, Think & Drive’ National Road Safety Campaign has the objective of improving road safety consciousness among high risk commercial drivers and motorcycle riders to provide enhanced and safer transport services to commuters.
Under the campaign, over 30 defensive driving training sessions will be held for commercial drivers and motorcycle riders across the golden triangle of Ghana i.e. Greater Accra, Ashanti Region and the Western Regions. Participants will be taken through a comprehensive defensive driving training module.
Speaking at the launch, the Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Mr. Ben Hassan Ouattara said the training is expected to increase risk awareness of drivers, promote attitudinal change and increase the competence of beneficiary drivers and reduce carnage on our roads.
Mr. Ouattara reiterated Vivo Energy Ghana’s commitment to support the government and its agencies in reducing road accidents.
“As an energy company and fuel distributor, we recognise that the government cannot succeed in reducing carnages on our roads if they act alone. It is for this reason that Vivo Energy Ghana in partnership with its transporters continue to demonstrate its long-term commitment to the protection of lives through the implementation of road safety initiatives with support from the National Road Safety Authority”.
The Special Guest of Honour and the Director General of the National Road Safety Commission, Ing. May Obiri-Yeboah, stressed the importance and purpose of the campaign.
Managing Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, Mr. Ben Hassan Ouattara addressing commercial drivers and motorcycle riders at the launch of the ‘Stop, Think & Drive’ Road Safety Campaign
“While the skill to drive is important, the consciousness to realize that safety matters despite the conditions of the road and the actions of others is even more critical.”
Ing. May Obiri-Yeboah encouraged the drivers to put safety first by taking the training seriously to help build their capacity and protect themselves and commuters against possible crashes.
“We cannot deny that we still have bad road networks that affect safe driving, or that there are irresponsible drivers on our roads. These problems exist but as commercial vehicle drivers, your attitude towards these problems should not be one of indiscipline; your attitudes and actions should seek to always protect and keep yourself and others safe on the road”, she said.
Ing. May Obiri-Yeboah further commended Vivo Energy Ghana and its transporters for consistently championing road safety in Ghana through various interventions.
With a vision of becoming Africa’s most respected energy business, Vivo Energy goes beyond the sale of high quality Shell fuels and lubricants to playing its role as a socially responsible company through the critical areas such as road safety, education and the environment.”
Source www.energynewsafrica.com
Six communities in the Karaga Constituency in the Northern Region of Ghana have been connected to the national grid.
These communities are Sandua, Tulinga, Pukura, Sologu, Tandong and Babilga.
The Member Of Parliament (MP) for Karaga Constituency and a Deputy Minister nominee for Energy, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam announced this on his Facebook wall.
“These communities have now joined the over 40 communities that have been connected to the grid in the Karaga Constituency in the last two years.
“I am happy about the excitement of the people in these communities,” Dr Amin Adam said.
Ghana’s electricity access is about 85 percent and the President of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, has promised to ensure that by the time his second term ends, communities without electricity would be connected to the national grid to ensure that the country achieves 100 percent electricity access.
Dr Amin, whose effort resulted in the six communities getting connected to the grid, said the move was in furtherance to President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to achieving universal access to electricity in Ghana.
A three-member Interim Management Committee (IMC) has been set up to oversee the operations of Ghana’s only oil refinery, Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), after the dismissal of the refinery’s Managing Director and a Deputy.
The IMC is being chaired by Ing Norbert Anku, a former Managing Director of Enclave Power Limited, an independent power producer in the West African nation.
Other members of the IMC are Mr. William Ntim Boadu and Mr. Okyere Baffuor Sarpong.
The committee’s terms of reference include, among others, to ensure the smooth transfer from the outgone Directors, undertake technical and human resource audits as well as receiving and assessing viable partnerships for TOR, if any.
Inaugurating the three-member committee at the refinery on Tuesday, Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh urged the IMC to be diligent in its work and bring their rich experience to bear in the discharge of their mandate.
He stressed the need to find the right partnerships, managerial infrastructure and equipment to enable TOR work as a strategic stakeholder in the oil and gas sector.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Energy Minister in a group photograph with the three member committee
Dr. Prempeh also urged the staff of the refinery to put all past rancours behind them, cooperate with the IMC and work hard to ensure the success of the refinery.
The committee is to submit its report including findings and recommendations, to the Dr. Prempeh within three months.
Energynewsafrica.com reported earlier on Tuesday that the Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery, Mr. Francis Boateng, and his Deputy, Ato Morrison, have been sacked.
The duo, according to energynewsafrica.com’s sources, received their dismissal letters on Friday.
It is unclear what occasioned their dismissal but energynewsafrica.com recalls that there had been agitations in
recent times by union workers demanding the removal of their MD and his Deputy over show of poor leadership.
The 45000bpd refinery built during the regime of Ghana’s first President, the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has been struggling and is saddled with huge indebtedness as a result of bad governance by successive governments.
Information from reliable sources indicates the Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Francis Boateng, and his Deputy, Ato Morrison, have been relieved from their positions.
It is unclear what occasioned their dismissal.
Sources within the West African nation’s only refinery indicated that the MD and his deputy received letters on Friday, asking them to vacate their offices.
Mr Francis Boateng was the General Manager for Commercial Operations at the Ghana National Gas Company before he was appointed Managing Director of TOR.
He replaced Kweku Asante Berko, who resigned over allegations of his involvement in a bribery scandal by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the U.S.A.
Francis Boateng was the third person to manage TOR during the four years’ term of the first administration of President Nana Akufo-Addo.
According to sources, the Energy Ministry has been tasked to constitute an interim management committee to oversee to the operations of the refinery until a substantive Managing Director is appointed.
Mr Ato Morrison
Energynewsafrica.com’s sources indicate that Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, will be at TOR this morning to inaugurate the Interim Management Committee.
It would be recalled that there had been agitations by a section of the workers calling for the dismissal of the MD and his deputy for poorly managing the refinery.
The 45,000 bpd capacity refinery, built during the regime of Ghana’s first President, the late Dr Kwame Nkrumah, has been struggling due to mismanagement by successive governments.
More to come soon
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Chief Executive Officer of Ghana’s largest state power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA), says the premier power generator will lead the effort to build clean and more environmentally sustainable power systems that would safeguard future generations.
Ing. Emmanuel Antwi Darkwa gave this assurance last Friday when he led officials of VRA to plant trees as part of Green Ghana Project which saw planting of about five million trees by Ghanaians across the West African nation.
“This is why we continue to embark on significant investments in renewable projects and other low carbon power generation technologies to maintain the country’s low and acceptable carbon footprint,” Ing Antwi Darkwa said as carried by the Ghana News Agency.
According to the newswire, Ing Antwi Darkwa said the Authority owed responsibility to the public to operate and ensure that all water resource systems in the country, particularly the Volta River system was kept pristine and managed in a sustainable manner.
He said the Green Ghana Project is tied to the Authority’s ‘Volta Gorge Reforestation Programme (VGRP)’ aimed at forest cover restoration through the protection of the existing vegetation and restocking of all degraded lands.
The VGRP consisted of 23 reforestation projects being implemented in 23 riparian communities along both the Eastern and Western banks of the Volta Gorge in the Asougyaman District.
“We have so far covered a substantial amount of area with new vegetative cover consisting of both plantation and natural forest”, he said.
He said the initiative was important because sustainable development was key to the Authority’s business and its stakeholders, adding that issues of climate change and environmental protection were of utmost importance to the company.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Dr Amin, whose effort resulted in the six communities getting connected to the grid, said the move was in furtherance to President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to achieving universal access to electricity in Ghana. 
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com