Ghana: Two Fuel Tankers Burnt In Fire Explosion At Kpone
Two fuel tankers loaded with petrol have been swept by fire at a yard at Kpone near Tema in the Republic of Ghana.
Energynewsafrica.com understands that one of the tankers got completely burnt while the other was partially burnt.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident occurred at about 7pm Tuesday.
Speaking to Energynewsafrica.com, The Deputy Tema Regional Commander for Ghana National Fire Service, DO1 Timothy Osafo Affum, who confirmed the incident, said his outfit received a distress call from the area and quickly moved to the scene.
According to him, the personnel of the service managed to bring the fire under control. Later, he said they detected that two of the tankers had been affected.
He could not confirm the cause of the fire but said investigations have begun to establish the cause of the incident.
There were no casualties.
It would be recalled that similar incident happened late last year in the area.
It is not clear whether it is the same tanker yard or not.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: GRIDCo Warns Encroachers Of Demolition From Tema-Mallam
Ghana’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, has served notice to residents in Ashaiman, Adjei Kojo, Mempeasem, Dzorwulu and American House, in Greater Accra Region, who have occupied the right of way of its high voltage transmission lines to vacate with immediate effect.
In a statement issued Tuesday, GRIDCo said it will be carrying out a demolition exercise to rid the aforementioned areas of illegal occupants whose activities prevent access to the transmission towers.
The company believes the demolition exercise, when completed, would give its engineers and contractors unimpeded access to be able to carry out construction works to ensure adequate and quality power transmission to the Greater Accra Region and adjoining areas.
It said under the Transmission Line Protection Regulation, 1967 (LI542) as amended by Regulation No. LI 1737 of 2004, it is an offence for persons or institutions to conduct any form of activity in relation to the lands around the location of power transmission lines and towers in Ghana.
Operations including drilling, excavation works, lorry parks, shops, garages, bars and real estate undertaken in the areas extending for a distance of 15 meters on each side from the centre of the transmission towers for 161KV lines and 20 meters for 330KV lines are prohibited.
Ghana: Danger: Illegal Miners Dig GRIDCo’s Transmission Tower In Western RegionThese activities are said to pose danger to human life and property as transmission line faults can result in casualties and damage to properties. It would be recalled that last year, GRIDCo carried out a similar exercise at American House and Ayigbe Town in Dzorwulu, rendering scores of people homeless. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: GPGC $164M Judgment Debt: The Inside Story (Part I)
The news of recent $164 million judgment debt awarded in favour of GPGC Limited by the International Court of Arbitration against Ghana, a West African nation, for terminating an Emergency Power Agreement with the former has stirred controversy among Ghanaians.
While a section of Ghanaians especially the opposition NDC Minority, led by former Deputy Minister for Power, John Jinapor believes Mr. Boakye Agyarko should be blamed for the termination of the contract leading to the judgment debt. Others also believe the former Power Minister under whose watch the dubious contract was signed should be made to answer questions on why he signed the contract.
Addressing a press conference last week, the Yapei-Kusawgu MP, Hon. Jinapor, in one breath, alleged that Mr. Boakye Agyarko terminated the GPGC Agreement. In another breath, he claimed that the government ignored the experts’ advice of paying GPCG $18 million for early termination.
Speaking on an Accra-based Oman FM recently, Mr. Agyarko, a former Energy Minister under the current government, denied taking a unilateral decision to terminate GPGC’s Emergency Power Agreement.
He clarified that he only acted on the decision of Cabinet.
“It was during my tenure [but] don’t say I cancelled the contract. Let me say emphatically that I, Boakye Kyeremanteng Agyarko, did not use my will or power to cancel anyone’s contract.
“The decision was that we should negotiate them out. We sent the report to Cabinet who accepted it with all recommendations. I was asked as sector Minister to implement the report,” he said.
Facts
The Ministry of Power, which was created under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC), signed an Emergency Power Agreement with GPGC Limited for the procurement of 107MW power plant.
The agreement was signed on June 3, 2015, and was expected to be executed within a period of one month ending August 3, 2015.
The plant was to operate for a period of four years if it was procured.
Per the terms of the EPA, the Government of Ghana was supposed to pay ground rent for the period of construction and operations of the plant estimated at four years plus 18 months, provide fuel (natural gas) required for the operations of the plant for the said period. This included the construction of a gas pipeline to the plant as well as provide water required to operate the plant which included the construction of water pipelines from the nearest GWCL pipeline for the supply of clean water and sea water for cooling.
Energynewsafrica.com understands GPGC also wanted the Government of Ghana to wave taxes on equipment it intended to ship into the country.
Unfortunately, GPGC could not meet the timeline and the ruling NDC lost power in 2016.
Committee
In 2016, the Ministry of Energy under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress administration formed a committee to examine the various power purchase agreements.
The 17-member committee was headed by Mr. Michael Opam, who was working at the Ministry of Energy.
When the NPP took over governance in 2017 and Boakye Agyarko was appointed Minister for Energy, he reconstituted the committee by appointing Executive Secretary of Energy Commission as chairman of the committee based on the campaign promise of the NPP to review all the PPAs signed by the previous administration.
Membership of the Committee
1. Dr. Alfred Ofosu Ahenkorah—Executive Secretary of Energy Commission, Chairman
2. George Tettey- Ministry of Energy
3. Dr. Joseph Asenso- Ministry of Finance
4. William Sam -Appiah- —-Ministry of Energy
5. Mark Baah—-Ghana Grid Company
6. Anthony Bleboo—Energy Commission
7. Solomon Sarpong-Energy Commission
8. Grace Oppong——Attorney General’s Department
9. Amerley Amarteifio——Ministry of Finance
10. Solomon Adjetey—-Ministry of Energy
11. Hawa. T. Ajei—–Ministry of Energy
12. Leonardo Lamptey——Ministry of Energy
13. Richard Agbotame—-Ministry of Energy
14. Seyram Adabla——–Ministry of Energy
15. Anita Lokko——-Ministry of Energy
16. Ebenezer Baiden —-Electricity Company of Ghana
17. Cephas Galley—–Electricity Company of Ghana
18. Aminu Quadir—-Electricity Company of Ghana
The Committee’s Terms Of Reference Were As Follows:
The Terms of Reference (TOR) of the Committee were as follows:
1. Review and recommend for action, ECG executed PPAs that may be terminated with minimum or no collateral damage to Government and/or ECG;
2. Review and recommend for action, PPAs executed by ECG that may be deferred for later implementation; and
3. Develop a Model PPA and also procedures for future use in the procurement of power.
The committee worked under two sub-committees: Legal and Fiscal/Technical and reviewed a total of fifteen PPAs.
The committee categorised the PPAs into Group A (Committed Projects) and Group B (Candidate Projects).
The Legal Sub-committee reviewed the legal implications of terminating of the PPAs made available while the Fiscal/technical sub-committee assessed the capacity balance of the country from 2018-2030 based on the 2017 Electricity Supply Plan with some key variations arising from information available to the committee.
Findings Of The Committee
A total of thirteen (13) executed PPAs made up of 7 Committed Projects and 6 Candidate Projects were reviewed by the Committee. In addition ECG provided some information on two (2) other Candidate Projects with executed PPAs.
The Committee was made to understand by the Electricity Company of Ghana that, there were other PPAs under discussions. These projects were however not considered by the Committee.
The Committee subjected the PPAs to legal, Technical and Financial scrutiny.
From the Electricity Supply and Demand Plans that were reviewed and adapted by the Committee, Ghana would require generation capacity ranging from 3,170 MW in 2018 to 5,407 MW in 2030. This scenario assumes that, there would be adequate fuel to power the plants which are all thermal power plants.
Recommendations
Based on the analysis and conclusions arrived at, we wish to make the following recommendations:
1. Government should communicate its decision on whether or not it is prepared to grant support to the Candidate Projects as a precursor to action being taken on the PPAs. The decision to terminate or modify should be guided by the proposed capacity addition schedule in this report. Based on the responses from the proponents regarding any proposed changes to their PPAs, the necessary action on their PPAs could be taken.
2. Government should direct ECG to meet all proponents of power projects with executed PPAs for them to confirm or modify, where necessary:
(a.) Actual Capacity to be injected;
(b.) COD; and
(c.) Schedule of Capacity Injection at COD.
3. If the capacities and COD of the various PPAs indicated in this report are confirmed, then the following proposed actions (termination, deferment or downsizing) on the PPAs reviewed may be implemented by ECG in accordance with tables 8.3a, 8.3b, 8.3c and 8.3d summarised below:
i. Government may consider terminating the PPA of GPGC (executed between Government and GPGC) with an installed capacity of 107 MW at an estimated cost of USD 18 Million or else pay excess capacity charge of USD24.90 Million per annum over the contract period of 4 years.
ii. ECG may consider terminating the PPAs of ASG and Chrispod Hydro Power Ltd with a combined installed capacity of 585MW at an estimated cost of USD 39 Million or else pay excess capacity charges of USD 91.64 Million per annum for ASG and USD124.52 Million per annum for Chrispod over the period under consideration (2020 – 2030)
iii. PPAs of Amandi Energy, Cenpower Generation, and Marinus Energy with combined installed capacity of 578.5MW should be allowed to proceed without any modification;
iv. PPAs of Jacobsen Jelco, Early Power, Rotan Power, and AKSA Power, with a combined capacity of 1800 MW should be modified (deferred or downsized) but come online within 2018 and 2025 based on negotiation by the contracting parties. The estimated total cost of termination is USD200.37 Million should parties not agree on proposed modifications.
v. PPAs of Astro Power, KATT Power and Corks Energy, with a combined total capacity of 1,110 MW should be modified (deferred or downsized) and come online after 2025 based on negotiation with contracting parties or be terminated at a total estimated cost of USD72.72 Million if the modification is not acceptable to developers.
vi. No action is required on PPA of BXC which is a take-and-pay contract and does not attract any termination charges.
4. All development cost of power projects should be verified to ensure only prudent ones are included in termination costs. The negotiation on termination cost should cover all transferrable assets to the off-taker.
5. Only existing projects identified (and have been negotiated) for deferment shall be eligible to participate in the competitive tendering process until the projects are fully operational or terminated.
6. The ECG should be instructed not to sign any new PPAs under the current circumstances and all PPAs under discussion should be put on hold until bids are solicited for the procurement of additional capacity.
7. The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) should also be instructed not to sign any new Grid Connection Agreement with developers of power projects and all such agreements under discussion should be put on hold until bids are solicited for the procurement of additional capacity.
8. A committee be tasked to review all the seventeen (17) PPAs executed by ECG for Renewable Energy Projects totaling 890.5 MW and in the interim, ECG be instructed not to sign any additional Renewable Energy PPAs.
9. It is further recommended that all future procurement of power by distribution utilities in Ghana should be made through a competitive public bidding process.
10. The procedure for competitive procurement of electricity which was developed by Energy Commission in 2010, should be reviewed and adopted for implementation.
11. The model PPA already developed the Energy Commission as a guide to IPPs, should be reviewed by a committee for adoption.
Stay tuned for the part II
Angola: Eni Grants Fugro Multiple Offshore Geotechnical Surveys
Fugro has been awarded multiple contracts by Eni Angola to carry out geotechnical and environmental surveys off the coast of Angola between now and May, and two Fugro vessels from their world’s largest fleet of specialist geotechnical and geophysical vessels are currently active in the region.
Multipurpose survey vessel the Fugro Scout, specifically designed for seabed sampling and in situ testing in water depths up to 3000 m, has embarked on a deepwater environmental survey to acquire, analyse and interpret sediment and water samples from Eni Angola’s Agogo field development.
During the survey operations, specialist marine fauna observers (MFOs) will carefully monitor the marine mammals, turtles and seabirds that can be found in the area, and the study will gather key environmental baseline data on offshore Angola’s benthic communities, physicochemical sediment characteristics, and water column productivity.
The resulting Geo-data will characterise the site stratigraphy for Eni Angola and define the mechanical and physical properties of the soil for their subsea facilities. The Fugro Scout will also perform a range of geotechnical site investigations on the project, with work due to start early this month.
A second vessel, the Fugro Helmert, will join the Fugro Scout to conduct a route survey in Angola’s nearshore areas, including various environmental, geotechnical and geophysical surveys, to allow Eni Angola to calculate the best installation route and optimise cable burial protection for the New Gas Consortium.
Jaco Stemmet, Fugro’s Director for Africa, said: “Our vessels are supporting Eni in Angola and delivering a range of specialised Geo-data services. These projects are two great examples of how we unlock insights to help our clients design, build and operate their assets in Africa in a safe, sustainable and efficient manner.”
Ghana: We Did Not Provide Guarantees To IPPs – World Bank
The World Bank says it has not provided any financing or guarantees to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) that signed Power Purchase Agreements with Ghana or the Electricity Company of Ghana during the energy crisis in 2014-2016.
In a statement issued by the Bank to clarify media reports that it provided guarantee to the IPPs during the power crisis era, the World Bank said to secure Ghana’s energy future, the Bank supported the Energy Sector Recovery Plan (ESRP) of Ghana for affordable and reliable electricity supply and enhance the accountability in the energy sector.
The ESRP mandates the rationalisation of gas and power purchase costs in line with the demand and approves the procurement of energy supply and service contracts in a competitive manner.
The Bank said the implementation of this policy was necessary to ensure that new power generation capacity was procured competitively and transparently based on the most cost-effective basis.
The statement said this was to prevent a recurrence of over-supply of generation capacity in future.
“The World Bank Group provided financing and a guarantee to the Sankofa Gas Project, which since 2019 has increased the availability of natural gas for power generation by leveraging private capital investment and promoting a cleaner energy mix,” the Bank said.
The World Bank indicated that it was committed to supporting Ghana in its efforts to sustain economic growth, accelerate poverty reduction, and enhance shared prosperity in a sustainable manner.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
South Africa: ENGIE Acquires 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power Plant
ENGIE has reached an agreement to acquire from Abengoa a 40% equity stake in Xina Solar One, a 100 MW Concentrated Solar plant, as well as 46% of the Operations & Maintenance Company.
The plant is equipped with parabolic trough technology and a molten salt storage system that allows for 5.5 hours of energy storage to provide reliable electricity during peak demand.
Power is contracted through a 20 years Power Purchase Agreement with Eskom (South African Electricity Public Utility).
Xina Solar One is supplying clean energy to more than 95,000 South African households and prevents the emission into the atmosphere of approximately 348,000 tons of CO2 each year.
The plant is located in the Northern Cape of South Africa, which is also the location of ENGIE’s 100 MW Kathu CSP plant.
Xina Solar One increases ENGIE’s renewable footprint and is a further step to cementing its position as the leading Independent Power Producer in the country. Synergies between Xina and Kathu will be developed to further enhance the operational efficiency of both plants.
“With the acquisition of this project, ENGIE is pursuing its low carbon strategy. Xina augments the country’s installed peaking power and reduces its dependence on coal-fired electricity. The 100 MW CSP plant also contributes to ENGIE’s geographic rationalization by expanding its footprint in South Africa, where it is the leading Independent Power Producer with 1,320 MW of installed capacity.” says Sébastien Arbola, CEO of ENGIE MESCATA.
Mohamed Hoosen, CEO of ENGIE Southern Africa commented: “ENGIE is valued as a highly skilled IPP and a long-term player in the South African power industry. We are adding an innovative high-performing plant and are increasing our CSP capacity. This investment will create value over the longer term while accelerating impact on the energy transition of our customers.”
Co-shareholders on Xina Solar One include Public Investment Corporation, a pension fund manager and a shareholder on ENGIE’s Kathu project (20%); Industrial Development Corporation, a development finance institution wholly- owned by the South African Government (20%); and Xina Community Trust, funded by the IDC (20%). Xina Solar One, which started commercial operation in August 2017, was built by Abengoa.
Completion of the transaction is subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions including merger control clearance from relevant competition authorities.
In South Africa, ENGIE has interests in a CSP plant (100 MW Kathu), a wind farm (94 MW Aurora), 2 solar photovoltaic plants (21 MW) and 2 thermal power peaking plants (670 MW Avon and 335 MW Dedisa).
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: Gov’t, Private Sector Team Up To Build 200MW Solar Power
The Nigerian government and some private firms have planned to build Ashama 200 megawatts (MW) solar power farm, which could be the largest in West Africa.
The West African nation’s Minister for Power, Mamman Sale, who revealed this in Lagos, said when it is completed, “It will serve as the biggest utility solar project not only in the country but the West African region.”
Mamman, who was represented by his policy adviser, Abba Aliyu, said the project would be developed in partnership with Singapore-based renewable energy firm, B&S Power and SunnyFred Global.
He said it would be located on about 304 hectares of land in Ashama village, Aniocha South of Delta State, as part of the government’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative.
India Named An Achiever In Solar Power Growth Among 80-Member CountriesThe Minister said solar was, in the past, believed to be too costly but noted that in the last decade, the development cost of solar technology has dropped by more than 80 per cent. “With that, installations at both a utility scale and consumer level have been increasing. “Energy storage technology is also becoming cheaper, and as a result could help consumers to access cost-effective, off-the-grid capabilities,” he said. He explained that the Federal Government had launched vision 30:30:30 to deliver 30 gigawatts (GW) of electricity with 30 percent renewable energy by 2030, adding, “This is a key focus of the Nation’s electrification strategy to avail Nigerians reliable, sustainable and affordable power.” Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: No Increase In Fuel Price In March-NNPC Assures
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has ruled out any increment in the ex-depot price of petrol in March 2021.
NNPC in statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that the Corporation was not contemplating any raise in the price of petrol in March in order not to jeopardize ongoing engagements with organized labour and other stakeholders on an acceptable framework that will not expose the ordinary Nigerian to any hardship.
Nigeria: Be Ready To Bear Pains Of High Petrol Cost-Sylva To ConsumersNNPC also cautioned petroleum products, marketers, not to engage in an arbitrary price increase or hoarding of petrol in order not to create artificial scarcity and unnecessary hardship for Nigerians. The Corporation further stated that it has enough stock of petrol to keep the nation well supplied for over 40 days and urged motorists to avoid panic buying. The statement called on relevant regulatory authorities to step up monitoring of the activities of marketers with a view to sanctioning those involved in products hoarding or arbitrary increase of pump price. Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
India: Oil Minister Gives ‘Two Main Reasons’ Behind Rising Fuel Prices
Union Petroleum and Natural Gas and Steel Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has stated that reduced fuel production and oil-rich nations seeking more profits are the primary reasons behind spiraling petrol and diesel prices in the country.
“There are two main reasons behind the fuel price rise. The international market has reduced fuel production and manufacturing countries are producing less fuel to gain more profit. This is making the consumer countries suffer,” Pradhan said during his visit to inspect the venue where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address a rally in Assam’s Dhemaji.
He further stated, “We have continuously been urging the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and OPEC plus countries that it should not happen. We hope there will be a change.”
The prices of petrol and diesel are increasing continuously for more than 10 days and in some states, the price of petrol has even crossed the Rs 100-mark.
Justifying the taxes levied on petrol and diesel, he said that the Centre and the states are doing various developmental works in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, for which they collect taxes, adding that these development projects generate jobs.
“Another reason is Covid. We have to do various development work. For this, Centre and state governments collect the tax. Spending on development work will generate more jobs. The government has increased its investment and 34 per cent more capital spending will be done in this budget. State governments will also increase spending. This is why we need this tax but there is also the need for balance. I believe the finance minister and state governments can find a way,” stated the minister.
Amid an outcry over record petrol and diesel prices, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said the Centre and state governments will together have to work out a mechanism to bring retail rates to reasonable levels.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Gas Supply Interruption Upstream Cause Of Power Outages-GRIDCo
Ghana’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, has blamed Saturday’s power outages experienced in some parts of the country on gas supply challenges at the country’s offshore field.
Many Ghanaians, who have been experiencing power cuts have taken to social media to express their frustration over the issue.
https://web.facebook.com/nana.diabene/posts/10224232556151701
However, the power transmitter noted in a statement that the development resulted in about 1000MW power loss.
“To prevent a total shutdown, power curtailment was carried out, which affected major parts of the country including Accra, Tema and Kumasi, ” the statement said.
“Gas supply has resumed upstream and power to the affected areas will be restored shortly, ” GRIDCo assured.
Ghana: Review Price Stabilisation & Recovery Levy To Push Fuel Prices Down-COPEC
A consumer advocacy group in the Republic of Ghana, Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC) is advocating for a review of the price stabilization and recovery levy to forestall further increases in petroleum products which in the past two months have been increased about four times.
According to COPEC, the increase in fuel prices is attributed to the Coronavirus pandemic and the current situation in Texas.
COPEC in a statement said, “Ghanaian pumps over the past 2 months have seen about 4 different spots of increases of about 9% cumulative variance and was our expectation that pump prices would ease downwards from the month of March.
“However, these price increases seem far from over due to the current situation in Texas and overwhelming heating requirements for crude and Gasoil across the globe as prices continue to surge by the day.”
COPEC stated that the review of price stabilization and recovery levy will cushion consumers from any further increases.
“It is our understanding following from consultations with a good number of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) that a downward review of the price stabilisation and recovery levy will most likely cushion the market and will forestall any further increases though it wouldn’t absorb everything as some market players have already started increasing pump prices due to the pressures the price escalation on the world market presents currently.”
Read below the full statement from COPEC:
CHAMBER OF PETROLEUM CONSUMERS GHANA
FUEL PRICES SET TO GO UP AGAIN BY BETWEEN 2-4%
REMOVE THE PRICE STABILISATION NOW TO CUSHION THE EFFECTS OF INTERNATIONAL MARKET PRICES AND THEIR IMPACT ON PUMP PRICES.
International Oil Prices for both crude and refined oil has surged by more than 12% from around $470/mt-$512/mt representing a difference of around $42/mt for both gasoline and gasoil
Whiles crude has moved from $59.57/barrel (Brent) as of 20th February to $67/barrel as of today 25th February 2021, due largely to the recovery of the global economy from the harsh effects of the Corona virus pandemic as well as the power crises in Texas which has seen a reduction in oil production by 4million barrels a day.
This knock off translates to about 40% of United States oil output along with the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPECs) continuous cuts of around 9.2 million barrels per day of oil supplies due to a projected decline in demand globally from the 2nd quarter. (Energy Information Administration, 2020; Oilprice.com; momr.opec.org).
These surges in oil prices (Brent) translates to about $41 variance or increase in prices of finished products ( both petrol and diesel) on the platt trading platform, thereby effectively increasing prices from the BDC or importers position which is taking a huge on the various oil marketing companies who are also likely to pass on these increases on at the local pump prices even before first pricing window of next month starting from Monday the 1st of March, 2021.
These increases on the international markets to translates to about 21p/litre at the local pumps and is likely to reflect on the Ghanaian petroleum consumer within the next few hours even before the start of the next pricing window in March.
The cedi within the period has however performed quite well, appreciating against the dollar though nominally. The Bank of Ghana as at 16th February pegged its interbank FX rate of Ghana Cedi to US dollar at Ghc 5.7597.
Analysis of the indicative prices of Gasoil and Gasoline on the market indicates, both gasoil and gasoline currently sell at an average of Ghc 5.11 per litre from earlier figures of around 4.70/litre as of December ending at some pumps though others also quote a bit higher than the market averages.
These current prices are likely to see between 12-24 pesewas increases even before the 1st of March due largely to the price escalations on the international market.
It is our estimation that the pending increases could be averted through the application or review downwards of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy on the price build-up of between 12-16p/litre to cushion the market in order to potentially prevent these possible increases likely to reflect at our local pumps anytime soon.
Ghanaian pumps over the past 2 months have seen about 4 different spots of increases of about 9% cumulative variance, and was our expectation that pump prices would ease downwards from the month of March.
However, these price increases seem far from over due to the current situation in Texas and overwhelming heating requirements for crude and Gasoil across the globe as prices continue to surge by the day.
It is our understanding following from consultations with a good number of Oil Marketing Companies ( OMCs) that, a downward review of the price stabilisation and recovery levy will most likely cushion the market and will forestall any further increases though it wouldn’t absorb everything as some market players have already started increasing pump prices due to the pressures the price escalations on the world market presents currently.
We further call on the Government and the Ministry of Energy to ensure the local refinery in Tema is brought back to productivity as soon as possible to ensure petroleum security as geopolitical developments across the globe seem pretty turbulent and could get worse by the end of the 2nd quarter.
Signed.
Duncan Amoah
Executive Secretary
Nuclear Power Will Be Needed For Cleaner Energy- Bill Gates
Nuclear power generation is necessary for the world to have cleaner energy solutions, although nuclear has yet to convince naysayers who generally associate it with Chernobyl or nuclear weapons, according to Bill Gates.
In a recent interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Gates – who has invested in nuclear power ventures – said that nuclear electricity generation would “absolutely” be politically palatable because it is safer than coal, natural gas, and oil.
“Nuclear has actually been safer than any other source of [power] generation,” Gates told CNBC. “You know, coal plants, coal particulate, natural gas pipelines blowing up. The deaths per unit of power on these other approaches are — are far higher,” Gates said.
The climate change advocate Mr. Gates wrote in his blog at the end of 2018 that the United States “needs to regain its leading role in nuclear power research.”
“Nuclear is ideal for dealing with climate change, because it is the only carbon-free, scalable energy source that’s available 24 hours a day. The problems with today’s reactors, such as the risk of accidents, can be solved through innovation,” Gates said back in 2018.
In 2006, Gates founded nuclear energy venture TerraPower with other visionaries.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded TerraPower $80 million to demonstrate its small advanced nuclear power reactor Natrium and integrated energy system with its technology co-developer GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy and engineering and construction partner Bechtel.
TerraPower looks to build mini reactors to store electricity and thus supplement wind and solar power in the grids, TerraPower’s President and chief executive officer Chris Levesque told Reuters last year.
Gates, together with Jeff Bezos, is backing nuclear fusion, too. Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which was spun out of MIT, is working on fusion and is backed by the billionaires via the Breakthrough Energy fund that supports clean energy solutions.
Source: Oilprice.com
India Named An Achiever In Solar Power Growth Among 80-Member Countries
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) has ranked India as an “Achiever” among its 80 member countries along with Brazil, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in its latest Ease of Doing Solar (EoDS) report.
Achiever countries are those with most favourable technical and commercial conditions for solar and perceived as most attractive for investments in solar. The report groups the countries in four segments — Achiever, Influencer, Progressive and Potential.
“Owing to strong potential, robust sustainability targets, high solar irradiation and developing power infrastructure, India has emerged as a leading performer among the ISA member countries along with Brazil, Saudi Arabia and UAE,” the report said.
Ghana: CalBank, EU Set Up Green Energy Financing SchemeIt states that there has been growing lender interest in renewable energy (RE) in India and 60 RE projects drew financing of over $2.5 billion in 2017, around 60 per cent of which came from non-banking financial institutions. “India’s renewable energy financing structure may need further reforms to boost the flow of capital into the sector in order to achieve the ambitious 2022 and 2030 targets,” the report said. India is implementing the world’s largest RE expansion plan with a target of 450 Gigawatt (GW) of renewable power by 2030 with 175 GW deployment by 2022. The policy enablers that have worked for India include amendment in the National Tariff Policy prescribing solar-specific Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs); regulations around RE certificates and feed-in tariff and grid integration; and 100 per cent FDI allowed under the automatic route for RE projects. In terms of infrastructure, 42 solar parks of 23,499 MW have been approved in 17 states; 60 solar cities have been approved with $1.3 billion investment for setting up 50 solar parks of 40 GW capacity by 2020; and solar cells and modules manufacturing capacity of 3 GW and 10 GW annually. The country had 35 GW of installed solar power generation capacity at the end of April 2020, fifth largest in the world. This capacity has grown 13 times in the past 6 years.
Ghana: PDS Deal Was Fraudulent-Amewu insists
Ghana’s former Minister for Energy, John-Peter Amewu has insisted that Government’s decision to terminate the agreement between Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Power Distribution Services (PDS) Limited was appropriate because the latter engaged in fraudulent act.
His strong position on the matter was premised on the failure of PDS to satisfy conditions precedent under the relevant transaction documents.
The former Minister who is now a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe constituency was responding to a question on the subject matter posed to him by Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, MP for North Tongu, when the former took his turn before the Vetting Committee of Parliament last Wednesday.
Taking his turn to vet Mr. Amewu, who appeared before the Committee as Minister-designate for Railway Development, Mr. Okudzeto asked: “On October 19, 2019, the Millennium Challenge Authority (MCA) terminated the PDS agreement. Ghana lost US$19 million in effect. You had said earlier, on August 15, 2019, that you discovered fraud in the whole PDS agreement.
Ghana: We Need Collective Decision To Save TOR- Dr Opoku PrempehConsidering how Ghana had managed the Compact in the days of Presidents Kufuor, Mills and Mahama, will you say that there was some lack of due diligence on your part which led to Ghana incurring this loss?” But before he would respond to the statement on the matter as attributed to him by his colleague MP, Mr. Amewu said: “Yes, it is on record that the Government of Ghana (GoG) terminated the relationship between the PDS and ECG.” Then, in his explanation, the Hohoe MP said: “The relationship between the PDS and ECG, under the agreement, was that there were certain conditions called the Condition Precedent that were supposed to occur before the transfer of Ghana’s assets to PDS. It came out clear that one of the critical items which had to do with the security of the assets was not genuine and not valid. “I, therefore, described it as fraudulent because from the source where we were supposed to get the guarantee, they, themselves, described it as such, for they stated that they were not in the capacity to issue that high level of guarantee…the person who issued the guarantee did not have the capacity.” The termination of the agreement was reported to have resulted in Ghana losing US$190million and that, Mr. Amewu explained was money coming from the United States of America of the MCA Compact. He posited: “But, do we look at the opportunity cost or the money irrespective of what would happen? The government considered the value of the asset and its ownership over the US$190 million. On that basis, the ECG and the government thought that leaving an asset value of about US$3 billion to PDS where the security of that asset could not be guaranteed, would not be good. “If the ECG handed over the GoG’s asset, it could not go back for it in the event of default because the basis for the recovery would have been invalid. So, the best the government could do was to get out of the marriage. Indeed, the guarantee they had to issue needed to go through the national system, and all those were not done when we went for the verification exercises. It is on that basis that I described the deal as fraudulent and I do not think the GoG, in the long run, lost anything. So, the termination of the PDS agreement was triggered as a result of the occurrence of certain lack of material evidences which they (PDS) failed to provide. He said the ECG drew the attention of PDS to those concerns on guarantee precedent “but since the matter is in court, I beg not to go far.” John-Peter Amewu though accepted responsibility for the decision to terminate the agreement based on the advice by the Attorney General, he refused to go down alone so he sharply said: “It is a Cabinet decision I implemented.” Source:www.energynewsafrica.com