Nigeria’s new Minister for Power, Engineer Abubakar D. Aliyu, on Monday, assumed office at the Federal Ministry of Power.
Engr Aliyu was Minister of State for Works and Housing before his redeployment to the Power Ministry last Wednesday by President Muhammadu Buhari after a minor cabinet reshuffle.
The 55-year-old engineer replaced Engr Saleh Mamman who was relieved of his appointment last week.
On arrival at the ministry at the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria Headquarters in Abuja, Monday afternoon, the Minister received a rousing welcome from the permanent secretary, directors and staff of the ministry, as well those of the six agencies under it.
Also present to receive the Minister were the Chief Executive Officers of the six agencies, i.e Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA), Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO), National Power Training Institute (NAPTIN) and Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading PLC (NBET).
After the rousing welcome, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, Mr William Alo took time to introduce the six CEOs of the agencies in the Ministry, all the directors and other management staff to the Minister.
Speaking on behalf of the staff, the Permanent Secretary expressed the happiness and preparedness of the staff to work with the new Minister.
“We know you are here to continue the good work of the President as it concerns the Power sector. We assure you of commitment to redouble our efforts to make sure we deliver on our mandate,” he said.
In his response, Engr Aliyu appreciated the warm reception, and emphasised on team work, dedication and honesty among the staff.
He said team spirit and selflessness are sine qua non in actualising the mandate reposed in them by President Buhari in the Power sector.
“I know you have done a lot; I am here to assist you because that is my mandate to ensure that we succeed. My employer sent me here for a purpose,” he said.
“So, I need not only all hands on deck but I need your minds; that is where enthusiasm is; that is where loyalty is; that is where honesty is; that is where commitment and dedication are.
“Our work touches the lives of all Nigerians so I am here to add value to what you have been doing.
“I want those titles to be translated to production of power to Nigerians, from generation, transmission to distribution; that is when our title will make more meaning.
“Otherwise time would come when we would be ashamed to mention our names with those titles.
“So I want to ask everyone from the permanent secretary down to the smallest on the ladder by rank in any part of the Ministry of Power to be dedicated and committed to the task ahead.”
The new Power Minister is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
Engr Aliyu studied Civil Engineering, and Highways and Transportation Engineering at the Kaduna Polytechnic; and Civil and Water Resources Engineering at University of Maiduguri.
He was Deputy Governor in Yobe State for 10 and half years, making him the longest serving Deputy Governor in Nigeria.
President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo is upset by the decision of Italian oil and gas firm, Eni, for going to the International Tribunal in London, United Kingdom, to seek resolution of the impasse between them and Springfield E&P, a wholly-owned Ghanaian upstream player.
“I’m still very upset that at the end of day, the matter that we were having discussion on has become the subject of notice of arbitration,” President Akufo-Addo said last Friday when he met chiefs in the Western Region at the Western Regional House of Chiefs during his tour of the region.
The President said there had been several closed door meetings to resolve the issue and, therefore, felt bad about the new development.
Nevertheless, the President said: “I want to assure you that we will continue with the discussions and find a common ground leading to a possible solution to the matter.”
“We should settle this matter and I will do my possible best to resolve it,” he added.
According to energynewsafrica.com’s sources, President Akufo-Addo had held meetings with the Italian government representatives and officials of Eni and also held separate meetings with officials of Springfield E&P and directed the country’s Energy Ministry and Attorney General to draft heads of agreement detailing a roadmap for the peaceful resolution of the matter.
Energynewsaafrica.com’s sources indicate that the Ministry of Energy and Attorney General disregarded President Akufo-Addo’s directive.
Unhappy with the development, the Italian oil and gas firm, Eni, filed a suit at the International Tribunal in London last month to challenge a directive by the Ministry of Energy, asking them to unitise the Sankofa offshore field operated by Eni and Afina oil block operated by Springfield E&P.
In a statement filed by three renowned lawyers namely Craig Tevendale, Andrew Cannon and Charlie Morgan from Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Eni is seeking five reliefs from the Tribunal.
The claimant wants the Tribunal to declare that the purported 9th April Directive, 14th October Directive, 6th November Directive and any other steps taken to implement those directives represent a breach of contract under the Petroleum Agreement.
The claimant also wants the Tribunal to declare that the respondents take no further action to implement the purported unitisation of the Sankofa Field and Afina Discovery on the terms of the purported 14th October Directive, the Draft UUOA sought to be imposed by purported November Directive or otherwise.
The third relief the claimant is seeking is an order that the respondent pays damages in an amount to be quantified for the losses suffered by the claimant arising out of the respondent’s breaches of the petroleum agreement, Ghanaian law and International law on a joint and several basis.
Additionally, the claimant is seeking an order that the respondent pays all of the costs and expenses of the arbitration including the fees and expenses of the claimant counsel and any witnesses and/or experts in the Arbitration, the fees and expenses of the Tribunal and the fees of the SCC on a joint and several basis and /or an order such further or other relief as the Tribunal may in its discretion consider appropriate.
It would be recalled that in April 2020, Ghana’s former Minister for Energy, John Peter Amewu issued a directive to Eni and Springfield E&P to begin talks and combine their adjacent oil and gas fields in April and gave them until September 18 to reach an agreement.
The Minister’s directive said that seismic data had indicated Eni’s Sankofa offshore field, which entered production in 2017, and Springfield’s Afina Discovery had identical reservoir and fluid properties.
“Regrettably, it has become obvious that the parties do not intend to comply with the ministry of energy’s directives,” the letter signed by Minister John Peter Amewu said.
A year after the directive, both Eni and Springfield E&P have failed to unitise the Sankofa offshore field and Afina Discovery.
Springfield took the case to a high court in Accra.
The court, in its ruling recently, directed Eni to escrow 30 percent of proceeds from the Sankofa offshore field pending the final determination of the case.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Power supply in Obuasi, Ghana’s mining town and surrounding communities in the Ashanti Region are expected to improve in the coming days due to some interventions by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to meet growing demand of electricity in the area.
This follows the ECG’s transportation of 10MVA transformer to Obuasi on Friday, September 3, 2021, to replace the existing 5MVA transformer in area to accommodate more power.
The Ashanti Regional Public Relations Officer of ECG, Erastus Baidoo told energynewsafrica.com that upon installation of the new transformer, there would be massive improvement in power supply, after explaining how bad the power situation in Obuasi and its surrounding towns have been for sometime now.
According to him, lights have been unstable so “with the new 10MVA transformer, there is going to be a big improvement in power supply from Obuasi all the way to New Edubiase,” he said.
“We can be assured that there will power reliability and quality,” he added.
Mr Erastus Baidoo warned consumers who are engaging in power theft to desist from the acts.
According to him, the power distribution company is investing a lot of money to improve power supply and reliability and, therefore, expects consumers to pay for the power they consume and not steal it.
He said his outfit has teamed up with the security agencies and are going after those engaging in such acts.
President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed the Member of Parliament for East Sunyani, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh as the Board Chairman of Bui Power Authority, Ghana’s second largest power generation company.
Bui Power Authority operates 400MW power generation plant on the Bui River in Savannah and Bono Regions in the Republic of Ghana.
The company is currently constructing 250MW solar plant with the first phase of 50MW completed and transmitted on the national grid.
Besides this, BPA has installed 1MW floating solar on the Bui reservoir and operates 45kW Tsatsadu micro- hydro generating station in the Volta Region.
The newly constituted seven-member board of BPA includes Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, Chief Executive Officer of the Bui Power Authority, Salifu Sa-Eed, Nana Ama Tima Boakye, Paul Twum-Barimah, Dr Rebecca Acquah-Arhin and Mr Kwame Appia Kyei.
At a short ceremony to inaugurate the new board, Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh noted that the operations of the Bui Power Authority form part of the huge security backbone of Ghana’s power generating system.
He, therefore, charged the new board to effectively and efficiently utilise the resources of the Authority including the Black Volta, to inure to the benefit of all Ghanaians.
In his acceptance speech, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, MP for East Sunyani and the new Board Chairman of the Bui Power Authority, thanked His Excellency the President for the confidence reposed in them for their appointment.
Hon. Samuel Kofi Dzamesi, CEO of Bui Power Authority
He said the new board is aware of the work of its predecessors and assured the Energy Minister that they will work harder to make BPA better.
Italian oil and gas major, Eni has discovered a major oil and natural gas reservoir offshore Ivory Coast.
Ivorian Energy Minister Thomas Camara, who disclosed this, said the reservoir could hold 1.5 to 2 billion barrels of oil and around 51 million cubic metres of natural gas.
“The find will greatly increase Cote d’Ivoire’s proven reserves as well as its oil and gas production in the coming years,” Thomas Camara said as quoted by AFP.
Eni, which drilled a 3,445-metre-deep well about 60 kilometres off the coast, said it would carry out a further evaluation of the wider potential of the find.
To date, Cote d’Ivoire has 51 identified oilfields, most of them offshore near the border with Ghana.
Four are in production, 26 in exploration and 21 are still open.
The country increased its oil production in 2019 by 12 percent to reach 36,000 barrels daily.
It signed contracts in 2019 with Eni and the French oil giant, Total, to explore the possibility of increasing its oil production.
Total, Eni and other international oil companies, notably British firm Tullow Oil, announced significant discoveries of Ivorian offshore oil reserves in recent years.
Africa needs investments to the tune of $130 billion annually to become a net-zero continent by 2050, a report by Friends of the Earth has suggested.
According to a report by the organization titled, “A Just Recovery Renewable Energy Plan for Africa,” the money would come from “the global North” and will address the three biggest problems of the continent: energy poverty, climate change, and Covid-19.
“Such a plan would require over 300 gigawatts (GW) of new renewable energy by 2030, as agreed by the African Union, and over 2000 GW by 2050,” Friends of the Earth said.
“The report, based on the work of renowned academic Dr Sven Teske from Sydney University, demonstrates how a Just Recovery plan could be achieved for US$130 billion per year and funded through public finance from the global North, putting an end to tax dodging and dropping the debt,” the organization also said. “It also highlights the potential to create 7 million new jobs in renewable energy.”
Africa has been estimated to have solar energy potential of as much as 1,000 GW and wind potential of 110 GW, not to mention 350 GW in hydro power potential and 15 GW of geothermal potential. And yet, all of this vast potential remains largely untapped, even though solar and wind farms are getting so cheap that they are said to be on par with coal in some parts of the world.
The reasons this potential has not been tapped on any meaningful scale so far are complex. One of them is that many African countries simply lack transmission infrastructure extensive enough to accommodate utility-scale solar and wind installations economically. This makes a lot of installations not just expensive but economically unviable.
“As of two years ago, the cost for a micro-grid provider to connect one household to their grid was around $1000 dollars,” Toby Gill, CEO of Intelligent Power Generation, told Oilprice earlier this year. “When you then consider the average customer is paying less than $1-2 per day for their electricity use, the payback period for these energy companies becomes untenable.”
Source:Oilprice.com
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu as the West African nation’s Minister for Power.
This follows a Federal Government executive meeting on Tuesday, September 1, 2021, which saw few changes in the Buhari-administration with the Power Minister, Engr. Sale Mamman being booted out.
Prior to his appointment as the Power Minister, Engr. Abubakar D. Aliyu was the Minister of State, Works & Housing.
In a statement issued by Femi Adesina, Special Advisor to the President in charge of Media & Publicity, Buhari said he rejigged the cabinet because “I have found it essential to reinvigorate this cabinet in a manner that will deepen its capacity to consolidate legacy achievements.”
Engr. Abubakar Aliyu is a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and a member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).
He was Deputy Governor (to Governor Ibrahim Gaidam) in Yobe State for 10 and half years, making him the longest serving Deputy Governor in Nigeria.
As Deputy Governor in Yobe State, Engineer Aliyu served as the overseeing commissioner in the ministries for health, commerce, integrated rural development.
He was at various times appointed to head Yobe State Task Force on immunisation and primary healthcare, Yobe State Committee on Resettlement and Rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons, Yobe State Boundary Committee, Yobe State Environmental Committee, and Yobe State Sanitation Committee.
He also headed the Committee for the Rehabilitation and Return of IDPs, where he administered the affairs of the IDPs at the camps and host communities, as well as successfully returned the IDPs to their homes.
He attended Central Primary School, Jimeta, Adamawa State, where he had his First School Leaving Certificate in 1979.
He proceeded to the G.S.S.S. Monguno, in Borno State, where he obtained his West African School Certificate in 1984.
After the completion of his secondary school, he proceeded to Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, where he obtained a National Diploma (ND) in Civil Engineering in 1988, and Higher National Diploma (HND) in Highways and Transportation Engineering in 1993.
In 1999, he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil and Water Resources Engineering from the University of Maiduguri.
Engineer Aliyu had worked as a Technical Officer in Borno State Ministry of Works from 1988 to 1991.
He was also a Principal Engineer and Head of Engineering Department in the ministry in 2004.
He was appointed the Supervising Project Engineer of Yobe State Ministry of Housing in 2007, and Managing Director of Yobe State Housing and Property Development Corporation, as well as the Ag. Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Housing in 2009.
The minister is a recipient of numerous professional awards.
He is married with children.
Source: https:// energynewsafrica.com
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has dismissed the country’s Minister for Power, Eng. Sale Mamman, energynewsafrica.com can report.
It is unclear why President Buhari has relieved Sale Mamman of his post but some insiders believe it may be part of Buhari’s plan to bring in new faces in his administration.
According to a report filed by Peoples Gazette, the Minister of State for Works and Housing Abubakar Aliyu has been asked to act as substantive Minister for Power.
Meanwhile, Goddy Jedy Agba remains the Minister of State for Power.
More details soon
President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed Mr Kofi Tutu Agyare as the Board Chairman for the newly constituted of board of the Volta River Authority.
He is the Managing Partner at Nubuke Investments, an FSA registered asset management and advisory firm focused solely on Africa, which he founded in 2007.
He comes on the VRA Board with rich experience, having had a 21-year career with UBS Investment Bank and holding a number of senior positions, most recently as the Head of European Emerging Markets and a member of the Investment Bank Board.
He is also the co-Chair of the African Acquisition Committee at the Tate Modern Museum in London.
He has a degree in Mathematics and Computing from University of Ghana, Legon.
The new VRA board has the Chief Executive Officer of VRA, Ing. Emmanuel Twum Antwi–Darkwa, Hon. Kwame Anyimadu–Antwi, Dr Joyce Rosaline Aryee, Richard Obeng Okrah and Most Rev. Cyril K. Ben Smith, PhD. as members.
The newly constituted VRA board in a group photograph with Minister for Energy and Chief Director of the Ministry
The rest are Mr Musa Badimsugru Adam, Solomon Adjetey Sowah and Madam Janet Anane.
Inaugurating the newly constituted VRA board on Tuesday, Ghana’s Energy Minister emphasised on the importance of electricity in the day to day activities of human lives.
He, therefore, charged the board to ensure that the lights are stable to support Ghana’s economy.
He further tasked the new board to work hard to ensure that intra-sector debts are eliminated in order to enhance
the liquidity of entities within the sector.
“I look forward to a harmonious working relationship between the Board and Management in order to raise the image and reputation of the company, and I pledge my utmost support to the tackling of managerial, financial and technical challenges within the VRA.”
Source: https:// energynewsafrica.com
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has said that the greatest problem causing the rise in the cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, is the fall of the naira against the United States dollar.
This came as a renowned petroleum engineer and energy analyst, Bala Zaka, stated that the dormancy of Nigeria’s refineries had warranted massive import of LPG into the country.
According to report filed by The PUNCH on Monday, the price of LPG jumped by over 100 per cent within eight months, as the Federal Government recently implemented a 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax on imported cooking gas.
“The greatest problem affecting cooking gas price is our exchange rate,” PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo, as carried by The Punch.
“The official exchange rate towards the end of 2020 was N306/dollar. It moved up from N306 to N360 and up again to N380, and now it is N411 for one dollar.
“With the rise of our exchange rate, the cost of virtually everything in the market, not just cooking gas, has been increasing. The fundamental thing is because our naira is weakening.”
Osifo noted that since LPG was priced in the United States dollar, this would continue to affect its cost domestically, going by the slide of the local currency.
He said, “Gas is priced in dollars. So, assuming the cost is $2 per unit of gas, if that used to be N600 before, with the fall of the naira from around N300 to one dollar, to the point where it is now N400 to one dollar, the $2 will now become N800.
“So what you used to buy at N600 will now be N800 and that is the problem. Therefore, when our naira is weakening, any commodity that is dollar-based will continuously rise in cost.”
Spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Garba-Deen Muhammad, who recently switched from being media aide to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, insisted that the minister had stated that cooking gas was a deregulated product.
Reacting to the minister’s position as to why the government would not be able to intervene in the current hike in gas price, Zaka stated that this was because the government was shying away from refining crude oil for LPG.
The Serbian minister for mining and energy, Zorana Mihajlovic, has announced that the first public call for the country’s rebate program for rooftop PV will be launched on September 3.
The rebates will cover up to 50% of the costs for installing and deploying a PV system and are intended at supporting homeowners and businesses to take advantage of the recently introduced net metering regime, which will allow them to sell excess power to the Serbian state-owned power utility, Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS).
Mihajlovic said the procedures to install a rooftop system have also been simplified and that EPS is compelled to connect a PV system within five days after its owner has secured connection approval.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency, Serbia had an installed PV capacity of 29 MW at the end of 2020.
Last year, only 6 MW of new PV systems were deployed in the country.
Around 10 MW of this installed power comes from an expired FIT scheme, which granted rates ranging from €0.124 to €0.146/kWh for rooftop PV arrays, depending on system size, and €0.09/kWh for ground-mounted installations, all under 12-year power purchase agreements.
According to the Serbian government’s energy strategy, the nation’s cumulative PV capacity is expected to increase by 100 MW in 2025, and 200 MW in 2030.
Source: https:// energynewsafrica.com
Trina Solar Co., Ltd., a leading global PV and smart energy total solution provider, has announced the appointment of Solinc East Africa Ltd in Kenya as an official distributor to supply Trina Solar’s products and solutions in East Africa.
The new appointment comes as part of Trina Solar’s commitment to further increase its footprint and presence in the African continent to cater to the rapidly growing demand for solar energy.
Established in 2009, Solinc E.A developed the first and only solar panels manufacturing plant in the region. Now, with an annual distribution volume of over 15 MW, it has grown to one of East Africa’s largest provider of quality PV products.
The expertise gained from past production, has driven the company’s specialization in solar installation and maintenance of residential & C&I Solar systems.
Solinc is part of the Associated Battery Manufacturers Group of companies.
Antonio Jimenez, Managing Director and Vice President for Trina Solar MEA, stated: “The Middle East and Africa region is witnessing a significant boom in the renewable energy industry. We are already seeing a big rise in demand for solar power in Kenya with Trina Solar aiming to capture a big share of this growing solar energy market. Through our distributors, Trina Solar is bringing closer to our customers innovative, technologically advanced reliable products. This along with Trina Solar’s reliability and flawless customer-centric approach, ensures that our innovative and high-quality products and solutions are now available for everyone to enjoy electricity reliably and affordably. “
As of Q2 2021, C&I’s and SMEs form about 39% of Kenya’s National Grid (KPLC) total number of customers. Together they consume over 60% of KPLC’s installed capacity, with this figure rapidly growing day after day. With East and Central Africa having enormous solar energy potential, this appointment will ensure the availability of Trina Solar’s tier 1 PV modules in these markets and will further boost the company’s ambitious expansion across the continent.
“We are confident that our top quality products along with our ambitious growth plans will enable us to become top provider for many solar energy projects to take place across the Middle East & Africa region,” added Jimenez.
Edward Ritchie, General Manager of Solinc commented: “With Solinc’s long standing track record in the East African solar industry, we are well placed to cater for the increasing demand for high quality PV modules and associated equipment. We are excited to partner with Trina Solar, a manufacturer with an eye for quality.”
Trina Solar’s total module capacity reached 35GW in 2021. According to InfoLink, Trina Solar ranked globally in second position of module shipment in H1 2021.
Trina Solar currently more than 5GW of accumulative grid connections and is also proudly responsible for setting twenty world records for silicon cell efficiency and solar module power output since 2011.
`
Source: https:// energynewsafrica.com
The tension among Libya’s top oil officials escalated last Sunday when Oun said he had suspended the chairman of NOC, which is the most important revenue asset for OPEC’s African member
Libyan oil minister Mohamed Oun cannot suspend the chairman of Libya’s National Oil Corporation, the head of NOC, Mustafa Sanalla, told Bloomberg after Oun said this weekend he had suspended Sanalla and referred him for investigation.
“The minister of oil cannot legally suspend me from work or refer me to investigation,” Sanalla told Bloomberg in an interview on Monday. “The cabinet is the decision-maker and has the final word on the NOC,” the state oil firm’s long-standing chairman said.
The tension between Oun and Sanalla has been growing since Oun was appointed oil minister in March in the government of national unity, which includes a post for an oil minister for the first time in five years.
The tensions have reportedly increased also because of the overlapping of their functions and duties and the jurisdiction of the oil ministry and the national oil corporation.
Earlier last month, reports emerged that Oun had recommended to the government of national unity that it replace Sanalla in a board reshuffle.
Insisting that only the cabinet has the authority to suspend a chairman at NOC, Sanalla also said that an oil ministry is a burden on the national oil corporation.
“The NOC would be much better off without the presence of the Ministry of Oil,” Sanalla told Bloomberg in the interview. “The ministry is a heavy burden on the NOC,” he added.
Still, the dispute between the ministry and NOC will not affect Libya’s oil production, Sanalla noted.
Libya will struggle to keep its oil production at current levels if the country fails to resolve a long-running dispute over its budget, Oun told Bloomberg earlier this month.
Source: Oilprice.com
A former Vice Chancellor of Ghana’s premier University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, has been appointed the Board Chairman for the newly constituted board of the Energy Commission.
He comes to the Energy Commission board with rich experiences which cut across several areas.
At the University of Ghana, he was a professor of Entomology at the Department of Animal Biology and Conversation Science.
He rose to become the provost of the College of Basic and Applied Sciences at the University of Ghana.
Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu is a scholar of international standing with proven knowledge and experience in university administration and governance in addition to commendable fundraising ability at his disposal.
He was the main brain behind the building of a laboratory (Food Security) at the University of Ghana for use by staff and students in 1999.
He was also solely responsible for the acquisition and installation of a Scanning Electron Microscope worth US$500,000, the first of its kind in West Africa, through a grant from the Government of Japan.
Professor Owusu has served on numerous University boards and committees as well as serving as Hall Tutor of Jean Aka Nelson Hall, the University Teachers’ Association of Ghana (UTAG) Secretary, as well as Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Ghana Science Association, Regional Editor for the UNESCO African Journal of Science and Technology and a reviewer for a number of other international journals.
Professor Owusu is also a member of the University of Cambridge African Research Partnership (CAPREx) team.
Other members of the Energy Commission board are Ing. Oscar Kojo Amonoo-Neizer, Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Dr Isaac Frimpong Mensa-Bonsu, Mr Moses Aristophanes Kwame Gyasi, Mr Dari Bismark Harruna (Kpembe-wura) and Lydia Seyram Alhassan, MP for West Ayawaso Wuogon Constituency.
Rev. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, Executive Secretary of Energy Commission
Speaking at the inauguration of the newly constituted Board on Tuesday, Energy Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh charged the board to serve faithfully and diligently in order to make meaning of the trust and confidence reposed in them by President Akufo-Addo.
He further urged the board to give meaning to the government’s commitment to developing and elaborating national policies and strategies for all renewable resources such as biomass, solar, geothermal, water and wind.
The Chairman of the Board, Prof Ebenezer Oduro Owusu expressed the new board’s readiness to tackle the challenges of the industry and the Commission.
At a short ceremony to inaugurate the new board, Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh noted that the operations of the Bui Power Authority form part of the huge security backbone of Ghana’s power generating system.
He, therefore, charged the new board to effectively and efficiently utilise the resources of the Authority including the Black Volta, to inure to the benefit of all Ghanaians.
In his acceptance speech, Kwasi Ameyaw-Cheremeh, MP for East Sunyani and the new Board Chairman of the Bui Power Authority, thanked His Excellency the President for the confidence reposed in them for their appointment.
He, therefore, charged the board to ensure that the lights are stable to support Ghana’s economy.
He further tasked the new board to work hard to ensure that intra-sector debts are eliminated in order to enhance
the liquidity of entities within the sector.
“I look forward to a harmonious working relationship between the Board and Management in order to raise the image and reputation of the company, and I pledge my utmost support to the tackling of managerial, financial and technical challenges within the VRA.”
Source: https:// energynewsafrica.com 
Professor Owusu is also a member of the University of Cambridge African Research Partnership (CAPREx) team.
Other members of the Energy Commission board are Ing. Oscar Kojo Amonoo-Neizer, Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Dr Kodjo Esseim Mensah-Abrampa, Dr Isaac Frimpong Mensa-Bonsu, Mr Moses Aristophanes Kwame Gyasi, Mr Dari Bismark Harruna (Kpembe-wura) and Lydia Seyram Alhassan, MP for West Ayawaso Wuogon Constituency.
