Fossil fuel is still part of Ghana’s energy mix – Minister
The Ministry of Energy has resolved that fossil fuel, particularly natural gas would continue to be part of the nation’s energy mix, Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh, the Sector Minister said on Monday.
That notwithstanding, Dr Prempeh said the country was determined to introduce realistic strategies to increase the share of renewable energy in the mix in the medium to long term.
He said the country’s total renewable energy installed, as at December 2021 stood at 120MW representing 2.4 per cent of the national generation mix.
Currently about 70 per cent of Ghana’s installed power generation capacity of 5,231MW is from thermal plants that use natural gas as their primary fuel.
“This proportion is projected to increase to meet the growing energy demand to commensurate with the national economic growth,” Dr Prempeh stated in a speech read on his behalf at a forum on the national energy transition plan held in Sunyani.
The Ministry organized the forum to sensitize the participants on the nation’s energy plans to incorporate their views to ensure a holistic approach and successful implementation of the plan.
It was attended by traditional leaders as well as representatives of civil society organisations, educational institutions and Municipal/District Chief Executives.
Dr. Prempeh explained since 2017 the government through the Bui Power Authority and the Volta River Authority made strides as the renewable energy leaders.
“Our country is blessed with lithium, manganese, iron and silica deposits, all of which can serve as raw materials for the manufacture of the components of renewable energy technologies.
“It is also anticipated that electric cars will replace fossil fuel-based cars in the future and some of these minerals will be very vital”, the sector minister stated.
Dr. Prempeh said Ghana was a signatory to the Paris Agreement as well as other international protocols which required the nation to achieve net zero carbon emission by 2050, saying it was thus imperative to plan and strategise to push the country towards low carbon economy while ensuring economic growth.
In line with this, he said the Energy Ministry was developing a national energy transition plan to guide the country as it transitioned to cleaner energy.
As part of the plans for the nation’s transition process, Dr. Prempeh said the Ministry would continue to explore for and produce oil and gas but in a more environmentally friendly manner.
“We will enforce the zero flaring policy and institute Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage techniques to ensure that petroleum activities would not adversely impact the environment”, the sector minister stated.
Source: GNA