By Kofi AHOVI
The Volta River Authority (VRA) is making plans to produce about 200 megawatts of energy from solar and wind to the national grid within the next five years.
This is to reduce the pressure on the use of both hydro energy and thermal energy, which are the sole energy sources for the country.
The solar plant and the wind farm would be situated in the Northern Region, but part of the wind farm would be located in Ada in the Greater Accra Region, which will add between 50 and 80 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, BusinessWeek gathered.
The Northern Region was chosen as the location for the plants because of its vast stretches of land. Also, it is to ensure economic development there. VRA is in the process of acquiring acres of land for this purpose but it is constrained financially.
The project is estimated to cost US$700 million.
Currently, the Akosombo dam generates about 1020 megawatts, while the generation from Kpong and Aboadze Thermal plants is 160 and 550 megawatts respectively.
According to experts in renewable energy resources, Ghana could record a 20% annual wind capacity growth by the year 2030.
Africa has a huge energy potential but very few African countries are really using wind energy. The three countries that are using wind energy the most are Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, but even these countries have been slow to push for more investments in the wind energy sector.
These three countries supply around 95% of the 563 megawatts of total installed capacity on the continent. The sector has already started paying up, mostly because of demand from Europe, where countries, under pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, have to turn to different renewable energy sectors.
Egypt, on the other hand, has set a target for wind to make up 12% of its total energy by 2020, with wind farms adding 7,200 MW to the grid.
The United States was the second largest installed capacity of wind power, after Germany until 2008, when it surpassed Germany with the American Wind Energy Association stating that the United States had 21,000 MW of wind energy capacity at the end of 2008.
The Volta River Authority (VRA) is making plans to produce about 200 megawatts of energy from solar and wind to the national grid within the next five years.
This is to reduce the pressure on the use of both hydro energy and thermal energy, which are the sole energy sources for the country.
The solar plant and the wind farm would be situated in the Northern Region, but part of the wind farm would be located in Ada in the Greater Accra Region, which will add between 50 and 80 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, BusinessWeek gathered.
The Northern Region was chosen as the location for the plants because of its vast stretches of land. Also, it is to ensure economic development there. VRA is in the process of acquiring acres of land for this purpose but it is constrained financially.
The project is estimated to cost US$700 million.
Currently, the Akosombo dam generates about 1020 megawatts, while the generation from Kpong and Aboadze Thermal plants is 160 and 550 megawatts respectively.
According to experts in renewable energy resources, Ghana could record a 20% annual wind capacity growth by the year 2030.
Africa has a huge energy potential but very few African countries are really using wind energy. The three countries that are using wind energy the most are Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, but even these countries have been slow to push for more investments in the wind energy sector.
These three countries supply around 95% of the 563 megawatts of total installed capacity on the continent. The sector has already started paying up, mostly because of demand from Europe, where countries, under pressure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, have to turn to different renewable energy sectors.
Egypt, on the other hand, has set a target for wind to make up 12% of its total energy by 2020, with wind farms adding 7,200 MW to the grid.
The United States was the second largest installed capacity of wind power, after Germany until 2008, when it surpassed Germany with the American Wind Energy Association stating that the United States had 21,000 MW of wind energy capacity at the end of 2008.
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