Town Hall forum held on Ghana’s energy transition plan

The first regional town hall forum on the Ghana’s energy transition plan has been held in Takoradi in the Western Region yesterday.

 It had the theme “moving Ghana forward towards a net-zero future”

Organised by the Ministry of Energy, the regional consultative fora were being held at a time when it was crucial for Ghana to reduce emissions from production and use of energy by replacing high emission fuels, particularly fossils with sustainable fuels, such as renewable energy.

It was attended by chiefs, traditional leaders, policymakers, the private sector, civil society organisations and the media, and formed part of   globalefforts to achieve a net-zero carbon emissions.

In his address, a Deputy Minister of Energy, Andrew Agyapa Mercer, noted that global energy transition was characterised by the shift  from the use and patronage of high carbon emitting energy sources to cleaner energy sources to attain a net-zero target. 

He said Ghana believed that the necessary steps should be taken to hold the nation in readiness for the fast-changing trends in the global energy space.

This, Mr Mercer explained, was also to ensure that Ghana thrived despite the short and long-term impacts of the transition.

He also said a coordinated and strategic approach to the energy transition which suited the Ghanaian situation was critical, and that the Ministry of Energy would consider public views in developing a National Energy Transition Plan to guide the country as it transits to cleaner energy.

“This, we believe, would ensure that the plan formulated is sustainable, locally appropriate and feasible to implement,” Mr Mercer stated. 

“The Ministry has resolved that fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, will continue to be part of Ghana’s energy mix. However, strategies will be put in place to increase the share of renewable energy in the mix in the medium to long term.

“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 commensurate to national economic growth,” the Deputy Minister said.

Transiting to cleaner energy over the next few years, he explained, required substantial resourcesbecause the lack of such resources “in our part of the world could notably affect an immediate transition to cleaner energy.”

This meant that Ghana could, therefore, leverage on revenues from the indigenous oil and gas resources to develop the cleaner energy, Mr Mercer argued.

A Deputy Minister of Transport, Frederick Obeng Adom, also harped on effects of different means of transportation on the environment.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) records, he said, showed that out of the 2.8 million vehicles registered as at 2021, 72 per cent were powered by petrol engines, 27 by diesel and less than one per cent by LPG and other energy sources.

Mr Adom added, “The result of this is the high dependency on fossil fuels coupled with a number of factors, including traffic congestion, has made the transport sector net emitters of greenhouse gases (GHGs).”

FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, TAKORADI