By
Afedzi Abdullah/Isaac Arkoh, GNA
Onyadze (C/R) Sept. 16, GNA – President Nana
Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as part of his four-day working visit to the Central
Region has commissioned a new 20 Megawatt (MW) Solar PV power plant at Gomoa
Onyadze in the Gomoa West District.
The plant has 40,480 pieces of polycrystalline
silicon panels, 64,400 solar panels, 20 invertor rooms attached to transformers
and one out-going feeder to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) main
sub-station near the Winneba junction.
Power generated from the solar plant would
feed the ECG sub-station at Winneba, which supplied power to Apam, Winneba,
Swedru and some parts of Kasoa.
The $30m facility was developed and funded by
Meinergy Ghana, a private Electrical Installation Company based in Ghana in
collaboration with its partners.
Speaking at the commissioning, President Akufo
Addo reiterated Government’s commitment to scale up the country’s renewable
energy through utility-scale solar, off-grid projects and domestic
manufacturing.
In view of this, he said Government through
the One District, One Factory initiative is creating a business-friendly
investment environment to attract investors into the renewable energy sector to
positively alter the country’s energy-mix.
“We are in the age where renewable energy is
being produced domestically so we want to get into a situation where these
solar panels will be produced domestically within the confines of the one
district one factory initiative” he stated
“The 1 D1F comes with a whole package of
incentives to encourage investors to invest and participate in it” he added
This, according to the President would create
local employment opportunities in the country and strengthen its self-reliance
capabilities.
Currently, Ghana is said to draw just one percent
of its energy from solar, while 59 per cent comes from fossil fuels, and 40 percent
from hydro.
Meanwhile, the Government’s objective is to
least generate 10 percent of its national electricity load from renewable
energy by 2020 and in the long term become the main source.
The President said the vision though ambitious,
was achievable in the light of the plans and programmes put in place.
This is also to enable the Government fulfil
its commitment under the Paris Agreement to have an environmentally friendly
technology that would be able to address issues with climate change.
Mr Peter Amewu, Minister of Energy said
Government was in the process of rationalising the contribution of independent
power producers to the energy development of the country.
He enumerated some key advantages of solar
energy and said apart from its initial high cost of installation, solar energy
was cheap.
The energy Minister said the only way to
reduce the extensive bills on energy consumers was to invest in renewable
energy adding that, it was not out of place for the Government to initiate
processes to add renewable mix to the country’s energy.
Mr Daniel Azu, Project Engineer expressed
gratitude to the Energy Commission, and the chiefs and people of Oyandze for
their support towards the project which occupied 100 acres of land.
GNA