Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

generates

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

power from

hydropower Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a w ...

, fossil-fuel (

thermal energy The term "thermal energy" is used loosely in various contexts in physics and engineering. It can refer to several different well-defined physical concepts. These include the internal energy or enthalpy of a body of matter and radiation; heat, de ...

), and renewable energy sources.

Electricity generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its s ...

is one of the key factors in order to achieve the development of the Ghanaian national economy, with aggressive and rapid industrialisation; Ghana's national

electric energy consumption Electric energy consumption is the form of energy consumption that uses electrical energy. Electric energy consumption is the actual energy demand made on existing electricity supply for transportation, residential, industrial, commercial, and ot ...

was 265 kilowatt hours per capita in 2009. Ghana exports some of its generated energy and fossil fuels to other countries. Electricity transmission is under the operations of Ghana Grid Company. The distribution of electricity is under

Northern Electricity Distribution Company Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCO) is an electricity distribution utility company in Ghana. The company is a subsidiary of the Volta River Authority, the main electricity generation company in the country. The company is the sole supp ...

and Electricity Company of Ghana.

History

The first Ghana government-sponsored public electricity supply in Ghana commenced in the year 1914 at Sekondi-Takoradi, operated by the Ghana Railway Administration ( Ghana Railway Corporation). Power supply was extended to

Sekondi-Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indu ...

in 1928. The Ghana Public Works Department had commenced a limited direct current (DC) supply in Accra during 1922. A large alternating current (AC) project started on 1 November 1924, and a small plant consisting of three horizontal single cylinder oil-powered engines was installed in

Koforidua Koforidua, also popularly known as K-dua or Kofcity, is a city and the capital of Eastern Region in southern Ghana. Koforidua was founded in 1875 by migrants from Ashanti. It is also called New Juaben. The city has a settlement city proper pop ...

in 1925. In 1926, work started on electrical distribution to

Kumasi Kumasi (historically spelled Comassie or Coomassie, usually spelled Kumase in Twi) is a city in the Ashanti Region, and is among the largest metropolitan areas in Ghana. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region near Lake Bosomtwe, and is t ...

. A restricted evening supply commenced in May 1927, and a power station was brought into full operation on 1 October 1927. In the same year DC supply was installed at Winneba but this was subsequently changed to AC by extending an existing supply from Swedru and during the period 1929-30, a limited electricity supply was extended to

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tam ...

until a new AC plant was installed in 1938. The next power station to be established was Cape Coast in 1932. This was taken over by the Ghana Electricity Department in 1947. A Ghanaian power station at Swedru was commissioned in 1948 and this was followed by the installation of generating plants at Akim Oda, Dunkwa-on-Offin and

Bolgatanga Bolgatanga ( Frafra: '), colloquially known as ''Bolga'', is a town and the capital of the Bolgatanga Municipal District and Upper East Region of Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso. Bolgatanga has over 2012 settlement and a popula ...

in 1948. On 27 May 1949, an electricity supply was made available at Nsawam through the building of an 11 kV overhead transmission line from Accra. The

Keta Keta is a coastal town in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is the capital of the Keta Municipal District. Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they ...

electricity supply which was included in the programme was delayed by staff difficulties and was not commissioned until 1955. The

Tema Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most populo ...

power station was commissioned in 1956 with a 3 x diesel generating set. The Ho power station followed in 1957 and from 1961-64. The Tema

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

was extended to a maximum capacity of , thus, making it probably the biggest single diesel-powered generating station in Africa. In 1963 the Ghana Electricity Division brought into operation the first 161 kV transmission system in Ghana, which was used to carry power from the

Power Station. At its peak in 1965, about 75 percent of the power was used in Accra. In 1994,

's total generating capacity was about 1.187GW, and annual production totaled approximately 4.49GW. The main source of supply was the

Volta River Authority The Volta River Authority (VRA) is the main generator and supplier of electricity in Ghana. They are also the responsible for the maintenance of the hydro power supply plant. Establishment The VRA was established by the Volta River Development ...

with six 127MW turbines installed at the Akosombo Hydroelectric Project. At this time, this project provided the bulk of all electricity consumed in Ghana, some 60 percent of which was purchased by

Volta Aluminum Company Volta Aluminum Company, known as VALCO, is an aluminium company based in Tema, Greater Accra Region founded by Kaiser Aluminum and now wholly owned by the government of Ghana. History VALCO was a joint venture with Kaiser Aluminum and ALCOA, ...

(Valco) for its smelter. The power plant export amounted to an estimated equivalent of 180,000 tons of oil in 1991. The balance of Ghana's electricity was produced by diesel units owned by the Electricity Corporation of Ghana, by

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic ...

companies, and by a 160MW hydroelectric plant at

Kpong Kpong is a town in the Lower Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region of Ghana and particularly noted for the Kpong Dam The Kpong Dam, also known as the Akuse Dam, is a hydroelectric power generating dam on the lower Volta River near Akuse i ...

, about 40 kilometers downstream from Akosombo. A third dam at Bui on the Black Volta River had been studied, and was completed in 2013. Other sites with the potential for power generation, on the

Pra River (Ghana) The Pra River is a river in Ghana, the easternmost and the largest of the three principal rivers that drain the area south of the Volta divide. Rising in the Kwahu Plateau near Mpraeso and flowing southward for 240 km through rich cocoa an ...

, the

Tano River The Tano or Tanoé River is a river in Ghana. It flows for 400 kilometres from a town called Traa a suburb of Techiman the capital town of Bono East Region of the Republic of Ghana to Ehy Lagoon, Tendo Lagoon and finally Aby Lagoon in Ivory Coas ...

, the White Volta River, and the Ankobra River, would also require substantial investment.Clark, Nancy L. "Electrical Power".
A Country Study: Ghana
' (La Verle Berry, editor).

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

Federal Research Division The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress. The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unit ...

(November 1994). "This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...

/ref> Ghana has attempted to increase distribution of its electricity throughout the country. One program Ghana has initiated will provide reliable and widespread electricity in the urban and southern parts of the country. In addition, the extension of the national grid to the Northern Region was commissioned in 1989. The extension links northern Ghana to the power generated from the

Akosombo Dam The Akosombo Dam, also known as the Volta Dam, is a hydroelectric dam on the Volta River in southeastern Ghana in the Akosombo gorge and part of the Volta River Authority. The construction of the dam flooded part of the Volta River Basin and led ...

The second phase of the extension will connect major towns in Upper East Region with the regional capital,

, at a cost of US$100 million. The final phase will see exports of electricity across the northern

national border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

of Ghana to

Burkina-Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

. In early 1991 the Electricity Corporation of Ghana began the expansion of electricity networks in the northwestern areas of Accra and the Ghanaian corporation aimed to extend the supply of electricity to all isolated centers in Ghana where diesel is the main source of power. Plans were also afoot to increase the supply of electricity by utilisation of

and construction was anticipated by late 1994 on the country's first thermal power generating plant near

and scheduled for completion in 1997, the plant contributed 300MW of electricity to the Ghana national grid. Since 2007, Ghana has become an

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

exporter and since 2011 an exporter of crude oil, and

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

, and a generator of electricity by

, solar energy and

renewable energies Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...

since 2012.

Fossil fuel

Crude oil and Natural gas production

Ghana produces 140–200 million

cubic feet Cubic may refer to: Science and mathematics * Cube (algebra), "cubic" measurement * Cube, a three-dimensional solid object bounded by six square faces, facets or sides, with three meeting at each vertex ** Cubic crystal system, a crystal system w ...

per day and in which

production in Ghana has been restrained from full production capacity since December 2012, due to delays in construction of a Ghanaian

gas refinery Natural-gas processing is a range of industrial processes designed to purify raw natural gas by removing impurities, contaminants and higher molecular mass hydrocarbons to produce what is known as ''pipeline quality'' dry natural gas. Natural gas ...

that was scheduled to be completed by December 2012 and now scheduled to be completed by December 2013, and due to which in turn has led to gas flaring and Ghana losing hundreds of millions a day since December 2012 in revenues from

production. Since December 2012 billions of dollars a year have been lost from the Ghanaian GDP due to the delays in

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form Physical object, objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Pr ...

of a

. A Ghanaian

oilfield A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the presence ...

which is reported to contain up to of crude oil was discovered in 2007, and according to the Ghanaian government, the country could expand its

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

reserves up to of crude oil in reserves within a few years. Ghana produces 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day on average from an expected 1–2 million barrels of crude oil per day, and an expected crude oil production revenue of US$ 30 billion a year; as with

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

, also a crude oil producer, has an expected 2 million barrels of crude oil production per day and receives an expected $33.7 billion a year in crude oil revenues. Tremendous inflow of economic capital from fossil fuel into the Ghanaian economy began from the first quarter of 2011 when Ghana started producing crude oil and

in commercial quantities and the Ghana crude oil industry accounted for 6% of the Ghanaian economic revenue for 2011. Oil and Gas exploration in Ghana continues and the amount of both crude oil and

in Ghana continues to increase.

Solar energy

The biggest photovoltaic (PV) and the largest solar energy plant in Africa, the Nzema project, based in Ghana, will be able to provide electricity to more than 100,000 homes., The 155MW plant will increase Ghana's electricity generating capacity by 6%. Construction work on the

GH¢ The cedi ( ) (currency sign: GH₵; currency code: GHS) is the unit of currency of Ghana. It is the fourth historical and only current legal tender in the Republic of Ghana. One cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas (Gp). After independen ...

740 million ( GB£ 248 million) and the 4th largest solar power plant in the world, is being developed by Blue Energy, a UK-based renewable energy investment company, majority owned and funded by members of the, Stadium Group, a large European private asset and development company with GB£ 2.5 billion under management. Project director is Douglas Coleman, from Mere Power Nzema Ltd, Ghana. Unlike many other solar projects in Africa that use concentrated solar power, solar plants will use photovoltaic (PV) technology to convert sunlight directly into

. Installation of more than 630,000 solar PV modules will begin by the end of 2017. As of August 2015, the project is still under development.

Wind energy

In addition to hydropower and solar energy, Ghana also produces a large amount of other renewable energy, other forms of energy that produce electricity in Ghana are

wind power Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically ...

, geothermal and biomass. It is the official goal of Ghana energy industry to have 10% of Ghana's energy mix come from renewable sources (not counting large-scale hydropower) by 2015, or at the very latest by 2020. Ghana has Class 4-6 wind resources at locations of the high wind areas – such as Nkwanta, the Accra Plains, and Kwahu and Gambaga mountains. The maximum energy that could be tapped from Ghana's available wind resource for electricity is estimated to be about 500 – 600 GWh/year. To give perspective – In 2011, from the same Energy Commission, the largest Akosombo

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

in Ghana alone produced 6,495 GWhrs of electric power and, counting all Ghana's geothermal energy production in addition, total energy generated was 11,200 GWhrs in the same year. These assessments do not take into consideration further limiting factors such as land-use restrictions, the existing grid (or how far the

wind Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few ho ...

resource may be from the grid) and accessibility.

Wind energy Wind power or wind energy is mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity. Wind power is a popular, sustainable, renewable energy source that has a much smaller impact on the environment than burning fossil fuels. Historically, w ...

has the potential to contribute significantly to the country's energy industry – 10% can certainly be attained in terms of installed capacity, and about 5% of total electric generation potential from

alone.

Bio energy

Ghana has put in place mechanisms to attract investments into its biomass and bio-energy sectors to stimulate

rural development Rural development is the process of improving the quality life and economic well-being of people living in rural areas, often relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas. Rural development has traditionally centered on the exploitation of ...

, create jobs and save foreign exchange., , The vast arable and degraded land mass of Ghana has the potential for the cultivation of

crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydropon ...

s and

plant Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclu ...

s that could be converted into a wide range of solid and liquid bio-fuels, as the development of alternative

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

fuels could help Ghana to diversify and secure its future energy supplies. Main investments in the bio-energy subsector existed in the areas of production, are

, storage, distribution, sale, marketing and exportation. The goal of Ghana regarding bio-energy, as articulated its energy sector policy, is to modernise and examine the benefits of bio-energy on a sustainable basis. Biomass is Ghana's dominant energy resource in terms of endowment and consumption, with the two primary bio-fuels consumed being

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a ...

and

biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat ( tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil ...

. To that effect, the Ghana ministry of Energy in 2010 developed the energy sector strategy and development plan. Highlights of the key policy objectives strategy for the renewable energy subsector include sustaining the supply and efficient use of wood-fuels while ensuring that their utilisation does not lead to

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. The most concentrated ...

. The plan would support

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

investments in the cultivation of bio-fuel feedstock, extraction of bio-oil and its refining into secondary products, thereby creating appropriate financial and tax incentives. The Ghana Renewal Energy Act provides the necessary fiscal incentives for renewable energy development by the private sector, and also details the control and management of bio-fuel and wood- fuel projects in Ghana. The Ghana National Petroleum Authority (NPA) was tasked by the Renewable Energy Act 2011 to price Ghana's bio-fuel blend in accordance with the prescribed

pricing formula. The combined

effects of climate change The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice ( glaciers), sea le ...

and global economic turbulence, had triggered a sense of urgency among Ghanaian policymakers, industry and development practitioners to find sustainable and viable solutions in the area of bio-fuels. Currently,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, which makes

from

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

and sugarcane, is the world's largest bio-fuel market.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Electricity Sector in Ghana