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World Bank approves funds for Ghana’s
energy development and enhancement
Accra, July 29, Ghanadot - The Board of Executive Directors
of The World Bank (WB) has approved 95.5 million dollars to
finance a project to increase electricity access, supply and
reliability in Ghana.
The fund comes from what the bank has earmarked for
assisting the long term efforts to improve the performance
of power companies, increasing energy efficiency and access
for rural dwellers and also for some countries to enhance
their renewable energy generation capacity.
In an electronic mail to the Ghana News Agency in Accra on
Sunday, the WB said rolling blackouts and power
inaccessibility in Ghana continued to impede economic growth
and acknowledge an urgent need for a long-term visionary
approach to energy management.
The current energy crisis in Ghana, according to WB Senior
Energy Economist, Mr. Paivi Koljonen is a major impediment
to growth.
“Improving overall sector management, and the access and
reliability of electricity supplies are pressing needs for
Ghana today, and the Project is designed to address these.
“It will also help provide infrastructure that will help in
the creation of new business opportunities and the
acceleration of economic growth and employment,” Mr Koljonen
stated.
He said, in support of Ghana’s multi-faceted energy sector
strategy, the bank's programme would provide grants to
developers of renewable energy generation projects such as
small hydropower, wind, and biomass for the benefit of
communities outside the main national grid system.
It will also finance the establishment of an independent
Rural Electrification Agency, which would coordinate all
rural electrification programmes. In all, 134,000 new
customers in rural towns and villages would be connected to
the national power grid.
An important component of the project is the improvement of
the distribution of electricity supply in the long-run, and
in improving the sector’s commercial performance.
It is estimated that about 25 percent of total electricity
generated is lost in the distribution process, and at a time
when Ghana needs every unit of electricity to power the
country’s growth.
“Over one quarter of all electricity produced in Ghana is
lost due to technical and commercial inefficiencies and
theft,” Mr. Koljonen stated, stressing that, the EDAP
project would help address the losses to help make more
power available.
The Government has both short and long-term strategies to
improve the availability and reliability of power.
The long-term strategy is the regional integration of
Ghana’s energy system through two major multinational energy
projects - the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) and the West
Africa Power Pool (WAPP), both of which are financed by the
World Bank.
In the short-term, the Government is addressing the power
capacity deficit and financial issues on several fronts,
including a crash investment programme to install thermal
capacity this year, load curtailment, demand side management
measures, and increases in power tariffs.
The WAGP is currently under construction and should bring
Nigerian gas to Ghana in 2008. This gas would diversify
Ghana’s hydro-based power system with a cleaner burning,
lower cost source of thermal power, which also would have
environmental benefits.
In addition, the ongoing WAPP will enhance cross-border
power trade in West Africa by strengthening interconnecting
power lines from Cote d'Ivoire to Togo and Benin along the
Ghanaian Coastline.
The WAPP will also establish new interconnection lines
within Ghana to transfer lower cost, gas-fired power
generated along the Ghanaian coast northwards to Burkina
Faso and other Sahel countries.
Source GNA
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