Ghana’s power challenges could largely be blamed on the failure of past leaders to look for alternative sources of energy to meet the growing population and increased demand for power, Dr Samiu Kwadwo Nuamah, Member of Parliament for Kwadaso, has said.
According to him, it was incumbent on past leaders to have realised that as populations grow, the demand for power would increase, hence the need to look for other sources of energy to deal with the overreliance on the Akosombo Dam.
Speaking on Ghana Yensom on Accra100.5FM Monday January 9 on the way forward for Ghana’s energy situation, Mr Nuamah, who is also Executive Director of the Africa Institute of Energy Sustainability, said: “We (Ghana) started our energy generation with Akosombo [Dam] and we were able to produce enough to even give some to other countries, but as the population and the economy grew the demand for power also grew. And so we needed to know that if for instance the population grew by 10 per cent and the economy also grew by 10 per cent, we also needed to grow and expand our energy by 10 per cent annually. By so doing we would be able to meet the demand at any point in time.
“It appears that along the way there was a gap, that expanding the energy generation alongside the population was not working, and so clearly we reached a stage where the demand became more than the supply. If you look at our installed capacity and our demand, we shouldn’t have a problem in Ghana because if you combine all the energy plants we have in Ghana, you will realise that the energy we have is more than what we need to do our work. The only challenge is the lack of crude to power those energy plants and the debt we owe our partners in the energy sector.”
Mr Nuamah further indicated that before the one factory per district promise could be realised, the government would need to ensure that all the districts have energy supply because without that the people cannot work.
“If you look at the basic definition of energy you will notice that energy is the ability to do work. Without energy we cannot do anything. Whenever there is no energy, there will not be work, and so if we want to create factories in all the districts, we will need energy in all those areas,” he said
“Energy is fundamental, without it forget about developing the nation. Any government that wants to build the economy, create jobs, and ensure development should have energy as a topmost priority. Energy moves closely with the economy.”
Source: Ghana/AccraFM.com
