Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has announced plans for the next New Patriotic Party (NPP) government to integrate at least 2,000 megawatts of solar power into Ghana’s energy mix within the next four years.
Dr. Bawumia highlighted the growing challenge of high electricity costs for businesses in Ghana, which he attributed to fluctuating forex rates and international petroleum prices.
Speaking to religious leaders in the Volta Region, he emphasized that the country’s reliance on world crude prices and foreign exchange rates contributes to higher living expenses for Ghanaians and diminishes the competitiveness of local businesses.
Dr. Bawumia outlined his vision to aggressively pursue solar energy initiatives over the next four years.
“To reduce the cost of living is to look at our power generation. Ghana currently relies a lot on oil and gas to generate power and if you look at their [oil and gas] costs, they are quite high so anytime the prices move up in the Middle East, fuel, electricity, and transport prices also move up and so I want us to move away from oil and gas to solar power. It is the key for us in the generation of electricity.
“My goal and the goal that I have stated is that in the next four years, Ghana should add 2,000 megawatts of solar power to the generation of power and that is more than half of our consumption of electricity and so combine that with Akosombo and you would nearly reduce the cost of power by nearly 50 per cent and that will give our businesses a competitive advantage,” he said.
This move aims to mitigate the impact of high fuel prices on Ghanaians and businesses alike.