By the end of October of this year, according to Andrew Egyapa Mercer, deputy minister of energy, the National Energy Transition Plan will be finished and published.
He asserts that the Plan will act as a guide for Ghana’s journey to achieve net zero carbon emissions.
The deputy energy minister reaffirmed that Ghana will move toward transition at a relatively slow pace while taking into consideration not stranding its existing energy assets on October 4, 2022 at the first edition of the Africa Energy Conference organized by the Business and Financial Times Newspaper.
“Ghana has seen the need to develop a National Energy Transition Plan to guide its journey towards attaining net zero status at a pace realistic to the country’s peculiar circumstances.”
“Ghana’s plan is informed by both available and prospective energy sources, accessing financing measures and other factors. I am glad to hint to you that by the end of this month, the National Energy Transition Plan will be outdoored,” the Minister said.
While Africa’s contribution to global carbon emission stands at less than 4 percent, Egyapa Mercer believes that the continent must adopt new and innovative methods to attract energy finance and investment.
“Local technical capacity must be speedily enhanced to reduced reliance on Western support energy-related and cross border collaboration amongst African nations must be encouraged”
He explained that this will ultimately ensure than African nations derive maximum value for their oil and gas resources which must be left to waste.
Through National Energy Transition Plan, Ghana plans to accelerate and focus on the promotion of sustainable energy through low carbon power generation with a target of 10 percent of renewable penetration by 2030.
The transition is expected to also promote energy efficiency in buildings (homes, industry and commerce), decarbonisation of oil and gas production as well as market-based cleaner cooking solutions.
However, achieving this will require an unprecedented shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like wind and solar as well as the provision of clean, affordable and reliable energy for consumers.
National Energy Transition Plan to be outdoored in October – Egyapa Mercer