Efforts towards alternative power supply; Two bodies assess power needs of industries
The Energy Commission, in collaboration with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has started assessing the specific electricity needs of the various industrial enclaves.
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This is to enable the two agencies to ascertain the viability of providing solar energy to supplement electricity supply from the national grid to the industries.
Currently, solar energy experts are assessing the specific power needs of the various industrial enclaves and the appropriate places to position solar panels to attract the sun for effective power generation.
The Executive Secretary of the PURC, Mr Samuel Kwadwo Sarpong, made this known during separate interactions with industrial players at the Sokoban Wood Village and the Suame Industrial Area in Kumasi.
The fora created the platform for officials of the Energy Commission and PURC to interact with industry players on the current load shedding and its impact.
Mr Sarpong explained that the move would ensure that the industries received regular power supply.
He said the various industrial enclaves would, therefore, be assessed to ascertain the availability of space for the solar panels, the quantum of power needed, among other issues.
He stressed that efforts were being made to invest in alternative power supply, now that hydro power was dwindling due to change in weather, among other factors.
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He mentioned thermal and solar as some of the alternative energy sources being considered to reduce the nation’s over- dependence on hydro, which kept dwindling with time.
Education
Meanwhile, he said the PURC was intensifying public education on the proper use of electricity.
“The issue of other sources of power is feasible but it comes with a higher cost and so Ghanaians must be ready to pay more if other sources come on board,” the executive secretary added.
Suame
At the Suame Industrial Area, most of the people appealed to the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to provide them with dedicated electricity lines, so that they could be exempted from the load-shedding exercise.
They impressed on the ECG to supply them with electricity only in the mornings in these days of load shedding, so that they could make good use of the power.
They argued that power supply to the area at night was not very beneficial because the artisans and others who operated there could not work at night.
Sokoban Wood Village
Togbi Mawufeame Fuga, the Chief of Ewes in Ashanti, who is also an opinion leader at the Sokoban Wood Village, commended the PURC for its decision to consider the provision of alternative power supply to save jobs in the enclave.
He pledged to support any initiative that would promote work in the village.