Govt to replace fluorescent street lamps
The government is to replace all compact fluorescent street lamps (CFL) with light emitting diode (LED) ones as part of the initiatives to conserve energy.
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The move, which has already begun in Accra, is expected to conserve 100 megawatt (MW) of energy.
The Deputy Minister of Power, Mr John Jinapor, announced this at the launch of the Ghana Energy Statistics Handbook in Accra.
He said the LED lamps were cost-effective and their use would save the country about $600 million.
To acquire a 100MW thermal plant, he indicated that the country would need about $200 million.
Energy statistics handbook
The handbook, published by the Energy Commission, is an official source of energy data and information for policy makers, researchers, students, the media and other organisations.
It also shows the historic and projected energy demand trends under various energy growth scenarios and contains data on energy resources, supply, transformation, consumption and indicators. Others include energy balance, prices and demand projections.
All districts across the country, he said, were expected to use the LED bulbs and urged district assemblies to submit their proposals for the bulbs.
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Mr Jinapor further indicated that the National Solar Rooftop Programme, which seeks to provide residential homes with solar systems, was also another energy-conservation initiative.
He said the project, which targets 20,000 residential homes, was intended to reduce dependency on the national grid.
“Power fairly stable”
Touching on the power situation, the deputy minister stated that power had been fairly stable this year, compared to the last two years when the country went through an energy crisis.
About 800MW of power which included AMERI and the Karpowership, he said, had been added to the generation capacity, while 600MW more was expected to be added by the end of the year.
On fuel to run the added thermal plants, he said the government would consider dual thermal plants that could run on different fuels, but the ultimate goal was to run all plants on gas in future.
Comparing the cost of running thermal plants to that of hydro, which was giving the country less than 50 per cent of the power generated, Mr Jinapor urged consumers to gird their loins and pay more for the power being generated.
Commission’s Chair
The Chairman of the Energy Commission, Dr Kwame Ampofo, said the handbook was an addition to the publications that the commission had produced for official and public use in fulfilment of its mandate.
He also said data and statistics were essential in the socio-economic development planning of a nation since they were used to draw general conclusions on the progress or retrogression of a society and measure the well-being of a nation’s population.
On the National Solar Rooftop Programme, he said it was the flagship programme of the commission being implemented in conjunction with the Ministry of Power.
Under the programme, he explained, maximum of 500Watt solar panels would be given to applicants who acquired and installed the system, which included battery, inverter and charge controller.
Promotional activities, he added, had been rolled out to whip up public interest in the programme and one of them was a draw which would be conducted by the National Lotteries Authority in all the 10 regions.