Govt finances solar systems for rural areas

Back (lead) May 7/2008

Story: Charles Benoni Okine

THE government has begun financing up to half the cost of solar home systems and solar lanterns for rural communities that have not yet been connected to the national grid.
The financing, which is in the form of grants through the rural banks, is expected to benefit up to 15,000 rural households under the Ghana Energy Development Access Project.
The Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Kwame Ampofo-Twumasi, announced this in Accra yesterday at the opening of the First Global Business Conference and Development Marketplace Competition for off-grid lighting in Africa.
The conference, which is the first of its kind and being sponsored by the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), among others, is designed to allow investors, private firms, financiers and development agencies to showcase and expand business opportunities in the off-grid lighting market, targeting low income populations in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Ampofo-Twumasi said the implementation of the programme had become necessary in view of the importance the government attached to the use of renewable sources of energy to reduce the over-reliance of the national electricity grid, which was not enough to meet demand at present.
“To ensure accelerated increase in rural access, the government has streamlined the National Electricity Scheme to ensure that all outstanding works in 300 communities electrified under the Self Help Electrification Programme (SHEP) would be completed in 2008,” he said.
In addition to that, he said five communities without electricity in every district would be connected to the national electricity grid this year.
Mr Ampofo-Twumasi said the government also intended to establish a Rural Electrification Agency to be solely responsible for providing cost-effective rural electrification options including renewable energy throughout the country.
The Deputy Energy Minister reiterated the resolve of the government to provide all communities in the country with electricity services by the year 2020.
“Currently over 3,000 communities have so far been connected to the national grid under the national Electrification Scheme since its inception in 1989,” he said.
Mr Ampofo-Twumasi said the present electricity access had now reached about 56 per cent, one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa.
Mr Russell Sturm, Co-Director of the Lighting Africa Sustainable Energy team, in a presentation, said the programme was created to help entrepreneurs across the world innovate and deliver affordable, reliable and sustainable lighting products to the Africa marketplace.
He said working in consultation with the global lighting industry, Lighting Africa sought to reduce key market barriers by working with public and private partners across a variety of sectors to reduce transaction costs, mitigate risks, as well as improve quality and promote commercial responsibility.