Private sector asked to participate in Ghana’s renewable energy sector
Mr Bukari Danladi, Northern Regional Chairman of the Ghana Institution of Engineers, has underscored the need for the private sector to get involved in the production of renewable energy in the country.
He said renewable energy, which included solar, was the only reliable source of power for development adding that government’s policy of opening up the sector for competition made it imperative for the private sector’s participation.
Mr Danladi was speaking to the Ghana News Agency after chairing a lecture organised by the Northern Regional branch of the Institution on the topic: “Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development,” in Tamale.
Dr Venkatrama Bakthavatsalam, a foremost renewable energy expert in India, delivered the lecture which focused mainly on the Indian perspective of renewable energy development where there is investment in the sector.
Dr Bakthavatsalam was on a week’s visit to the University for Development Studies (UDS) as part of a collaborative programme on renewable energy development.
The Ghana News Agency has gathered that the University for Development Studies (UDS) has begun moves to set up the Faculty of Engineering Sciences, which will host its proposed Energy Center to focus on research in especially renewable energy.
Mr Danladi said the setting up of feed-in tariffs guaranteed the amount at which the power should be sold and, therefore, made good business for private sector operators.
He cited the high cost of production, saying it was the only challenge affecting the production of renewable energy but added that a lot of research had gone into the sector and which could be used to reduce the cost of production.
He touted the potential of renewable energy to solving the country’s energy problems saying it was sustainable and could be used for targeted purposes such as supplying energy to communities that were yet to be connected to the electricity grid.
Professor Kranjac-Berisavljevic, Director of UDS International, said UDS was partnering with the Ghana Institution of Engineers, Savanna Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-SARI) and an Indian institution to set up the new Faculty of Engineering Sciences.
She said this formed the basis for Dr Bakthavatsalam’s visit as he was playing the lead role in facilitating the partnership with the Indian institution.
Source: GNA