Does Ghana Still Pay US$9million Dollar To Karpowership?

The challenges in the energy sector of Ghana capture the imagination of many Ghanaians. The greatest of these challenges is energy insecurity, which has threatened the growth of the economy over the years. This has manifested in inaccessible, unaffordable and unreliable energy supply. This is because of the high demand for energy and the high deficit of supply.

If karpowership produces 225MW and consume 30,000 to 35,000 gallons of fossil fuel at a monthly cost of $9 million then it's way better for Ghanaians to invest in solar. It makes no economic sense to invest in karpower ship. Ghanaians will save a lot more money than the gormandize and guzzle powership to suck the wealth of our tax monies. That money can be used to pay off the debts ECG owes to Volta River Authority (VRA).

Calculation was done using the RetScreen International Expert

Acres = 900 and can take up to
374,760 solar panels
Power = 95MW
Cost = $3.5 million
Good enough to power 11,000 home.
Let's multiple each by three (3) to get the equivalent of 225MW the power ship will produce.

900 acres × 3 = 2,700 acres
95MW × 3 = 285MW
$3.5 Million × 3 = $10.5 million
11,000 home = 33,000 home
Onetime payment of $10.5 million is good enough to provide 285MW of power to the grid.

As at now, why must Ghana spend colossal amount on fossil fuel while other sectors of the economy needs improvement? A recent report by Public Eye Investigation (Guéniat, Harjono, Andreas Missbach, & Viredaz, 2016) reveals that much of the diesel imported from Europe contains high levels of sulphur which pose high risks to individuals and the country as a whole. Why must Ghana continue to burn a lot of fuel while the world is on a carbon diet? How resilient will our economy be when oil reaches its tipping point? Why not invest in sustainable ways like solar to diversify our energy sector?

The benefit for Ghanaians going solar:
Environmental benefit:
1. Emission level will drastically be reduced
2. Strategy to address our climate change
3. Carbon free economy.
4. Renewable (free from the sun)
5. Environmentally friendly
Economic benefits:
1. Save cost of renting power ship and fuel to power.

2. Money can be channel to develop other sector of the economy.

3. Cheap to decentralize to other sector of the economy

4. Pay debt ECG owes to GridCo
5. Raise revenue for our power sector
Society benefits:
1. Healthy people means productivity will increase
2. Power outages will decline drastically
3. Clean air implies fewer burdens on our health care system

4. Incessant and indefatigable power
5. Conservation practice will increase
Reference
Guéniat, M., Harjono, M., Andreas Missbach, & Viredaz, G.-V. (2016). Dirty Diesel: How Swiss Traders Flood Africa with Toxic Fuels. Retrieved from https://goo.gl/wXhLCq

http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/2015/December-2nd/karpower-ship-to-guzzle-9million-worth-of-fuel-monthly.php

RetScreen International Expert.