Govt set goals to enhance energy sector

The minister for energy, Professor Mike Ocquaye, has acknowledged the key role energy plays in the implementation of the Government's priority programmes and added that the Government has set three energy goals to enhance the success of its policies.

The goals, he said, were accessibility to modern affordable energy for all, availability in terms of continuity of supply and quality of service and acceptability in terms of social and environmental goals.

The minister was speaking at the launch of the 15th congress and exhibition of the Union of Producers, Transporters and Distributors of Electric Power in Africa (UPDEA), which will be held in Ghana from June 6 to 10, this year.

About 400 delegates from 35 African countries are expected to participate in the congress and exhibition, which will be held at the Accra International Conference Centre.

It will be on the theme “Access to Electricity For All Peoples of Africa Through A Pooling Of Energy Resources.”

To achieve the goals, the minister said the Government was securing finance for the generation of additional 110 megawatt steam at Aboadze to bring the total thermal generation capacity to 660 megawatts, adding that utilizing the steam component would reduce the generation cost by 30 per cent.

Prof. Ocquaye stated that only 40 per cent of the population of the country had access to electricity, and explained that majority of the population without electricity were in the rural areas.

He stated that the Government had taken advantage of a number of technologies that offered the potential to assist progress in rural areas, and added that the technologies spanned generation, transmission, distribution, metering and billing, and shield wire schemes.

He said the Government was also opening up the energy sector for private sector participation.