Ghana's presidency and parliament to run on solar energy

Ghana’s presidency, Flagstaff House and its lawmaking chamber will soon be depending on solar energy as a source of power.

Local media portal, Starrfm quotes the Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, as confirming the move saying it was the right signal to the rest of the nation. His comments follow the ratification of a framework agreement on renewable energy by the government.

“It makes a lot of sense that in order to utilize our solar and produce the necessary demonstration effect for the rest of the country, that significant buildings adopt solar.

He added “So the Ministry of energy building, the Parliament House of Ghana and Jubilee House must all go solar to send the right signal to the rest of the nation that the government is behind it and that is the proper thing to do.”

Under the energy agreement a 400 megawatt solar plant would be established in the country. Ghana became the 14th country in the tropics to ratify the agreement. It qualifies the country for a $10 billion facility towards development and promotion of renewable energy.

Despite being a regional and continental economic giant, rampant power disruptions in recent years threatened lots of businesses. The country has long depended on hydroelectric energy from its biggest power facility, the Akosombo Dam.

The power distributor, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has also been indicted over failure to collect power bills. An investigative piece by the country’s biggest undercover journalist revealed damning findings against the ECG.

Anas Aremeyaw Anas’s work titled ‘President’s Assignment – Stealing the People’s Power,’ published in 2012 did a thorough probe into the ailing power sector.

At the time of the release of the three-part documentary, Anas and his Tiger Eye team exposed multinationals and individuals who had piled up debts with the ECG. Among others, the presidency and most government institutions were all owing the ECG.