The Government has targeted universal access to electricity in the country this year by connecting 400 communities to the national grid.
The plan, which is under the Self-Help Electrification Programme (SHEP) and other Turnkey Projects, will build on the 207 communities that were connected to the grid last year.
This was revealed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he delivered the 2024 State of the Nation Address in Parliament on Tuesday.
The President said the country achieved an 88.85 per cent electricity access rate last year.
He said the Government had made steady progress to increase the component of renewable energy to the country’s energy generation mix.
President Akufo-Addo said a four-megawatt floating solar PV on the Bui Reservoir, as well as 15MW solar PV at Kaleo have been completed and operational, increasing the share of solar energy to the generation mix by 3.2 per cent.
‘A 100MW solar PV is under construction at Bui, as is the Mini-grid Electrification Programme ongoing in the
Ada East District, all of which will help us attain our target of 10 per cent renewable energy in our generation mix by 2030,’ the President said.
The Ministry of Energy announced in June 2019 that it has pushed back its target date for achieving universal electricity coverage from 2020 to 2025.
The Ministry explained that the extension was to allow for the implementation of new measures to enhance energy efficiency and improve electricity supply to rural parts of the country.
In 1989, Ghana rolled out a 30-year National Electrification Scheme to achieve universal access to reliable electricity supply between 1990 -2020.
As of that time, the country had attained a National Electricity Access of about 25 per cent with only 5 per cent rural penetration.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (Target 7.1) stipulate that by 2030, countries must ensure universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy services.
According to the United Nations, about 1.06 billion people still live without electric
ity, with more than half the people without electricity living in sub-Saharan Africa.
Source: Ghana News Agency
