Beyond keeping the lights on

Over the past three years that I have been at the Ministry of Energy, I have noted that energy sector issues and their attendant developments hardly took frontline positions in the public space.

Au contraire, during my four-year stint at the Ministry of Education, hardly a week passed without one issue or the other in the sector popping up on the public radar and becoming a talking point.

Of course, in the energy space, when there are power cuts, Armageddon descends into the political bear pit because the power supply is so central to our lives, even to the point of being a political matter with serious electoral ramifications.

The word ‘dumsor’ strikes mortal fear in the heart of every political incumbent. I certainly do not enjoy being a punching bag in the hands of my friends when there is a power cut. Interestingly, far fewer friends complain to me about fuel prices. Hardly anyone asks me about solar energy.

One could be forgiven for assuming that all the Ministry of Energy does is to superintend over keeping the lights on.

Power value chain

Aside from the power sector, there is also the petroleum sector, whose upstream space is occupied primarily by oil and gas exploration issues, with the Petroleum Commission as the regulator while the National Petroleum Authority regulates the downstream industry.

This encompasses all activities involved in the importation and refining of crude oil, as well as the sale, marketing and distribution of refined petroleum products in the country.

Within the power sector, generation (by VRA, Bui Power Authority and a range of independent power producers), transmission (by GRIDCo) and distribution (by good old ECG and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company, NEDCo) are the three key stages in the value chain.

Of course, when the lights go out, ECG is the bogeyman that gets the blame because that is the entity that the customer pays bills to and knows.

Recently, on a fact-finding tour of various power facilities with the Minister of State at the Energy Ministry, Herbert Krapa, and senior Ministry officials in the Aboadze enclave near Takoradi, I marvelled at the complexity of the various installations that quietly ensure that at the simple flick of a switch, our rooms are flooded with light and power surges through our sockets to make our lives easier.

As is the case with most apparently simple things in our lives (whether it is mobile phones, accessing the internet or driving a car), there is the temptation to take for granted the huge complexity of the process involved in bringing to fruition those apparently simple items or activities.

In all the four installations we visited, what gladdened my heart the most was that all the engineers and technical persons were Ghanaian.

Green economy

Within the power sector, renewable energy, clean cooking and a host of other issues constantly keep the sector rather busy, especially within the context of the global conversation around the green economy.

Previously, a conversation that took place on the fringes of the energy space that perhaps evoked wry smiles of amusement, green energy has taken centre-stage in recent times.

Its manifestation is more visible in the industrialised countries, where green energy credentials are almost a fashion statement to be bandied about.

Currently, transitioning to net-zero emissions by 2050 is the new target for climate and global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions policy, following the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue measures to avoid breaching the 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Against the urgent backdrop of extreme heatwaves, droughts, fires and floods across the globe, vulnerable low-and medium-income countries (LMICs), such as Ghana, are all working on solutions.

Such solutions include making commitments to reach net-zero emissions within their jurisdictions and deciding their nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

For instance, Ghana’s Energy Transition framework and Investment Plan have been launched successfully and acknowledged as a pathway for achieving net zero emissions through sustainable energy projects that would present opportunities for investments.

But then, green energy (and consequently a green economy) does not come cheap. Currently, the investment plan is projected to unlock approximately USD 550 billion in investment opportunities.

By focusing on six main decarbonisation technologies – electrification and renewables, carbon capture and storage, low-carbon hydrogen, battery electric vehicles, clean cooking technologies and negative-emissions solutions – the plan aims to generate nearly 400,000 jobs and enhance economic growth while addressing climate change.

However, successful implementation will depend on the government’s ability to create a conducive investment environment, ensure financial viability, establish credible off-takers and develop a pipeline of bankable projects to attract both domestic and international investors.

Exciting future

The reality of the 21st century is that no country is an island unto itself, and especially on environmental issues, borders – whether natural or artificial – are meaningless in the scheme of things as the world continues to shrink.

What this means is that we have to confront, sooner than later, the realities of climate change and how they threaten our very existence in critical areas like food sustainability.

This means paying attention to our power sources beyond simply having access to power.
Green energy represents the future, and in various countries around the world, that future took place yesterday. We have a lot of catching up to do.