Intensity of load management
The persistent load management in Ghana has given rise to a lot of discussions in various media organisations on the need for security of electricity supply and diversification of sources of electricity.
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Additionally, institutions that generate, transmit and distribute power have also been criticised for the untenable situation.
The quantum of anger and frustration unleashed by the load management exercise accentuates the uniqueness of electricity in the energy mix and the fact that modern lifestyle is inextricably linked to gadgets and gizmos that are powered by electricity.
The exercise has adverse socio-economic, safety and health impacts, and painstaking efforts must be made by all stakeholders to prevent it from permanently rearing its ugly head in the country.
Megawatts and ‘Negawatts’
While attention is being focused on the supply side of the electric power (megawatts) industry, one must look at the benefits of the efficient use of electricity and its conservation (negawatts) that result from sustained demand side management. This has the advantage of reducing the required installed capacity in a form of additional power stations, which lead to a reduction in the quantum of investments required thereof. Further, it frees scarce resources for the benefit of other sectors of the economy.
Unfortunately, some people think that the answer to every perceived shortage of a commodity is more supply, no matter how wantonly it is dissipated. There is also the need for attitudinal and behavioural change with regard to the efficient use and conservation of scarce resources.
A partially low and no-cost solution lies in a critical analysis of both the demand and supply side of the energy equation. Lower demand calls for reduced supply, considering the fact that generated electricity cannot be stored. However, projected growth in demand has to be taken into account during planning.
With Ghana’s phenomenal increase in population, coupled with the attainment of low middle-income status, more efforts should be made to supply the electricity that is required to sustain the enhanced lifestyle of the citizenry.
Whereas more attention has been focused in the past on megasize power generation projects, especially those involving hydro-electric power stations and fossil-fuel power stations, some attention should also be directed at distributed generation. This is very pertinent, considering the fact that as a country, we have run out of big hydro facilities for power generation.
Distributed generation could make an invaluable contribution to the solution of the irritable power rationing, which seem to be getting worse by the day.
Mechanics of distributed generation
Distributed generation is a relatively new trend in the generation of electricity supply industry, where by users generate power and heat on site for their own use, and send the surplus to the national grid.
The latter process is also known as excess metering. Commercial distributed generation technologies that are fairly established include diesel, gas reciprocating engines and gas turbines.
Fuel efficiencies in excess of 40 per cent are achievable in industrial-sized diesel engines at relatively low cost per kilowatt.
However, there are other distributed generation technologies that have not yet been commercialised in the country. These include micro-turbines and fuel cells, which have undergone rigorous research and development globally, and are now being used primarily for applications in the transportation sector; and also in the power generation industry. However, just as one cannot deny anybody the act of thinking, the same can also be said about innovation.
Photovoltaic systems, which are increasingly being applied, have relatively high capital cost, which have been falling over time, and even expected to fall significantly over the next 10 years, due to enhanced innovation and increased supply.
Elsewhere, less expensive and portable solar panels have been designed and are being tested for commercial applications. Concentrated solar power (CSP), which has the capacity to generate significant quantity of electricity has already been commercialised. Currently, Morocco is building a state-of-the-art 500 MW CSP plant in Quarzazate, with funding from the Climate Investment Fund, through the African Development Bank and the World Bank.
On-site generation
For on-site power, distributed power generation has some economic advantages. Some of these are the avoidance of transmission and distribution costs which account for about 30 per cent of the cost of delivered electricity.
In such generation, exhaust heat can be used as process heat, further increasing fuel efficiency, conserving non-renewable resources and thereby reducing cost.
The simultaneous production of heat and power, otherwise known as co-generation can use low-cost fuels like land fill gas, wood shavings, woodlots and baggasse???. Additionally, distributed generation add some value to power systems by delaying the need to upgrade a congested transmission or distribution network, through reduction in distribution losses; and by providing support or ancillary services to the local distribution network. The promotion of distributed generation calls for favourable policies and regulatory frameworks to entice investors, financiers and landlords.
Prospective distributed generation plant owners can negotiate power purchase agreements on the unused electricity with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Volta River Authority (VRA). This will make it easy for the surplus electricity to be fed into the grid.
It is being advocated that a critical examination be made with a view to identifying all forms of resources that can be used to power mini-power and micro-power stations in the country, followed by the offering of incentives to their owners to go into power generation. This would reduce the peculiar reticence and risk aversion of financial institutions and investors in operating in that industry.
Any stereotypes need to be debunked through proper campaigns and incentives to allow inflow of capital into that area of the economy. After all, the smooth running of virtually all industries is underpinned by reliable supply of electric power.
The writer is the managing director of EnerWise Africa, Accra
Writer’s email: [email protected]
