150 Deprived schools receive solar power, laptops
The government has provided solar electricity and 3,000 portable laptops to 150 basic schools in remote off-grid communities in the country.
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The move forms part of a programme rolled out by the Ministry of Power, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, to provide solar systems for basic schools in off-grid communities.
The Minister of Power, Dr Kwabena Donkor, said this in a speech read on his behalf at the opening session of a workshop on Renewable Energy in Accra yesterday.
He said the initiative was to support the government’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for all basic schools.
The workshop, which was organised by the Religious Bodies Network on Climate Change (RELBONET), was to incorporate different actors of the economy to integrate and implement programmes in support of the government’s efforts at promoting renewable energy in the energy mix.
Solar lanterns
Dr Donkor said to ensure efficient use of resources, the Ministry of Power was taking steps to redirect the subsidy on kerosene to support the promotion of solar lanterns as a replacement for kerosene lanterns.
He said more than 70,000 solar lanterns had so far been procured and were being distributed in remote island and lakeside communities along the Volta Lake.
He said the government had also deployed solar systems in public institutions such as rural clinics, schools and security outposts and households in deprived off-grid communities in 80 districts nationwide.
He said the ministry was also conducting wind speed measurements in eight locations and agro as well as sawmill waste assessment nationwide with the objective of establishing the harnessing of those resources for power generation.
He said the ministry believed that investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy resources was relevant to stimulate actions among all actors to deliver improved energy access, promote energy efficiency options across the supply chain and create job opportunities in the sector.
Promote renewable energy
Dr Donkor said one of the major policy initiatives of the ministry was to promote the use of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, biomass, waste to energy and small hydro power in the energy mix.
He said those resources were available everywhere in the country and could be used sustainably to provide clean alternative energy, particularly for remote communities not likely to be connected to the national grid in the immediate future.
Challenge
He said the challenge, however, had been the high upfront cost for the development and generation of electricity from those resources, vis-a-vis the existing generation tariffs, making it unattractive for private sector investment in renewable energy.
Dr Donkor said the ministry was collaborating with the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), the Energy Commission and other relevant stakeholders to finalise the modalities for the smooth implementation of the Renewable Energy Act.
He said it was expected that the private sector would take advantage of that to invest in the sector with the gazetting of the Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariffs by the PURC.
