2 Bodies explore installation of solar systems for SMEs
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Energy Commission are holding discussions to seek funding for the installation of rooftop solar systems for small-scale enterprises (SMEs).
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The project, which is to be carried out on a pilot basis, will involve the installation of the panels for hairdressers and barbers, seamstresses, automobile mechanic shops, as well as other small businesses that are bearing the brunt of the power crisis.
The Director of Public Relations and External Affairs at the PURC, Nana Yaa Jantuah, who made this known at a consultative forum for SMEs drawn from Accra, Tema and parts of the Eastern Region on the severity of the power crisis on their businesses, explained that the move had become necessary to ensure that businesses in the informal sector remained competitive.
Representatives of printers, barbers, hairdressers, tailors and seamstresses, welders and auto electrical associations attended the programme.
"We have come to realise that the increasing long hours of outages were having dire consequences on the growth of businesses in the informal sector,” Ms Jantuah said.
Commercial installations
Ms Jantuah said the PURC had also engaged the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to conduct a load audit of new installations that were vastly springing up in the Airport Enclave in Accra.
"Such facilities, owing to their commercial nature, could be made to connect elevators only to the national grid, while other power needs are derived from solar in order to reduce the heavy load capacity in Accra,” She added.
Participants
The participants were livid that while the situation was affecting their capital, in some cases it had caused them to lose their businesses to competitors in Togo and Côte d'Ivoire.
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Providers
Representatives of the ECG, Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Volta River Authority (VRA), who were also in attendance, appealed to consumers to conserve power.
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