[ 2015-08-05 ]

Ghanaians To Pay More For Power – John Jinapor
A Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor has hinted
that Ghanaians will have to pay more for energy
supply when the power barges government is
importing arrive and begin functioning fully.

The emergency power barges government promised to
ease the power crisis will arrive in Ghana in
September 2015, the company building the barges,
Karpowership Company limited has said.

The two barges are expected to supply the country
with 450 megawatts of power to augment current
generation capacity.

The Deputy Power Minister called for bipartisan
solutions to the nation’s erratic power supply.

John Jinapor was speaking at the opening of the
29th Biennial Annual Conference of the Ghana
Science Association at the Tamale City campus of
the University for Development Studies.

The three days conference was on the theme,
“Harnessing the alternative sources of energy
for national development: Science and Technology
to the rescue.”

The conference brought together Scientists, Non
Governmental Organizations, policy makers, energy
supply institutions, traditional rulers, students
and some members of the Parliamentary Select
Committees on Power, Energy, Environment, Science,
Technology and Innovation.

The Deputy Power Minister, John Jinapor said hydro
energy production was very expensive for which
reason government will encourage
Private-Public-Partnership for sustainable,
reliable and adequate power supply.

He admitted that the nation’s erratic power
supply known popularly as “Dumsor” had
adversely affected productivity in every facet of
the nation’s economy.

According to him, the nation eventually exhausted
her hydro potentials and that government
considered exploring coal and nuclear as
alternative power sources.

The UDS Vice Chancellor, Professor Haruna Yakubu
implied that Ghanaian Scientists have done the
nation disservice in the wake of the energy
crisis.

He therefore tasked them to shift from the
paradigm of academic to technological research.

This in the estimation of Professor Haruna Yakubu
could assist government to provide reliable and
sustainable power alternatives to mitigate the
nation’s energy crisis.

“I entreat us all to use this conference to
seriously delve into the root cause of the energy
crisis and offer meaningful alternative solutions
as the theme suggest.”
He said the energy sector required long term
planning and financing and thus challenged
government to go the extra mile and fix the
problem.

“It is not about VRA versus thermal plants or
for that matter diesel generator versus solar: it
is about Ghana having an energy mix that will
serve the nation appropriately.”

He added, “We are all aware that there is
nothing more important and needed by government
and industry than reliable power at this time in
our history: over the past two years the power
crisis affecting Ghana has in no small way turned
the clock of development backward.”
“I am convinced that the crisis on the
performance of industry coupled with virtually no
employment generated for the youth within the same
period has significantly contributed to the
economic challenges facing our nation,”
Professor Yakubu bemoaned.

He commended government for establishing the
Navrongo solar power system which he noted was
yielding desired results.

“The Scientific community should assess the cost
benefit of this undertaking so far and advise
accordingly: I am certain that if this is done and
done well similar projects could be promoted in
several towns around the country.”

Professor Haruna Yakubu pleaded with the
participants to dispassionately discuss the issues
at hand.

“Significant recommendations made in the past by
the GSA conferences have benefitted the country
and made varied impacts: these recommendations
were found useful in the formulation and
implementation of policies and also in the
establishment of relevant national
institutions.”

Honorary National President of the Ghana Science
Association (GSA), Professor Herbert K. Dei
attributed the nation’s energy problem to
over-reliance on hydro energy.

“For more than a decade the country has been
grappling with intermittent power supply which has
given cause for great concern regarding the state
of the country’s energy sector: the power
situation has worsened to the extent that
businesses and industries are finding it difficult
to keep afloat with consequent negative impact on
the economy of the country and this situation has
arisen largely because of our over-dependence on
hydro-power.”

He gave the assurance that the association at the
end of the conference will offer workable
recommendations to help resolve the energy
crisis.

“We believe that implementation of the
recommendations that will be contained in our
communiqué at the end of the conference by
government and other stakeholders in the energy
sector will go a long way in providing lasting
solutions to the current energy crisis.”

Director General of the Council for Scientific and
Industrial Research (CSIR), Dr. Victor Agyemang
complained about successive government’s apathy
towards investing in Science and Research.

He impressed upon policy makers to consider the
sector as a major priority.

Dr. Agyemang lamented, “The entire nation as we
are all aware is saddled with a serious energy
crisis which poses precarious challenges to the
productivity and growth of our local industries in
Ghana and also has implications for other sectors
of the Ghanaian economy.”
He urged the Ghana Science Association to lead the
crusade in promoting engineering and energy
research.

“This occasion presents us with a unique
opportunity as a scientific and learned
association to review the performance of the
current sources of energy available to the nation:
take stock of the trend of the generation mix,
provide solutions to consolidate and improve
existing energy supply systems and develop both
short and long term strategies towards generation
of alternative sources of energy.”

Source - Citifmonline

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