Dr. Bawumia Pledges To Increase Solar Power by 2,000 Megawatts

Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that the next New Patriotic Party (NPP) government will add at least 2,000 megawatts of solar power to Ghana’s energy mix in the next four years.

According to the NPP’s flagbearer, businesses in Ghana are increasingly uncompetitive due to the high cost of electricity which he said depends largely on forex rates and the cost of petroleum on the international market.

Addressing the clergy in the Volta Region, Dr Bawumia said the exposure of Ghana’s energy mix to world crude prices and foreign exchange fluctuations increases the cost of living for the average Ghanaian and renders businesses uncompetitive.

He said he envisions vigorously pursuing solar power in the next four years to help alleviate the harsh fuel prices levied on Ghanaians and businesses.

“To reduce the cost of living is to look at our power generation. Ghana currently relies a lot on oil and gas to generate power and if you look at their [oil and gas] costs, they are quite high so anytime the prices move up in the Middle East, fuel, electricity, and transport prices also move up and so I want us to move away from oil and gas to solar power. It is the key for us in the generation of electricity.

“My goal and the goal that I have stated is that in the next four years, Ghana should add 2,000 megawatts of solar power to the generation of power and that is more than half of our consumption of electricity and so combine that with Akosombo and you would nearly reduce the cost of power by nearly 50 per cent and that will give our businesses a competitive advantage.”