President Akufo-Addo has stated that his administration will pay particular attention to solar energy.
Speaking at the inaugural Session of the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance held at the shtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre, Rashtrapati Bhawan, Raisina Hills, New Delhi, India, President Akufo-Addo said even though Ghana is one of the countries located in between the tropic of cancer and the tropic of Capricorn, it has not been able to make use of its all year round sunshine to generate power to meet both domestic and industry power needs.
“Ghana is located around the equatorial sun belt with many parts of the country enjoying high levels of Solar radiation all year round. She is endowed with abundant Solar resource which can be exploited to increase significantly the contribution of renewable energy in the country’s power generation mix”, the President said. “It is unfortunate that despite the abundance of sunshine, our energy me x comprises 59% fossil fuels, 40% hydro and only 1% Solar”.
Whats The Plan Forward
In line with Sustainable Development Goal 13, which urges the world to take urgent action to combat climate change and it’s impact, the President indicated that government has alined four major Solar Energy programmes for implementation by 2030. “The first is the attachment of electricity utility scales from about 22.5 Mega watts to 250 Mega watts. The second is scaling up the installation of 200,000 Solar panels for household, commercial and Government facilities in urban and selected non electrified communities. The third is the establishment of 55 mili-grid electrification systems with an average capacity of 100 Kilowatts and finally the deployment of 2 million solar Lanterns to replace kerosene Lanterns currently being used by our rural non electrified households”.
The International Solar Alliance
The International Solar Alliance (ISA) initiative was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on 30 November 2015 by Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande. The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource rich countries to address their special energy needs and will provide a platform to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.
Establishment of ISA
The Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi and former French President Francois Holldande jointly laid the foundation stone of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Headquarters and inaugurated the interim Secretariat of the ISA in National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE), Gurugram, Haryana on 25th January, 2016. Launching the Secretariat, Prime Minister of India stated that the ISA as a potent tool for mutual cooperation among the member countries for mutual gains through enhances solar energy utilization.
The International Steering Committee (ISC) of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), open to all 121 prospective member countries of the ISA held its meetings in Paris (1 Dec 2015), Abu Dhabi (18 Jan 2016), New York (22 April 2016), New Delhi (4 Oct 2016), and again in New Delhi (26 Sept 2017). At the 4th ISC meeting in New Delhi, the draft Framework Agreement on establishment of the ISA was circulated among the prospective member countries. Prospective ISA countries. The finalized ISA Framework Agreement, which seeks to establish ISA as a treaty-based organization was opened for signature at the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-22) in Marrakech, Morocco from 7-18 November 2016.
Who Has Signed the ISA Framework Agreement
To date, a total of 56 countries including Australia, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Chad, Chile, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Djibouti, Dominican, Republic, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, France, Gambia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, India, Kiribati, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Peru, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Togo, Tonga, Tuvalu, UAE, Uganda, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Yemen have signed the ISA Framework Agreement.
ISA Ratifications So Far
The ISA Framework Agreement (FA) requires that at least 15 countries ratify the ISA FA for the ISA to become a legal entity. The 15th ratification instrument was deposited on 6 Nov 2017 and the ISA became a legal entity on 6 Dec 2017 (30 days after the 15th ratification instrument was deposited with the Ministry of External Affairs, Government . of India – the Depository for the ISA). To date, a total of 26 countries [Australia, Bangladesh, Comoros, Cuba, Fiji, France, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guyana, India, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Nauru, Niger, Peru, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Togo, Tuvalu, and Uganda] have ratified the ISA Framework Agreement.
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/Wilberforce Asare
