Energy & Utilities
From The Report: Ghana 2018
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Ghana’s wealth and potential of hydrocarbons resources have helped it leverage a spike in headline GDP growth and inbound investment. However, in recent years the economy has suffered alongside other oil-producing nations, as global prices have declined in tandem with reduced demand. With continued exploration and new projects coming on-line, the country has its eyes on increased oil production for local use and export to jump-start the economy. Accra remains an attractive base of operations for international oil and gas companies given its affordability, security and accessibility. Ghana’s energy consumption continues to expand, underlining the urgency of boosting generation capacity and access to power.

This chapter includes interviews with Jonathan Amoako-Baah, CEO, Ghana Grid Company; and Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, Acting CEO, Volta River Authority.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Tapping assets: Higher production for export and local use to reinvigorate growth
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Large quantities of commercially viable oil were first discovered in Ghana in 2007. With production starting in 2011, the wealth and potential of these resources has helped the country leverage a spike in headline GDP growth and inbound investment. However, in recent years the economy has suffered alongside other oil-producing nations as global prices have declined in tandem with reduced demand, particularly from historically large markets like China. Still, with continued exploration, the…

Analysis

Ready to go: New offshore exploration and production projects to ramp up following border case settlement
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Since product output began in August 2016, the offshore Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) field had already produced some 800,000 barrels of oil by late 2017. Extraction efforts are expected to bring about substantial growth in the oil and gas sector in the coming years. “With the positive results for Ghana from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) ruling and hopefully a further improvement in global oil prices, we expect increased exploration activity in Ghana,”…

Analysis

In the pipeline: Local natural gas to fuel new thermal power generation projects
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With local output fuelling new thermal power generation projects, natural gas production and distribution is crucial to efforts to reduce power shortages. As projected in the 2015 Gas Master Plan and the 2016 energy outlook published by the Energy Commission, power provision is expected to constitute over 80% of total gas demand from 2015 to 2040. To support the processing and transportation of new supplies from gas reserves, infrastructure developments are continuing under the supervision…

Interview

Transmitting optimism: Jonathan Amoako-Baah, CEO, Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), on the prospects and challenges in transmission and distribution
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Interview: Jonathan Amoako-Baah In your opinion, what role would Ghana play in a subregional electricity market? JONATHAN AMOAKO-BAAH: The country is a member of the rapidly expanding West African Power Pool (WAPP) and is well positioned to be a major participant in the subregional electricity market. However, the level of interconnection with key players such as Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Togo, present potential challenges that need to be addressed through collaboration and contractual…

Overview

Building reliability: Key initiatives boost the provision of energy, water and sanitation
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With a population of 27.4m people growing a rate of 2.3% per year, the provision of reliable electricity and clean water has become a main focus for Ghana. The government has made strides in the past decade, particularly in achieving UN Millennium Development Goals related to increased water access, but ensuring consistent service delivery for utilities remains a vital gap to fill. While the state has prioritised the construction of new generation projects, public and private sector stakeholders…

Interview

Building capacity: Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, Acting CEO, Volta River Authority (VRA), on creating a transparent and stable operating environment in the power sector
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Interview:Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa How would you assess the current state of power generation in the country? EMMANUEL ANTWI-DARKWA: A couple of years ago Ghana faced some difficulties, particularly regarding stability and reliability of electricity supply. There are, however, positive indications of progress: over the last 10 months we have witnessed improved stability in the sector and blackouts are no longer the norm. Our ability to deliver to the public has been consistent, but a variety…

Analysis

Private players: Independent producers set to have an increasingly important role
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The participation of independent power producers (IPPs) in Ghana has continued to grow since the thermal Takoradi Power Station was first built in Aboadze in 2004. Indeed, IPPs are quickly catching up to public generation in terms of capacity. As of October 2017, the power capacity that is provided by IPPs and non-state-run power plants in Ghana stands at 1925 MW, compared to 2456 MW of installed capacity at the state-backed primary electricity generation utility Volta River Authority (VRA).…