Can We Learn From the Germans?

SINCE AUGUST last year, Ghana has been plunged into suffocating energy crisis as a result of low water level at the Akosombo dam.

The crisis has also affected the entire economy that had started to pick up the fallen pieces. As a result, many jobs have been lost as employers themselves battle for the survival of their businesses.

Ever since the crisis begun, there have been several commentaries about the cause of the problem. The NPP and the NDC, as usual, have been trading accusations and counter accusations without coming out with a long term solution to the issue. Unfortunately the private sector, which is being touted as the engine of growth of the economy, is bearing the brunt of the crisis.

As debate over the issue continues, Chronicle will like to draw the government's attention to the strategy that has been adopted by her counterpart in Germany to make energy available all year long. As we reported yesterday, Germany, even though not suffering from any energy crisis at the moment, has adopted a strategy to get the private sector to participate in power generation.

Under the programme, individuals are advised to buy solar panel or wind turbines to power their homes. If the energy generated outstripped the demand, the excess power could be sold to the national electricity company who after buying will feed it into the national grid. The strategy, we are told, has lured the private sector to venture into this type of energy generation thus taking away the pressure for such functions from the government.

Apart from this, most of the government institutions have started generating their power through this method without having to rely on the national electricity company. In fact, the Federal Parliament in Berlin is being powered by solar panels that have been fixed on top of the roofs. Further information we have obtained also indicates that big companies have been advised to produce part of their energy needs through solar and wind turbine technology.

If the unit cost of the energy generated by the companies is on the high side, the government will come in, buy the power, wheel it into the national grid and then sell it back to the company at relatively lower price. The strategy is to make energy available at all times.

Chronicle believes that if this strategy is well packaged and promoted in Ghana we could also be on our way to finding a long-term solution to our energy crisis. Already a section of the media have quoted the President of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr. Oteng Gyasi as saying that his outfit was prepared to pay realistic energy tariffs instead of using the current generators, which have high fuel cost.

We submit that if industries are prepared to pay realistic tariffs, as reportedly stated by their President, then they should also be prepared to invest in solar and wind turbine technology as the Germans are doing to make power available at all times. The incentive here is that the government will buy the power into its energy mix and then sell it back to the company.

We should also note that the proper promotion of this strategy could, as is happening in Germany, lure individuals who have the money in Ghana to also venture into this simple energy production since apart from freeing themselves from any electricity bills from the ECG, they could be earning extra income if the power generated exceeded the demand for the home.

The Chronicle would like to congratulate the mining companies for coming together to buy generators as their contribution to solving the energy problem. We however believe that they could go beyond what they have done if they also adopt the Germans' method. Unlike Germany, Ghana has abundant sunshine almost all year long therefore adopting this strategy should not be a problem.

We are aware that mining companies cannot rely on solar or wind turbines to run the mines but they can still venture into it and then sell the power to the government to increase the energy mix. What we should do if there should be any problem at all is to delegate experts to Germany to study how they are doing theirs.

As we stated earlier, the current energy crisis is running down the economy therefore the right approach should be followed to make sure that the problem is solved once and for all.

Link to allAfrica.com: Ghana: Can We Learn From the Germans? (Page 1 of 1)