- Ghana should have a nuclear energy power plant by 2018, the Accra cabinet has decided. Current hydro and thermal power sources have proven insufficient to meet Ghana's growing energy needs. Also the building of solar plants is being explored.
Ghanaian Communication Minister Benjamin Aggrey-Ntim yesterday announced that cabinet had agreed that the West African country should have a "nuclear energy power plant by 2018 to produce 400 megawatts of electricity in addition to the hydro and thermal sources."
The announcement comes after Energy Minister Felix Owusu-Adjapong last week had told parliament he would be looking for alternative energy sources. The Minister emphasised that nuclear energy by now was not as dangerous as it had used to be. He held that nuclear energy would be the most feasible addition to Ghana's current power sources.
Ask about his views on solar energy, Minister Owusu-Adjapong said his authority was exploring into this possibility. He however noted that solar power plants were an expensive alternative, especially when it came to meeting the needs of energy provision in Africa. It would be very difficult for Ghana to rely mostly on solar energy, he held.
Ghana traditionally has been a large producer of hydro-power, mostly based on a vast dam on the Volta River. While Ghana historically was exporting power, during the last decade electricity production has become insufficient. A growing amount of power outages started to threaten Ghana's economic development. Lately, the situation has eased with the pipelined import of fossil fuels from Nigeria.
But popular pressure is still up on the government to improve power supplies. Communication Minister Aggrey-Ntim therefore made references to Ghana's "energy crisis" and the need for more alternative energy sources. He also noted that only "ignorance" was causing continued fear for nuclear energy.
As a first step towards nuclear energy production in Ghana, members of the country's Atomic Energy Commission had participated in technical courses held by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), along with participants from 14 other African countries considering the possibility of building nuclear power plants. Minister Aggrey-Ntim commended the IAEA for "the crucial role it is playing in promoting nuclear science and technology in Ghana and Africa."
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