20 July 2004
editorial
ENERGY SUPPLY on a constant and reliable basis is one of the most necessary requirements for the growth of business and industry in every modern society.
A regular supply of energy not only assures that production by industrial concerns is maintained and increased with demand, it also enables entrepreneurs and industrialists to plan properly for their future.
Without this, industrial production becomes scientifically impossible and investors intending to set up businesses are turned away.
Modern technological production techniques demand a constant source of energy supply. Indeed, this was what informed our first president. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, to go to all lengths to build the Akosombo Dam for the regular supply of electric energy to the industrial port of Tema which was intended to be the nation's industrial heartland that would propel it into the industrial age.
As far back as the 60s, Nkrumah went further by setting up the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission whose remit included planning for a nuclear power plant to produce cheap energy to feed our anticipated industrial and domestic energy requirements as the country grew and developed. Ghana, it was hoped, would be developed into the sub-regional industrial base to serve all the land-locked countries in the West Africa sub-region.
Currently, it has increasingly become obvious that our energy requirements have outgrown our local energy production capacity.
The Akosombo and Kpong hydro plants alone are not enough to satisfy growing industrial and domestic demand for electric energy.
The Aboadze Thermal Plant which came on stream to supplement the dwindling supplies from hydro-electric sources has not significantly improved our energy supply needs and it has become glaring that extra energy production sources are needed if this country is to meet the requirements of the "golden age of business."
The Chronicle is thus happy that the Energy Commission has disclosed that a policy document to allow the establishment of a Wholesale Power Supply Market (WPSM) would soon be tabled before Parliament for approval.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Energy Commission are envisaging that by 2005, at the latest, the policy document would have been passed to set the stage for the WPSM, which basically brings in private participation in energy generation to commence.
When such a scenario comes into play, we are confident that the checquered history of poor energy supply in the nation would come to an end. Already, many consumers, both domestic and industrial, complain about the on-today, off-tomorrow nature of electricity supply. This has brought much hardship to industrialists and domestic consumers who have had supply disruptions destroying many carefully-planned strategies.
Energy experts claim that the WSPM regime would ensure that electric energy demands all over the country would be met at competitive prices and that regulations would impact significantly on the way business of power generation is conducted in the country.
We hope, however, that the PURC and Energy Commission would create conditions that would attract significant private sector participation and investment in the various segments of the electricity supply chain since such a situation would also bring transparency and accountability into the system.
At a recent conference organized by Events and Project International Limited and the Ghana Chamber of Commerce on the theme: "Integrating Mining into the Economies of West African States: Pooling Power Generation Resources", President Kufuor, in a speech read on his behalf by the Senior Minister, Mr. J.H. Mensah, called for new investments in electricity generation in the country to boost industrial development.
Experts estimate that by 2012, which is less than a decade from now, the country's power needs would increase by at least 64 % and this is only a conservative estimate. If we do not put into place viable strategies that can boost our energy production now, we shall have a very serious situation on our hands that can only diminish our industrial capacity.
The Chronicle calls on the government to also actively pursue the nuclear plant option for producing cheap electricity so that our future needs can be adequately met.
There is no time to lose.
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