Opportunities and challenges in Ghana's renewable energy sector

Abstract

Abstract The use of renewable energy as a substitute for fossil fuels has several advantages. For a long time, the growth of Ghana’s renewable energy industry has been a priority for both the past and present governments. Currently, the economic growth of Ghana has not been impressive and the country is entrenched in an energy crisis. Despite the country’s achieving an electrification rate of 80%, still 60% of the rural population have no connection to the electricity service. The review gives an overview of the current energy scenario in Ghana and analyses its potential effects, benefits, and barriers to the expansion of renewable energy sources in the country. The results show that the Ghana Government has established its energy sector based on the definition of the key targets in line with the world trend. Ghana is equipped with a vast quantity of renewable energy potentials which include hydropower, solar, wind, and bioenergy. Even though it is critical to invest in the renewable energy industry, the growth of the sustainable energy sector has been hindered by certain factors such as; insufficient technological knowledge, lack of enough experience in developing sustainable energy and socio-cultural and human barriers.

Keywords

• Ghana
• Renewable energy
• Biomass
• Wind
• Solar