Renewable energy challenges and opportunities. The prospect of adopting a new policy and legal paradigm in Ghana

Abstract

Global consumption of fossil fuels has wreaked havoc on the environment through anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Meeting the ever-increasing demand for energy and limiting its impact on the environment are the two intertwined issues that confront the world. Against this backdrop, national and international stakeholders have been called to transition to renewable energy (RE) to provide energy security and stem climate change. As such, governments around the world have been formulating legal and policy frameworks to encourage the deployment of RE along with technological innovations. However, poor legal frameworks and policies, insufficient financial support, and incentives have rendered the adoption of RE technologies, especially in developing countries, woefully inadequate and Ghana is no exception. In Ghana, various legal and policy frameworks have been deployed for the development of hydro and non-hydro RE. However, the contribution of non-hydro RE (solar and wind) to the country's electricity generation mix is paltry due to various challenges. The research uses desktop analysis, empirical research, and comparative analysis to critically examine the existing Renewable Energy Act, 2011 (Act 832) and policies on RE in Ghana to ascertain the extent to which they effectively address energy security challenges. The results reveal many challenges as follows: a general poor implementation of the provisions of the Act, poor funding, obsolete grid network, transmission and distribution losses, and bureaucratic processes in licence acquisition to be responsible for the paltry diffusion of non-hydro RE in Ghana whose share was 0.3% in 2020. The research recommends that the government of Ghana (GoG) reviews the existing Renewable Energy Act, policies, and regulatory frameworks currently in operation to address deployment constraints. The thesis concludes by calling on the GoG to focus on specific legal and policy frameworks that would promote solar photovoltaic deployment as the country is endowed with abundant solar energy.