The discovery of vast natural gas deposits in Ghana is a positive development, but nuclear power should also be considered to combat the countrys long-term energy needs
The projection by the government of Ghana to increase power supply by 2015 due to the discovery of huge deposits of natural gas at the Jubilee Offshore Oil Field is welcome news. It must also be remembered, however, that this resource is finite and therefore a better alternative power source is needed to act as a long lasting complement. This source could come in the form of nuclear power.
Ghana’s Vice President, John Dramani Mahama, recently announced that the country will increase power generation to ensure a reliable power supply and become a net exporter of power in the West Africa sub-region by 2015. Solar and biomass were other sources of energy mentioned by the Vice President to be explored but he remained silent regarding nuclear energy.
Nuclear energy originates from the splitting of uranium atoms in a process called fission. At the power plant, the fission process is used to generate heat for producing steam, which is used by a turbine to generate electricity.
Ghana’s electricity consumption has been growing at 10 to 15 per cent per annum for the last two decades and it has been projected that the average demand growth over the next decade will be about six per cent per year. According to energy experts, electricity accounts for about 11 per cent of the nation’s final energy consumption and with a customer base of approximately one to four million, it has been estimated that 45-47 per cent of Ghanaians, including 15-17 per cent of the rural population, have access to grid electricity, with a per capita electricity consumption of 358 KWh. All the regional capitals have been connected to the grid. Electricity usage in the rural areas is estimated to be higher in the coastal (27 per cent) and forest (19 per cent) ecological zones than in the savannah (4.3 per cent) areas of the country.
It is a positive idea for the government of Ghana to resolve to diversify the power sector away from a complete reliance on hydroelectric power towards thermal fuel sources. The hydroelectric power plants at Akosombo and Kpong all in the Eastern Region, which over the years have been the main source of power generation in the country, are prone to seasonal variations in water levels creating periods of severe electricity crisis like the experiences the country went through in 1983, 1993, 1980, 1999 and 2006-2007.
These difficult periods, according to experts, enabled the nation’s major power house, Volta River Authority (VRA) in 1997 to build a number of diesel and crude oil – fired thermal plants to meet peak power demand and to provide backup in the event of occasional shortfalls in hydroelectric power. But thermal power generation has proven to be expensive in Ghana with the high price of crude oil on world markets. Using the under-construction Ghana Gas Plant in Takoradi in the Western Region to help increase megawatts of electricity is laudable but policymakers must complement the gas factor with sustainable nuclear power.
Some energy experts are playing down the idea of nuclear power saying that it is unreasonable to delve into nuclear at this material time since the country has discovered huge deposits of natural gas. But it is important to remember that the country’s long-term energy needs require planning properly for the future and assessing options so as to avoid being taken by surprise by events.
Abhorrence of nuclear power stems from certain disasters associated with it in the past for some, one example being the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear energy disaster in Japan, but Professor Edward Akaho, Executive Director of Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC) noted that nuclear energy is a proven technology, being used by many different countries over 50 years and that its accompanying allied technologies have the potential to promote economic development in the country.
In 2007 when Ghana experienced an energy crisis, the then President John Kufuor inaugurated a Nuclear Power Committee whose responsibility was to prepare pre-feasibility studies on the country’s chances of expanding its power generation by including nuclear energy. The committee, which was chaired by Professor Daniel Adjei Bekoe, former chairman of the Council of States under the Kufuor’s administration, presented to the government after nearly five months a roadmap for adopting nuclear power by 2018.
No mention has been made of this nuclear power roadmap since and the overriding focus is now on the country’s gas resources, with the government prepared to tap it to the fullest for the country’s power requirements as well as for the petrochemical industry.
As pointed out by Prof. Akaho, in the early part of 2011 in an interview with Public Agenda a privately-owned weekly newspaper, “Atomic energy experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are expected in the country soon to discuss the location characteristics of the proposed Ghana nuclear electricity plant, and the visit will provide a further boost to the country’s agenda to explore nuclear energy for electricity generation by 2018 to augment the existing source of power generation in the country.”
The IAEA, the world’s regulatory body responsible for nuclear and atomic energy activities, promotes the safe, secure and peaceful uses of nuclear technologies. With regard to the implementation of the roadmap that will lead to Ghana producing nuclear electricity by 2018, there is little left for the experts to do for now; what remains is a sustained political will to carry the project through.
Now that Ghana is producing oil and gas in commercial quantities, the economy will definitely be expanding. Coupled with a growing population, it is automatic that the country will be facing major challenges in providing the required energy in a reliable and sustainable manner.
Public Agenda again reports, “The peak demand for power for the domestic market is projected to 3,000MW and 4,000MW in 2015 and 2020 respectively. The existing installed capacity for electricity generation is 2,044MW made up of 58 per cent hydro, 37 per cent thermal plants and five per cent diesel generators.
“The capacity would have to double by 2020 in order to meet the peak power demand, and available renewable energy resources other than hydro can at best provide 10 per cent of the national demand at competitive prices by 2020. The total available hydro power potential, including the under developed sites, could only continue up to 44 per cent of total demand by 2020.
“Some 30 countries around the world, including South Africa, Brazil and Mexico, generate electricity through 440 nuclear plants. Nigeria has also identified four locations for its future nuclear electricity plant.”
It could be argued, therefore, that it is time Ghana Government considered the nuclear power idea and began to implement what is in the roadmap before it is too late, and a situation arises that costs the nation a lot of money to execute.
By Emmanuel Yartey
