Villages, towns and communities are gradually substituting
the use of wood fuel with electricity, according to the Deputy Minister of
Energy, William Owuraku Aidoo.
This, he says, is the impact of grid expansion works
carried out under the Ghana Energy Development and Access Project (GEDAP) as well
as the Productive Uses of Electricity (PUE) activities initiated by the government.
“I am happy to note that the project has also assisted
this transition to a low-carbon economy through the development of renewable
energy for the expansion of access to electricity, where economically justified,”
he said at the launch of the GEDAP in Kumasi.
Wood fuel is a very important energy source for
Ghanaian, especially in rural households who depend on it for cooking and for
small-scale processing activities.
With an annual consumption of wood fuel estimated at
16million m3, forests and wildlife are under stress of illegal logging,
charcoal burning, wildfire and unsustainable farming activities.
These have climate change impacts that lead to the
drying up of water bodies, land degradation and other environmental devastation.
Mr. Owuraku Aidoo says the GEDAP has the global
environmental objective of supporting Ghana’s transition to a low carbon
economy through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
He noted the four project objectives of the project
has significantly been met, including electricity access and renewable energy
development, sector and institutional development, distribution improvement,
and transmission system upgrade.
The Project’s development objective is to improve
the operational efficiency of the electricity distribution system and increase
the population’s access to electricity.
Implementation of the $210million project funded under
the Global Environmental Facility started in 2007 and ends in 2019.
By Kofi Adu Domfeh
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