The Africa Centre for Digital Transformation (ACDT) has called on the Ghanaian government to take immediate action to ensure a stable power supply. This is to support the introduction of 5G mobile broadband services.
The plan is to roll out 5G services in the country from fall 2024. The necessary license was awarded to the Next-Gen Infrastructure Company for this purpose. The plan is to provide comprehensive network coverage by 2030 and offer users affordable services.
The ACDT pointed out that 5G was developed to support fast network speeds for the Internet of Things (IoT), including medical devices. For this to happen, it is imperative that the government tackles the energy crisis so that plans can be successfully implemented. The power requirements of the new 5G standard are around 70% higher than for the previous 2G, 3G and 4G standards.
According to Kwesi Atuahene, Executive Director of ACDT, there is an urgent need to improve the electricity infrastructure in order to increase the reliability of supply and prevent power outages. Against this backdrop, the promotion of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy would be particularly important in order to supplement electricity production at the Akosombo Dam, which currently supplies the majority of the electricity.
Following the electricity crisis in 2006/2007, which was triggered by a severe drought, efforts were made to expand the electricity generation capacity of hydro, oil and gas power plants. In 2007, there were even discussions about building a nuclear power plant with a capacity of 400 MW by 2018, but this did not happen. Nigerian natural gas, which is to be supplied via the West African gas pipeline, is to be used to supply the gas-fired power plants. However, the supply of gas is not guaranteed, with supply lines in Nigeria repeatedly breaking down. For example, the 560 MW Sunon Asogli gas-fired power plant built by Chinese investors (1st stage with 200 MW capacity completed in 2009; 2nd stage under construction) has not yet been commissioned as planned due to a lack of gas. The use of the company's own offshore gas reserves is also falling short of expectations. Furthermore, the use of fossil energy sources is not a sustainable option due to its massive negative impact on climate change.
Ghana used to export electricity. Due to the strong economic growth of recent years and the above-average level of electrification for Africa, as well as transmission losses in the dilapidated electricity grid, energy demand exceeds production by around 50%.
