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International Journal of Engineering & Technology IJET-IJENS Vol:14 No:06 14
142606-5757-IJET-IJENS © December 2014 IJENS I J E N S
A Greener Future for Ghana – Drawing from the
Successes of Other Countries in The Case of Wind
Energy
Emmanuel Yeboah Osei1, 2, Joseph Xavier Francisco Ribeiro1, Barbara Caroline Kwofi3
1Mechanical Engineering Department, Kumasi Polytechnic, P. O. Box 854, Kumasi, Ghana
2The Energy Center, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, UPO, Private Mail Bag, Kumasi, Ghana
3Environmental Engineering Group, P. O. Box, TA 124, Old-Tafo, Kumasi, Ghana
Abstract-- Wind Energy has become one major renewable
energy resource being harnessed to produce electrical energy.
Countries who have achieved success include China, Germany,
USA, Spain, India, Egypt, Morocco, etc. Plans are afoot in many
countries to make increases in current levels of electricity
production from wind. Actual wind speed measurements made
on the ground in the past at several locations show some promise
in Ghana. Ghana as a country has the capacity to generate large-
scale power from wind, and as such, deliberate efforts should be
made to tackle the country’s energy problems partly with wind
energy by installing and gradually increasing wind power supply
capacity. This paper reviews and integrates the scattered past
and present wind power-related activities in Ghana and brings
them under one roof. This paper again identifies some lessons
from the activities of the global top 5 successful countries which
provide a rich mine of information for policy makers and
stakeholders in the energy sector of Ghana. A technical
perspective on the way forward for Ghana’s energy future is also
presented in this paper.
Index Term-- Wind energy, Ghana wind policy, Renewable
energy law.
1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1.1 Introduction
Energy is a necessity in human lives and essential for
improved living standards and the economic development of
nations (WEC, 2000). The level of development and GDP
growth of any particular nation has been directly related to its
energy consumption (WEC, 2000) (IEA, 2009). As different
countries, especially third world countries, seek further
economic development, much more energy would have to be
produced for consumption and utility (IEA, 2009). The tilt
towards clean and renewable sources of energy currently is
and will continue to be the focus of the future due to the fact
that they provide energy with little or zero emissions of
greenhouse gases and other air pollutants unlike other
conventional fossil sources (IPCC, 2011). Clean energy
resources including solar and wind are freely available and
can provide complete energy security if their technologies are
well established (REN21, 2008) (Moomaw et al., 2011).
The global wind energy industry has recorded
substantial growth in recent times as a result of advances in
technology and policy, and is ready for further expansion as
the world looks for cleaner and more sustainable ways to
generate electricity (Kollu et al., 2012). From the year 2000
through 2009, about 11% of all global newly installed net
electric capacity additions came from new wind power plants
(Wiser et al., 2011). During 2011, about 40 GW of wind
power capacity was put into operation, increasing global wind
capacity by 20% to approximately 238 GW (REN21, 2012).
Several countries including Denmark, Germany, and Spain
generate significant portions of their national power from
wind energy (GWEC, 2009) (GWEC, 2011) (MEGAVIND,
2012). Other countries like China, USA, India, UK, and
Canada also have several thousand megawatts installed wind
power capacity as part of their national power generations
(GWEC, 2012). These are success stories that countries with
good wind resources could learn from.
The national energy demand in Ghana, 6,900 GWh in
the year 2000, has been predicted to increase by about 248%
by the year 2020 (EC, 2006). This substantial increase in
energy demand will have to be supported by adequate power
supply for sustainable economic growth. Wind energy remains
widely untapped in Ghana despite the potential. This has been
largely due to lack of widespread and extensive long-term
wind data and the absence of a legal framework in the past to
wholistically govern or regulate wind power development
within the country. Currently, a renewable energy law has
been passed (Act 832 of 2011) to provide some framework
and guidelines for renewable energy development within the
country - wind inclusive. This law will remain on paper if
some other necessary commensurate technical activities are
not looked at. Some scattered and short-term studies in the
past show relatively good wind resource at particular locations
within Ghana. (Akuffo et al., 2003) shows sites with annual
average wind speeds in the range of 4.8 to 5.5 m/s at 12 m
a.g.l. along the coast of Ghana. Satellite data measurements
also show much more potential at several other places within
Ghana and offshore (NREL, 2004). This paper reviews and
consolidates all the various wind power-related activities in
Ghana and presents a different perspective on how the country
could develop her wind resources, drawing from the
experiences of successful nations mainly in terms of energy
policy, wind power research and capacity building, and project
implementation. The motivation, detailed objectives, and
scope of this study are explained in subsequent sections.
International Journal of Engineering & Technology IJET-IJENS Vol:14 No:06 15
142606-5757-IJET-IJENS © December 2014 IJENS I J E N S
1.2 Problem statement
Ghana as a country keeps suffering from a recurring
cycle of national power crisis mainly attributed to inadequate
power generation to meet the continually increasing demand.
As the country seeks economic development, increase in
electricity demand is inevitable, and more generation will be
needed to fuel old and emerging industries. The current power
generation portfolio of the country is made mainly of a
combination of hydro and thermal power plants, and for some
time now, any short-term increase in generation has been
made by the addition of new thermal power plants that either
run on crude oil or natural gas despite the periodic
unavailability of these fossil fuels. The seasonal reduction of
water inflows into the hydro power stations, coupled with
occasional difficulties in procuring crude oil or natural gas,
plunges the country into a continuous cycle of power rationing
with far-reaching negative implications for industry and
households.
Wind resource is available within Ghana but studies
on resource assessment in the past have been short-term,
uncoordinated, and mainly restricted to individuals or
graduate-seeking degrees with very little government support.
Other proprietary studies on wind resource in Ghana have
been confined to a handful of foreign agencies/companies that
mostly have problems with long-term continuous ground-
based local data validation. In simple terms, long-term
ground-based coordinated wind data is not available. The
short-term available ground-based data is limited to a few
specific locations, mainly along the coast of Ghana. Again,
various in-country small-scale and individual-level wind
power-related activities have either not been adequately
documented or are scattered in bits and pieces in literature,
some of which still remain unknown. Although the Renewable
Energy Law (Act 832 of 2011) has been passed to partly
address the issue of policy, no clear subsequent direction has
been set to consolidate and adequately document the various
in-country wind-related activities and support or build the
required technical/research capacity to advance a local
Ghanaian wind power industry/technology. Issues related to
wind power in Ghana have been a political confusion and a
public uncertainty with some high-level people not knowing
the details of what work has been done locally at different
levels. Various public institutions that have done some wind-
related work in the past also lack proper or adequate
documentation and this mostly confines or limits the details of
activity to verbal conversation. In this regard, vital
information is lost when certain key relevant people within
these institutions retire or leave. These are problems this
research seeks to address. The objectives and scope of this
paper are explained in the subsequent section.
1.3 Research objectives and scope
The main objective of this paper is to consolidate,
update, and document the various scattered in-country wind-
related activities, and make recommendations to inform and
revolutionize local policy making with regards to some
relevant policies of the top 5 globally successful wind-
powered countries. The specific objectives of this paper are
enumerated below:
a) To review the current global wind power usage.
b) To focus on some relevant policies of the top 5
countries in relation to regulatory framework and
capacity building.
c) To review the current power generation portfolio of
Ghana.
d) To present current updates of wind power potential of
Ghana and various studies that have been done in that
regard by reviewing and bringing together both
scattered pieces of literature and other vital
undocumented information.
e) To provide a technical perspective on the way
forward for Ghana in relation to wind power.
The scope of this research is limited to reviewing and
presenting an update on the various wind power-related
activities in Ghana; and drawing from the experiences of
China, USA, Germany, Spain, and India on how Ghana could
also make use of the available resources to advance into a
large-scale wind powered country.
1.4 Research methodology
This research is conducted to basically review,
update, and document the various wind power-related
activities in Ghana and to make recommendations to evolve
relevant in-country policy decisions with inspiration from the
successes of other leading countries. To accomplish this, trips
were made to various institutions to get first-hand information
on the happenings at their outfit in relation to wind. These
institutions included the Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology, Energy Commission, Wa
Polytechnic, Kumasi Polytechnic, and DENG. Other sources
of local information were from short interviews with some
technical experts from the Ministry of Energy, Centre for
Scientific and Industrial Research, and various other
institutions across the country. Other sources of literature were
also consulted and duly referenced. The global wind power
industry was reviewed with focus on the top 5 countries
(China, USA, Germany, Spain, and India). The policies of
these countries were again reviewed with emphasis on
framework and capacity building. Based on the combined
information, the energy problems of Ghana, the desire for
economic growth, and the pressing need for Ghana to
sustainably generate power, some recommendations were
made from a different technical perspective.
International Journal of Engineering & Technology IJET-IJENS Vol:14 No:06 16
142606-5757-IJET-IJENS © December 2014 IJENS I J E N S
Fig. 1. Global installed wind power capacity (top 10 countries) (GWEC, 2013)
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Global installed wind power capacity
Several countries around the world generate several
thousand megawatts of their national energy from wind
power. Figure 1 shows the installed wind power capacity of
the world’s top ten (10) countries as at the end of the year
2013. From Figure 1, China has the highest installed wind
capacity of over 90,000 MW, followed by USA, Germany,
Spain, India, UK, Italy, France, Canada, with Denmark in the
tenth (10th) position with an installed capacity of a little over
4,500 MW. Some countries with relatively lower installed
wind capacities also actually generate significant proportions
of their national energy from wind power. For instance,
Denmark generated more than 25% of its national energy from
wind power in 2012 and currently leads the world in the share
of wind electricity as a percentage of national supply
(MEGAVIND, 2012) (Sovacool, 2013). Spain on the other
hand generated 15.7% of its national power from wind in 2011
(GWEC, 2011). The gradual addition of installed wind
capacity year after year is what has partly contributed to the
successes of these leading countries (Wiser et al., 2011). Some
African countries are also gradually taking advantage of the
available wind resource. Figure 2 shows the installed wind
power capacity for the top five African countries as at the end
of 2013. From Figure 2, Egypt has the highest installed
capacity of about 550 MW followed by Morocco, Ethiopia,
Tunisia, with Cape Verde in the fifth (5th) position with an
installed capacity of 24 MW.
International Journal of Engineering & Technology IJET-IJENS Vol:14 No:06 17
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Fig. 2. Installed wind capacity for top 5 African Countries (GWEC, 2013)
2.2 Wind energy policies of global top five countries
Wind energy policy and favourable conditions have
played major roles in the successes of all the countries with
major wind power installations. Firm and reliable regulations
have supported the wind power industry in these countries
(Meyer, 2006). Some brief explanations of the policies and
regulations for China, USA, Germany, Spain, and India are
highlighted below in the subsequent sub-sections.
2.2.1 China
Chinese energy policies and regulations have
addressed various issues related to technology, prices,
production costs, infrastructure, and other aspects of the
production process, and these policies have lured wind power
developers to invest in the wind power industry (Wang et al.,
2012) (Wu et al., 2014) (Zhou et al., 2014). As a result of this,
wind power installation growth in China has been enormous
and this growth shows that the policies promoting wind power
development have had a significant impact (Wu et al., 2014).
The development of the first wind power policy commenced
in 1994 when a statement was released to require all power
grids to purchase all electricity generated by wind farms (Liu
and Kokko, 2010). This policy required the price of electricity
supplied to the grid to be set high enough to cover all
necessary costs and included a 15% profit share for the
producer (Liu and Kokko, 2010). In 2003, the Chinese
Government subsequently established a tariff reform program
that guaranteed demand with competition among wind power
operators (Wang et al., 2012). China formulated its Renewable
Energy Law in 2005 and operationalized it in 2006 (Han et al.,
2009) (Yu and Qu, 2010). The law specified priorities and
responsibilities for the development of wind energy (Han et
al., 2009). The law also required that power grid operators
purchase the full amount of wind power generated by
registered producers and further offered financial incentives
from a national fund to foster wind energy development,
discounted lending, and tax preferences for wind energy
projects (Purohit and Purohit, 2009). Several other policies
have been again formulated and issued in China since then.
These include Medium and Long-term Renewable Energy
Development Plan (ML-REDP) published by National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in 2007, the
Eleventh Five-Year Plan on Renewable Energy Development
issued by NDRC in 2008 among others (Wu et al., 2014). The
Renewable Energy Law was subsequently amended in 2010
which further directed the establishment of a dedicated
Renewable Energy Development Fund (REDF) to support
renewable energy construction (NPC, 2009). With these
financial supports and tax breaks, wind power companies have
relatively reduced construction costs and expanded profit
margins.
Capacity building of Chinese indigenous human and
institutional resources also played a major role in the nation’s
wind power capacity boom. The domestic Chinese wind
power industry has been successful in building wind turbine
components and its evolution shows clearly that the turbine
manufacturing firms have built up technical capacity and
consolidated the localized market share (Li, 2010) (Cyranoski,
2009). Research and development related to wind turbine units
in China started in the early 1980s with special focus on grid-
connected small units (less than 200 kW) (Li, 2010) (Zhao et
al., 2014). During this period, some countries including
Germany, Denmark, Spain, etc. provided government loans
and grants to the Chinese government for small-scale wind
power demonstration projects by adopting advanced foreign
technology, and as a result, a number of wind turbines were
successfully built (Li, 2010). The Chinese government further
designed and implemented policies to encourage the local
wind industry to accelerate acquisition of technological know-
how by establishing joint venture firms with experienced
foreign manufacturers such as Vestas and Gamesa (Li, 2010)
(Zhang, 2012). These collaborative initiatives paid off as it
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facilitated the development of native Chinese wind turbine
manufacturing companies. In 2012 alone, 17 domestic
Chinese manufacturers ranked in the local top 20 as against 3
international manufacturers, and these domestic companies
contributed 90.45% to the increased installed wind capacity
while the 3 international manufacturers contributed 7.47% (Jin
et al., 2014). Again in that same year, Sinovel, Goldwind,
Mingyang and United Power, which are Chinese
manufacturers, had grown to become world-renowned wind
turbine brands (Jin et al., 2014).
2.2.2 USA
The success of wind power generation in USA has
been fuelled by good wind resources and favourable state
policies and technology improvements (GWEC, 2012) (Saidur
et al., 2010). Some individual states within the US utilize
policies and programmes designed to create demand for power
generated from renewable sources, including wind, through
mandatorily requiring utility companies to offer some
percentage of such renewable energy to consumers (Portman
et al., 2009). The US established Energy Policy acts in 1992,
2005, and 2007 which revolutionized the country’s energy
sector (Saidur et al., 2010). The Energy Policy Act of 2005
called on federal agencies to increase their proportion of
renewable energy use beginning in 2007 (Portman et al.,
2009). A wind energy production tax credit has been used to
encourage investment in wind generating capacity in the US
(Timilsina et al., 2013) (Sahu et al., 2013). This tax credit
provides an income of $0.022/kWh that is adjusted annually to
counter inflation and is valid for the first ten years of power
production. However, this only applies to large-scale power
installations (Timilsina et al., 2013). There have also been
some positive activities in the last five years in the regional
transmission organizations such as development for new
standard protocols and revisions, new study requirements, etc.,
with special focus on wind energy (Nimmagadda et al, 2014).
The USA has also built local technical capacity in
wind power technology as a result of federal investments in
wind energy research and development, and this has
contributed to their success story (Wiser and Bolinger, 2014)
(Wiener and Koontz, 2012). The expansion of wind generation
in the USA has been accomplished by innovation in wind
turbine design, skills acquisition by the wind and utility
industries, and economics of scale (Saidur, et al., 2010). The
USA government has specifically and consistently allocated
research and development funding to wind turbine technology
development in the past (Lewis and Wiser, 2007) (Harborne
and Hendry, 2009). Additionally, local investments and
support for wind power research and development has led to
the emergence of indigenous US wind turbine manufacturing
companies like General Electric which captured about 90% of
the local market share in 2013, and which also plays a
prominent role in global wind turbine supply (Wiser and
Bolinger, 2014). Other foreign manufacturers such as Vestas,
Siemens, Acciona, Gamesa, etc., had several manufacturing
facilities within the USA as at the end of 2013 which had been
supplying wind turbine components to local projects (Wiser
and Bolinger, 2014). It is important to note that since 2006, an
increasing percentage of wind power equipment within the
USA has been sourced domestically (Wiser and Bolinger,
2014).
2.2.3 Germany
Germany is rated to be the largest wind power
producer in Europe in absolute terms and this is attributable to
strong government support over the years (GWEC, 2010)
(Nicolosi, 2010). Over 20 years ago, the German government
introduced a feed-in-tariff mechanism that guaranteed a
minimum purchase price for electricity from renewable
sources (wind included) entering the national grid (GWEC,
2010) (Popp et al., 2011) (Stegen and Seel, 2013). This was
done with the objective of creating a strong market for
renewable energy and also ensured that wind power generators
were adequately compensated for the energy they produced
(Juárez et al., 2014). Again in the year 2000, Germany
established the Renewable Energy Act (the Erneuerbare
Energien Gesetz, or EEG) which gives wind energy and the
other renewable sources priority access to the grid (Stegen and
Seel, 2013) (Popp et al., 2011). In view of the recent
Fukushima nuclear disaster, the German government has
planned to completely phase out all nuclear power plants by
2022 and increase wind power capacity as well as other
renewable energies to supply 80% of gross national electricity
production by 2050 (Bruninx et al., 2013) (Stegen and Steel,
2013) (Geißler et al., 2013) (Grave et al., 2012). It is
envisaged that this positive decision will continue to aid the
expansion of wind power within the country.
The development of local technological capacity has
aided the growth of the German wind power market (Corsatea,
2014). Wind related research and development within
Germany commenced years ago with local government
support, and over time, this has led to the emergence of a local
wind turbine manufacturing industry which also exports wind
turbines to the international market (Wiesenthal et al., 2012)
(Corsatea, 2014). In 2013 alone, the top 10 global wind
turbine manufacturers had three renowned German companies
(Enercon, Siemens, and Nordex) with global market shares of
9.8%, 7.4%, and 3.3% respectively (REN21, 2014). German
wind farms also utilize significant proportions of the technical
expertise of these indigenous manufacturers (GWEA, 2014).
Positive developments in the German industry have made it
attractive to the international market for investment. For
example, international wind turbine manufacturers like GE
and Vestas that supply equipment to the local market and
other parts of Europe have also set up manufacturing and
assembly facilities within Germany (GWEA, 2014). This has
the potential to further concretise Germany’s position as the
largest wind power producer in Europe.
2.2.4 Spain
Spain has been one of the most successful countries
in the public promotion of wind power. This has, in the past,
earned the country praises from the European Commission for
the effectiveness in its wind power support scheme (González,
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2008). The Spanish wind industry recorded a cumulative
installed capacity increase of over 874% from 2,339 MW in
2000 to 22,785 MW in 2012 (SWEA, 2013). This success in
wind power utilization has been mainly supported by Law
54/1997 and the Royal Decree 661/2007 which established
various incentives for all wind power projects installed before
the year ending 2012 (GWEC, 2011) (NERC, 2009)
(Colmenar-Santos et al., 2015). Law 54/1997 established a
feed-in-tariff system without time limits for wind power and
other renewables which was over the price matched in the
daily electricity market (Colmenar-Santos et al., 2015). The
Royal Decree also subsequently established a feed-in-tariff
system which gave wind power generators the chance to
choose from two main remuneration alternatives – a) a single
tariff for all the electricity fed into the grid; b) the market price
of electricity sold in the daily electricity market plus a
premium (Del Rio, 2008) (Iglesias et al., 2011). In 2011, the
Spanish government adopted the National Renewable Energy
Plan (PER 2011 – 2020) which sets ambitious national targets
for wind energy by the year 2020 (GWEC, 2011). These
targets are to help ensure that Spain has 35 GW of onshore
wind capacity and 750 MW of offshore capacity by 2020 and
additionally ensure that wind meets about 19.5% of national
electricity demand by 2020 (GWEC, 2011).
The Spanish wind industry has also benefited from
local support for wind power related research and
development (Junginger et al., 2005). In addition, wind farms
have been in commercial operation in Spain for over 15 years
(since 1992) (Colmenar-Santos et al., 2015) which is a
considerable stretch of time for the development of wind
technology-related skills. In 2002, the Spanish government set
up the National Renewable Energy Centre which was a
technologically inclined institution specialized in research and
development in renewable energy systems including wind
power (NREC, undated). Their activities have included the
design and optimization of wind turbine components and
aerodynamics, development of advanced control methods for
wind turbine systems, materials development, etc. This has all
helped Spain to build the necessary technical capacity to also
evolve into a global brand for wind turbine systems
manufacturing in addition to the other leading countries. As at
the end of 2013, the global top 10 manufacturers of wind
turbines had one Spanish company (Gamesa) on the list with
5.5% market share (REN21, 2014). Other Spanish
manufacturers include Acciona which has a very good global
reputation.
2.2.5 India
India, the fifth largest global installed wind power
capacity, has also taken various steps to promote wind power
development (Mani and Dhingra, 2013). Local policy support
has been a major key in this regard. India’s interest in utility-
scale wind energy mainly started in 1983 when the Ministry of
Non-Conventional Energy Sources (currently the Ministry of
New and Renewable Energy) started a Wind Energy
Programme under the Government of India which aimed at
wind resource assessment, building demonstration projects,
and creating industry-utility partnerships (Tang et al., 2013)
(Bhattacharya and Jana, 2009). The introduction of the 2003
Electricity Act restructured the Indian electricity industry by
disintegrating the electricity supply utilities in the Indian
States and setting up State Electricity Regulatory
Commissions in charge of setting electricity tariffs (GWEC,
2008). These State Electricity Regulatory Commissions have
established wind-specific preferential feed-in-tariffs and
statewide renewable purchase obligations (GWEC, 2012).
The Indian government has provided support for
technical capacity building for the manufacture, installation,
operation, and maintenance of wind power systems since 1984
by the establishment of various institutions (Mabel and
Fernandez, 2008). The establishment of the now National
Institute of Wind Energy (the former Centre for Wind Energy
Technology in 1998) was a big step in the promotion of Indian
wind power capacity building. This institute was set up by the
Ministry of New and Renewable Energy with the basic aim of
advancing wind power-related research and development. This
has provided the main thrust, making the Indian market
emerge as one of the major manufacturing hubs for wind
turbines in Asia; with about 19 manufacturers producing 50
different wind turbine models per annum with total capacity of
over 10 GW (Chandel et al., 2014). Currently, the global top
10 manufacturers of wind turbines have one indigenous Indian
company (Suzlon) on the list with about 5.3% market share
and a good global reputation (REN21, 2014).
3 GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF GHANA
Ghana is located in West Africa within latitudes 4.0°
N and 12.0° N, and longitudes 4.0° W and 2.0° E. The country
is divided into ten (10) administrative regions namely Upper
West Region, Upper East Region, Northern Region, Brong-
Ahafo Region, Ashanti Region, Eastern Region, Western
Region, Central Region, Greater Accra Region, and Volta
Region. Ghana has boundaries with Burkina Faso to the north,
Cote d’ivoire to the west, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of
Guinea to the south. Figure 3 shows the relative location of
Ghana within Africa. Figure 4 also shows the ten (10)
administrative regions together with other parameters
described in subsequent sections.
Fig. 3. Relative location of Ghana within Africa
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4 STATUS OF WIND ENERGY IN GHANA
4.1 Overview
Wind energy research in Ghana is not new. However,
its exploitation is still at its early stages and has been mainly
confined to resource assessment. Some studies have been
undertaken by public institutions such as Ghana
Meteorological Service Department (MSD) (now the Ghana
Meteorological Agency (GMA)), Ghana Energy Commission
(EC), Wa Polytechnic, and Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology (KNUST), as well as private ones
including NEK Umwelttechnik GmbH of Switzerland, Deng
Limited, Cinergy Global Power Inc. of USA, etc.
Table I
Location of GMA synoptic stations (Source: Adapted from Akuffo et al.,
2003)
Station
Town
Region
Latitude
Longitude
Abetifi
Eastern
6.17° N
0.75° W
Adafoah
Greater
Accra
5.78° N
0.63° E
Akatsi
Volta
6.12° N
0.80° E
Akim Oda
Eastern
5.93° N
0.98° W
Akuse
Eastern
6.10° N
0.12° E
Axim
Western
4.82° N
2.25° W
Bole
Northern
9.03° N
2.48° W
Ho
Volta
6.60° N
0.47° E
Kete Krachi
Volta
7.82° N
0.03° W
Koforidua
Eastern
6.08° N
0.25° W
Kumasi
Ashanti
6.72° N
1.60° W
Navrongo
Upper East
10.90° N
1.10° W
Saltpond
Central
5.20° N
1.07° W
Sefwi Bekwai
Western
6.20° N
2.33° W
Sunyani
Brong-
Ahafo
7.33° N
2.33° W
Takoradi
Western
4.88° N
1.77° W
Tamale
Northern
9.42° N
0.85° W
Tema
Greater
Accra
5.62° N
0.00
Wa
Upper West
10.05° N
2.50° W
Wenchi
Brong-
Ahafo
7.75° N
2.10° W
Yendi
Northern
9.45° N
0.02° W
4.2 Ghana Meteorological Agency
The GMA started taking wind measurements in
Accra with a wind vane in 1921. From 1936, it commenced
recording instantaneous wind speed and direction data at 2 m
a.g.l. mainly for aviation, agricultural, and meteorological
applications. Most of these data were not actually recorded for
later use, since the measurements were instantaneous.
Sometime later, the GMA was equipped to measure and
record low level wind speed data at different synoptic stations
across the ten (10) regions of Ghana. Table I shows the
locations of these synoptic stations and the regions in which
they are located. Figure 4 also shows the geographical
dispersion of the GMA synoptic stations in relation to the ten
(10) administrative regions of Ghana. The Eastern Region had
4 stations which is much more than any other region.
Northern, Western, and Volta Regions had 3 stations each
whiles Brong-Ahafo Region had 2 stations. The Greater Accra
Region also had 2 main stations with a third station with no
data. The Upper West, Upper East, Ashanti, and Central
Regions all had 1 station each. (Akuffo et al., 2003) reports
the annual average wind speed figures for the synoptic stations
at 2 m a.g.l. for the 8 years between 1995 and 2002. These
wind speed values are repackaged in Figure 5. From Figure 5,
Adafoah in the Greater Accra Region recorded the highest
average wind speed value of a little above 3 m/s followed by
Tema of a little above 2.5 m/s. The lowest average figure of
about 1.1 m/s was recorded at Sefwi Bekwai in the Western
Region.
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Fig. 4. Geographical dispersion of the MSD synoptic stations. Map was adapted and modified from (CIA, 2007)
4.3 Cinergy Global Power Inc.
In 1999, the USA company Cinergy Global Power
Inc., signed an agreement with the then Ministry of Mines and
Energy (now Ministry of Energy and Petroleum), to measure
wind speed data at 10 m a.g.l. at Sege (located at latitude 5°
51’ N and longitude 0° 21’ E) in the Greater Accra Region.
The main purpose of this measurement was to explore
availability of potential and viable wind conditions in the area
to support commercial wind farm development. The
exploration concluded that the wind speeds at the Sege site
averaged about 5 m/s per annum.
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Fig. 5. Annual average wind speed values at 2 m a.g.l. for the GMA synoptic stations
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Fig. 6. NEK wind resource map for portions of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana
4.4 NEK Umwelttechnik GmbH
NEK Umwelttechnik GmbH of Switzerland; with
support from Futura Energy AG of Koblenz, Germany; DEG-
Deutsch Investitions-und Entwicklungsgesellschaft GmbH,
Germany; and the then Ministry of Mines and Energy (now
Ministry of Energy and Petroleum) started a wind resource
assessment programme at three main locations namely
Prampram, Ningo, and Ada, all in the Greater Accra Region of
Ghana. This wind measurement exercise took place between
June 1999 and June 2000 with 10 m and 40 m wind masts
installed at all three locations. Figure 6, extracted from
(Wuddah-Martey, 2008), shows the wind resource map
generated from the NEK measurements at Prampram. This
wind resource map shows a maximum average wind speed of
about 6.4 m/s at 80 m a.g.l. on land. NEK again estimated that
wind power could be generated at Prampram at a capacity
factor of about 25.6% with a combination of Nordex
N80/2500 and Nordex N90/2500 wind turbines (Wuddah-
Martey, 2008). Currently, NEK is still undertaking various
wind-related feasibility studies within the District of Ningo-
Prampram and surroundings. However, their major challenge
has been due to systemic administrative lapses/bureaucracy in
the procurement of permits and Power Purchasing
Agreements.
4.5 Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology
KNUST has taken low-level wind speed
measurements at its Solar Energy Applications Lab (SEAL) in
the past in addition to other solar energy-related data. This
wind speed data was taken from an anemometer and wind
vane mounted on the roof of the lab which was a little below
10 m a.g.l. However, the wind data from SEAL is unavailable.
Between 2010 and 2013, the World Bank supported The
Energy Center (TEC) of KNUST to install a weather station
on campus (on the roof of SEAL) as part of a Solar Capacity
Upgrading Project (SolarCUP). Till date, this weather station
measures both solar and wind data. However, the detailed data
has not been publicly analyzed. Other undergraduate and
graduate-level student programmes are on-going within
KNUST in small wind turbine design with regards to locally
available materials. However, these programmes have very
little or no government support and are based on the individual
student’s resources.
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Table II
Wind measurement sites by the Energy Commission between 1999 and 2002
(Information from (Akuffo et al., 2003) was updated and crosschecked at the
Energy Commission)
Site
Region
Latitude
Longitude
Adafoah
Greater
Accra
5.68° N
0.67° E
Aplaku
Greater
Accra
5.32° N
0.20° W
Kpone
Greater
Accra
5.42° N
0.04° E
Lolonya
Greater
Accra
5.47° N
0.27° E
Mankoadze
Central
5.20° N
0.41° W
Oshiyie
Greater
Accra
5.30° N
0.21° W
Warabeba
Central
5.21° N
0.35° W
4.6 Ghana Energy Commission / Ministry of Energy
and Petroleum
The EC, with support from other entities, have
undertaken some wind resource assessment programmes in
Ghana. Between 1999 and 2005, the EC undertook a SWERA-
Ghana programme which formed part of the Global SWERA
Project carried out in some developing countries in Africa,
Asia, Central and South America. This programme had
technical support from NREL of USA and German Aerospace
Institute (international consultants), and Mechanical
Engineering and the then Geodetic Engineering (currently
Geomatic Engineering) Departments of KNUST (local
consultants). This project was facilitated by a contract signed
with UNEP and measured wind speed data at 12 m a.g.l. for
11 specific sites within the country. However, wind speed data
for four sites (Asemkow, Gomoa Fetteh, Pute, and Tema)
were not available due to technical challenges. The regional
locations of the remaining seven sites are presented in Table 2.
The annual average wind speeds for the seven sites are also
presented in Figure 7 and this shows summarized data for
Adafoah, Aplaku, Kpone, Lolonya, Mankoadze, Oshiyie, and
Warabeba. The highest annual average wind speed of 6.4 m/s
was recorded at Mankoadze in the Central Region of Ghana.
Adafoah, Aplaku, and Lolonya recorded average wind speeds
above 5 m/s. The lowest figures were recorded at Oshiyie and
Warabeba to be both 3.9 m/s.
Again, the Energy Commission measured wind speed
data at four different locations (Amedzofe, Anloga, Areeba
Nkwanta, and Kue Nkwanta all in the Volta Region) between
2006 and 2007. Table 3 shows more information on the height
of data collection and duration for each site. Figure 8 shows
the average wind speeds for the sites measured at 20 m a.g.l.
for the period of data collection. Figure 9 also shows the
average wind speeds for the sites measured at 30 m a.g.l. for
the respective periods of data collection. From both figures,
Anloga registered the highest average wind speed of 5.4 m/s
whiles Kue Nkwanta recorded the lowest average of 3.1 m/s.
In the year 2011, the Energy Commission with
support from the World Bank, and in conjunction with
GEDAP, and Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, initiated
wind data measurements at some specific locations at 60 m
a.g.l. The locations are Atiteti and Avata both in the Volta
Region; Great Ningo in the Greater Accra Region; and Ekumfi
Edumafa, Gomoa Fetteh, Senya Breku all in the Central
Region. Again, the Energy Commission with support from
Vestas (a Danish wind turbine manufacturer) is currently
measuring wind data at 80 m a.g.l. in the Volta Region at
Kablavo and Anloga.
Fig. 7. Average wind speeds for sites between 1999 and 2002 at 12 m a.g.l. (values extracted from (Akuffo et al., 2003))
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Fig. 8. Average wind speeds for Amedzofe and Anloga at 20 m a.g.l. between 2006 and 2007.
Table III
Wind speed measurement sites by the Energy Commission between 2006 and 2007
Site
Region
Height above ground level
Data duration
Amedzofe
Volta
20 m
May 2006 to December 2007
Anloga
Volta
20 m
May 2006 to December 2007
Areeba Nkwanta
Volta
30 m
July 2006 to December 2007
Kue Nkwanta
Volta
30 m
May 2006 to December 2007
Fig. 9. Average wind speeds for Areeba Nkwanta and Kue Nkwanta at 30 m a.g.l. between 2006 and 2007.
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Fig. 10. Wind map for Ghana at 50 m a.g.l. (Source: NREL, 2004)
4.7 Other auxiliary studies
The NREL of USA Department of Energy has
published a wind map for Ghana. This wind map was
developed from data collected from Satellite Ocean Wind
Measurements by the USA military off the coastline of Ghana
at 50 m a.g.l. over the six year period between 1988 and 1994.
The wind map, as presented in Figure 10, shows great
potential for wind power development especially in the Volta
Region along the border between Ghana and Togo with
average wind speeds between 9.0 m/s and 9.9 m/s. Some
portions of the Northern Region also have average wind
speeds between 7.8 m/s and 8.4 m/s. Several other areas
within the country have good wind regime in addition to
offshore Ghana with average wind speeds ranging from 6.2
m/s to 7.1 m/s.
EleQtra West Africa Ltd, a private company with
experience in the development and management of greenfield
infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa, has also been
taking wind data measurements at 60 m a.g.l. at Ada in the
Greater Accra Region since 2010. The details of this wind
data has not been made public yet. However, verbal
discussions with some key technical people reveal a monthly
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average wind speed of almost 5 m/s. A study by (Essandoh et
al., 2013) also claims a monthly mean wind speed of 4.95 m/s
based on a phone conversation with one specific technical
person within EleQtra West Africa Ltd.
(Essandoh et al., 2013) measured wind speed and
direction in Kumasi (on KNUST campus at latitude 6.4° N
and longitude 1.3° W) between March and September 2011 at
20 m a.g.l. The study concluded that the annual average wind
speed for the site was 1.9 m/s. However, the highest monthly
average wind speed recorded was 2.6 m/s and this occurred in
August 2011. Other detailed analyses related to the data are
also presented in this same study.
The VRA (a power generation company in Ghana)
also plans to develop a wind farm with capacity between 100
MW and 150 MW through a Joint-Venture Partnership.
Currently, preparations are on-going to commission the
project by 2015. Observations at Wa Polytechnic in the Upper
West Region of Ghana revealed the presence of a weather
station that measures wind speed, direction and other solar-
related data. The wind measurement instruments were
mounted at about 2 m a.g.l. within a fenced area. However, the
time series data from the instruments were not available for
analysis. DENG Ltd., a private company in Ghana, installed a
2 m wind mast sometime in the past at its premises to measure
low-level wind speed data. Analysis of the details of this data
has not been made public.
5 CURRENT POWER GENERATION IN GHANA
The power plants on the Ghanaian National Grid are
mainly made of a combination of hydro and thermal
generating sources. Table 4 shows the individual power
generation units on the National Grid. There are three main
hydro power generation plants with a total installed capacity
of 1,580 MW. In addition to the hydro plants, there are nine
other thermal power plants on the Ghanaian National Grid.
These thermal plants have a total installed power capacity of
1,268.5 MW (about 44% of the total installed national
capacity) and use different fossil fuels including light crude
oil, natural gas, and diesel. The only large scale grid
connected renewable energy system on the Ghanaian grid is a
2.5 MW Solar PV Plant which is far less than 1% of the total
installed power capacity in the country. Although the total
installed power capacity in the country is 2,851 MW, the
actual available power capacity of 2,589 MW is substantially
less (262 MW short). This is mainly due to technical
challenges associated with running the individual plants at full
capacity. As iterated earlier, the amount of power generated
occasionally falls below the national energy requirements due
to reduced water inflows to the hydro facilities and difficulties
associated with procuring crude products to fuel the thermal
power plants which form about half of the national generation.
Table IV
Ghana electricity generation capacity as of 2014 (EC, 2014)
Generation Plant
Fuel Type
Installed Capacity
(MW)
Dependable
Capacity (MW)
Hydro Power Plants
Akosombo Hydro Plant
Hydro
1,020
960
Kpong Hydro Plant
Hydro
160
140
Bui Hydro Plant
Hydro
400
380
Sub-Total
1,580
1,480
Thermal Power Plants
Takoradi Power Company (TAPCO)
LCO/NG/Diesel
330
300
Takoradi International Company
(TICO)
LCO/NG/Diesel
220
200
Sunon-Asogli Power Plant (SAPP)
NG
200
180
Tema Thermal Plant 1 (TT1PP)
LCO/NG/Diesel
126
110
Tema Thermal Plant 2 (TT2PP)
NG
49.5
45
Takoradi Thermal Plant (T3)
LCO/NG
132
120
Mines Reserve Plant (MRP)
Diesel/NG
80
40
CENIT Energy Ltd (CEL)
LCO/NG
126
110
Genser Power
LPG
5
2
Sub-Total
1,268.5
1,107
Solar Power Plant
VRA Solar Plant
Solar Radiation
2.5
2
Total
2,851
2,589
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6 TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVE AND GENERAL
DISCUSSIONS
6.1 Summary of lessons from the top 5 global wind
power producers
As shown in the literature, China, USA, Germany,
Spain, and India all made deliberate efforts to utilize their
available wind resources for large-scale power generation.
These countries have adopted and implemented good policies
and legislative instruments that have favoured wind power
development, and this is mainly what has placed them in the
global top 5. The policies of these countries have influenced
various critical areas such as continual increase in installed
wind power capacity, local research and capacity building, and
coordination of information. It is even more fascinating that
Germany (the European leader in installed wind capacity) has
taken a decision to completely phase out nuclear power by
2022 and increase wind power capacity and other renewables
to cover 80% of local power generation by the year 2050. This
ambitious decision was immediately taken in the aftermath of
the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Ghana could draw so much
inspiration from all these 5 countries, especially considering
the wind power potential within. In this regard, some insights
and suggestions are made in the subsequent sections.
6.2 Tackling future energy demand with increasing
wind power capacity
As Ghana periodically suffers from power crises due
to generation deficit, there is enough evidence to show that the
wind resources in most parts of the country are capable of
supporting large scale wind power generation projects. The
gradual and consistent increase of thermal power capacity on
the national grid to about 44% of total national installed power
capacity (as shown in Table 4) to the detriment of other
renewable energy sources shows clearly that due attention has
not been given to wind energy as a potential grid-scale power
generation source. The wind map in Figure 10 shows clearly
that wind speeds in most coastal communities reach annual
average levels of 6.2 – 7.1 m/s at 50 m a.g.l. The wind
resources in other inland locations from this map reach annual
average levels of 8.4 – 9.0 m/s at 50 m a.g.l. These locations
include spots within the Northern Region, along the western
boarder of Brong-Ahafo Region, within and along the eastern
boarder of Volta Region, and the Eastern Region. It is reported
by (Stankovic et al., 2009) that economical wind power
generation is possible with a minimum annual average wind
speed of 5.5 m/s at turbine hub height. This fact affirms that
the above mentioned locations are capable of generating large-
scale wind power due to their average wind speed values. This
is even more interesting considering the fact that most modern
commercial wind turbines have hub heights that go way
beyond 50 m a.g.l. and the wind map figures at 50 m a.g.l. will
even be higher at greater heights due to wind shear, thereby
giving such turbines access to much stronger winds and
allowing them to produce much more energy.
Again, the actual wind speed measurements that have
been made on the ground in time past at several sites also
show great promise. Places like Mankoadze, Adafoah, Aplaku
and Lolonya which recorded annual average wind speed
values above 5 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. (as shown in Figure 7) are
worth considering. The wind speed figures at these locations
will be much higher at the hub height of any commercial wind
turbine due to wind shear. Anloga which has also recorded an
average value above 5 m/s at 20 m a.g.l. (as shown in Figure
8) is also another potential site for wind power generation.
The wind resource map for Prampram (as shown in Figure 6)
also shows a significant portion of the land with a maximum
annual average wind speed of 6.4 m/s at 80 m a.g.l. All these
aforementioned locations indicate very good potential for
large-scale wind power generation, and the country could start
taking advantage of this.
6.3 Strengthening RE regulations and policy support
for project implementation
There is no doubt that before Ghana can fully utilize
its wind power resources, policies and regulations will play a
vital role. Although some institutions have been set up in the
past to regulate the general energy sector in Ghana, these
institutions have not been effective in dealing specifically with
issues related to wind power development in the country. This
is mainly as a result of lack of resources and comprehensive
consolidated information on the various positive wind power-
related activities in the country. These energy regulatory
institutions including the MoEP, EC, and PURC are still
behind in bringing out the details of a comprehensive policy
specifically guiding wind power development in Ghana. The
MoEP is responsible for formulating, monitoring, and
evaluating policies, programmes, and projects in the energy
sector. The EC is responsible for technical regulations in the
power sector and it is again the institution that advises the
MoEP on matters relating to energy planning and policy. The
PURC is an independent regulatory agency responsible for the
economic regulation of the power sector with the mandate to
approve rates for electricity sold by electricity distribution
utilities. The major renewable energy-related policies that
have been made within the country in the past are the Strategic
National Energy Plan (EC, 2006), National Energy Policy
(MoEP, 2009), and The Energy Sector Strategy and
Development Plan (MoEP, 2010). Although these policies
among others were designed to help facilitate RE development
in the country, none of them clearly gives a detailed and
comprehensive guide to wind power development. Instead,
these policies lumped all the RE sources together and briefly
highlighted some general issues. Again the RE Law (Act 832)
enacted in 2011 (PURC, 2012) provides a legal framework for
the general development, management, and utilization of RE
within the country. This act was long awaited for, and its
absence was part of the reasons why some wind power
development partners like NEK Umwelttechnik GmbH had to
do feasibility studies and wait for more than 10 years.
However, the Law alone is just paper, and as such,
commitment on the part of government (all relevant
institutions) is needed to fully implement the necessary details
for the ultimate benefit of the country.
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As a sequel to Act 832, further and urgent wind
power-specific policies should be formulated to address
critical technical issues related to capacity development; wind
data measurement research; coordination between policy
makers, industry, and academia; and support for all or vital
wind power-related activities. These suggestions are
summarized in Figure 11.
6.4 Building technical capacity
The development and management of a typical wind
power project entails lots of technical inputs into the various
stages from feasibility, through engineering and development,
to project finalization. Rigorous technical trainings in various
disciplines related to the project development stages are
required for the successful implementation of a wind power
project. If Ghana can make continual progress in wind power
production, local human resource capacity is vital. A proposal
is made (as shown in Figure 12) to seek attention to some four
critical/cardinal areas including wind resource assessment,
wind farm design and energy estimation, wind turbine
placement optimization, and wind farm management. Wind
resource assessment will require skills related to the
installation of wind masts for wind data collection, the
management of such systems, and wind data retrieval
techniques and analysis. Wind farm design and energy
estimation will need skills related to land mapping and the use
of standard tools for annual energy production estimation.
Wind turbine placement optimization will call for skills
related to technical decision making in optimally locating
wind turbines for maximized energy production and layout
efficiency. Finally, wind farm management will require skills
related to the installation of wind turbines, and issues of
operations and maintenance of equipment. Immediate and
coordinated local capacity building in these four areas is key
to the successful implementation of any wind power project in
Ghana.
Fig. 11. Suggestions for vital wind policies in the aftermath of RE Law Act 832
Fig. 12. Technical capacity building in the four cardinal areas
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Fig. 13. Proposed route for future national wind data collection for Ghana
6.5 Intensifying wind data collection and analysis
research
The wind data collection in Ghana in the past has
been mainly restricted to relatively low heights a.g.l. Although
the NREL wind map for Ghana (as shown in Figure 10) gives
a general idea of the wind speed regime country-wide at 50 m
a.g.l., this data was satellite-measured and may be necessarily
different from ground based measurements. Ground based
measurements may actually show better values for the
locations within Figure 10. Again, annual average wind speed
data of 6.4 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. for Mankoadze (as shown in
Figure 7), 5.3 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. for Adafoah (as shown in
Figure 7), and 5.4 m/s at 20 m a.g.l. for Anloga (as shown in
Figure 8), indicate much greater wind power potential at
relatively higher heights a.g.l. In view of the fact that these
were measured at low heights a.g.l., there is the need to
confirm these data in the long term at the typical hub heights
of modern wind turbines (60 m upward). Again, ground based
long-term data needs to be taken at other wind-related virgin
locations within the country. A route for future national wind
data collection is proposed in Figure 13. Government should
urgently make efforts in building a national wind database by
first supporting ground wind data measurements at all the
good windy sites as indicated in the NREL wind map (Figure
10). Afterwards, efforts should be made to again measure
wind data at the other previous locations as indicated in this
study. Subsequently, efforts should be made to measure wind
data at other new locations. All these data should be taken at a
minimum of 60 m a.g.l.
6.6 Coordinating wind research information
There has been very limited integration of the various
wind power-related activities in Ghana. One of the factors that
will help Ghana to fully utilize her wind resources is the
coordination, consolidation, and adequate documentation of
all in-country activities related to wind power development.
Documentation is even more necessary because, it will reduce
information dependence on specific individuals and prevent
loss of vital information in the long-term due to the absence of
these individuals. This will make it easier for development
partners who need information to help make critical
investment decisions. Again, interaction between policy
makers and experts in academia is also vital. Various
graduate-level wind power-related research at the universities
need to be coordinated, supported, and documented at the
national level. Efforts should be made to periodically present
updates on the various wind-related activities within the
country and this should be managed by the formation of a
separate group called the Ghana Wind Power Association
(GAWPA). In this regard, Figure 14 presents a snapshot of
some recommendations that depict the interactions between
Academia, GAWPA, and Policy Makers in consolidating and
utilizing wind power-related information for the ultimate
benefit of the country.
Future national wind
data collection
(long-term)
Focus on good wind sites as
indicated in NREL wind map
Subsequent focus on other
new locations
Subsequent focus on previous
wind measurement sites
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Fig. 14. Summary of the consolidation of research information and various stakeholders
7 CONCLUSION
This paper has reviewed and integrated the various
wind power-related activities in Ghana and has made some
recommendations as to how the country could gradually
become a large-scale wind power producer with inspiration
from the top 5 global wind power producers in relation to
policy and capacity building. China, USA, Germany, Spain,
and India (the global top 5 countries) have implemented
several favourable wind power-related policies and this is
mainly what has brought them to the level the world has
witnessed. In view of this and despite their successes, these
countries (especially Germany) continue to set further
ambitious targets for wind power generation in the aftermath
of the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster. The activities of these
countries are commendable and developing countries like
Ghana could learn from them.
Ghana continues to suffer from periodic power crisis
due to a combination of reduced water inflows into its hydro
facilities and the periodic unavailability of fossil based fuels to
power its thermal generating units. This is not surprising due
to the fact that about 44% of local power generation comes
from thermal plants that run on light crude oil, diesel, and
natural gas (as shown in Table 4). In 2014, the power crises
was back and was actually deepened with the unavailability of
gas through the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) and the
lack of resources to purchase additional crude oil from the
international market. Other factors are also due to technical
challenges with the operation and maintenance of equipment.
Wind power is available within the country and some
efforts have been made in the past to measure the local wind
resource potential. Studies in the past by the EC indicate some
locations with relatively good wind resource. Mankoadze in
the Central Region has recorded an annual average wind speed
of 6.4 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. between 2001 and 2002 (as shown in
Figure 7). Adafoah in the Greater Accra Region has recorded
5.3 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. between 1999 and 2000 (as shown in
Figure 7). Aplaku in the Greater Accra Region has recorded
5.2 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. between 2001 and 2002 (as shown in
Figure 7). Lolonya, also in the Greater Accra Region, has
recorded 5.4 m/s at 12 m a.g.l. between 1999 and 2000 (as
shown in Figure 7). Anloga in the Volta Region, has recorded
5.4 m/s at 20 m a.g.l. between 2006 and 2007 (as shown in
Figure 8). Wind data measurements have been made at several
other sites within the country in addition to the NREL map as
highlighted in this paper. One thing the above mentioned sites
have in common is that they all recorded annual average
values greater than 5 m/s at relatively low heights a.g.l. These
wind speed values will even improve at the hub heights of
modern wind turbines due to wind shear. And since
commercial wind power generation is possible with minimum
annual average wind speed of 5.5 m/s at turbine hub height,
these sites have the potential to generate large-scale wind
power. To fully take advantage of the available wind resources
in the country, implementation of relevant policies and
support for further research will play a fundamental role.
Ghana’s energy policies formulated in the past have
lumped all renewable energy sources together without clearly
specifying a path for wind power development. Although the
RE Law (Act 832 of 2011) provides the legal framework for
RE development within the country, other commensurate
activities are immediately needed to help move Ghana to
become a major wind power producer. First of all, clearly
defined policies will be needed to set ambitious targets for
wind power in order to gradually reduce the percentage share
of thermal power in the country’s national generation mix and
also address other vital issues (as proposed in Figure 11).
Secondly, indigenous technical capacity is required in the full
management of wind power systems and its associated
technology (as proposed in Figure 12). Thirdly, continuous
wind data collection at the hub heights of modern wind
turbines is necessary for several other locations within the
country (as proposed in Figure 13), as this will boost the
confidence in using such data for the assessment of wind
resource potential. Wind data measured in the past for all the
locations discussed in this paper have been relatively short-
term. Finally, there should be consolidation of local wind
power-related information and coordination between policy
makers and academia. It is again proposed that a GAWPA be
formed to help integrate and properly document all the various
scattered local wind power-related activities and also facilitate
the coordination between policy makers and academia (as
proposed in Figure 14).
As a build-up of this research, it is recommended that
all future wind power-related studies should be compiled and
compared with the analyses made in this paper in order to
Consolidation of
research information
Academia
Ghana Wind Power Association
Policy makers
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bring out new favourable locations for wind power
development within Ghana.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We wish to thank the Almighty God for the
continuous inspiration. The late Professor Abeeku Brew-
Hammond is also remembered in this paper for his motivation.
The idea behind this paper began long ago when he was alive.
Our appreciation also goes to Mr. Frederick K. Appiah and
Mr. Mawufemo Modjinou both from Energy Commission. We
also wish to thank Mr. Michael Wuddah-Martey of NEK
Ghana Limited for his presentation at The Energy Center,
KNUST.
ABBREVIATIONS
a.g.l. above ground level
m metres
CIA Central Intelligence Agency
EC Energy Commission
EEG Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz
IEA International Energy Agency
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
GAWPA Ghana Wind Power Association
GEDAP Ghana Energy Development and Access Project
GMA Ghana Meteorological Agency
GWEA German Wind Energy Association
GWEC Global Wind Energy Council
ML-REDP Medium and Long term Renewable Energy
Development Plan
MSD Meteorological Service Department
MoEP Ministry of Energy and Petroleum
NDRC National Development and Reform
Commission
NERC National Energy Regulatory Commission
NPC National People’s Congress
NREC National Renewable Energy Centre
NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory
PURC Public Utilities Regulatory Commission
RE Renewable Energy
REDF Renewable Energy Development Fund
REN21 Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st
Century
SWEA Spanish Wind Energy Association
SWERA Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment
TEC The Energy Center
UNEP United Nations Environment Programme
USA United States of America
VRA Volta River Authority
WAGP West African Gas Pipeline
WEC World Energy Council
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