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Ghana's access to power stands over 70 per cent

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Ghana is on course to meet the universal access to electricity, the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, has said. He said from as low as 15 per cent access to electricity in the 1990s, the country's access to power had increased to 70 per cent, adding that the figure was expected to increase to 80 per cent by next year.

Dr Oteng-Adjei said this in an address read on his behalf by the Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Kofi Buah, at the opening of the Second Power and Electricity Expo in Accra.

The three-day event is on the theme: “Power and Electricity, important energy indicators for economic growth; the role of Government and the Private Sector”. 

Dr Oteng-Adjei said Ghana's projected 14 per cent growth rate for 2011, which is the highest in the world, puts a lot of pressure on the energy sector to play a pivotal role in meeting its national development efforts. 

“This implies in practical terms that government improves the huge losses in the distribution network, strengthens and expands the transmission network and increases the installed generation capacity. Indeed, government has made it a policy to increase our current installed generation capacity of 200 megawatts by a considerable 150 per cent by 2015,” he said. 

Dr Oteng-Adjei said aside its efforts to exploit the gas potential of the Jubilee field the government was also keenly negotiating for more gas from Nigerian suppliers to be shipped through the West Africa Gas Pipeline.

That, he said, was to ensure that there was ample gas available for power generation and for other industrial applications. 

The Chairman of the Planning Committee, Mr Prince Ackuaku, said 25 companies were exhibiting at the event, which were showcasing what they were involved in.

Source: Daily Graphic

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