opini n 48 is there a global shortage of crude? the gas challenge: bridging the knowledge gap in ghana’s gas sector 29 14 interview : dr alfred ofosu-ahenkorah executive secretary, energy commission ghana seeks investors to mine untapped bauxite sources 52 32 vice president commends ghana energy awards company’s profile 42 06. energy global / news • global energy demand hits fastest pace this decade: iea • the countries most ready for the global energy transition 22. 25. industry news / upstream •getting the most out of petroleum con- tracting in ghana •ghana’s oil: the journey so far industry newst/ downstream • gas, catalyst for ‘low cost’ industrialisa- tion • fronting in cylinder recirculation will not go unpunished • smuggling of petroleum products reduces • western region to get $300m oil tank farm .33 event • ghana energy awards 2018 honours 29 individuals and companies .38 feature the gas challenge: bridging the knowledge gap in ghana’s gas sector .46 renewables • cleaner energy for ghana: the renewable energy masterplan e-politics •the dangers of energy politics for the uk .50 .51 mining / news • nation built on gold loses its african crown to rival ghana • ghana seeks investors to mine untapped bauxite sourcest news / technology • improving solar cell efficiency with a bucket of water .54 personality profiles .56 • energy personalities of the year 2018 .59 top5 & top 10 • top 5 african countries shifting to re- newables • top 10 biggest gold mines in the world

energy news / global global energy demand hits fastest pace this decade: iea stronger heating/cooling de- mand leads to greater energy growth worldwide, an interna- tional energy agency report has said. energy demand worldwide reached its fastest pace this decade and saw a 2.3 percent growth last year, driven by a ro- bust global economy and stronger heat- ing and cooling demand in some regions, according to the international energy agency's (iea) report on tues- day. the iea’s global energy & carbon dioxide (co2) status report said higher electricity demand was responsible for over half of the growth in energy de- mand. oil demand rose by 1.3 percent in 2018, led by strong growth in the united states, the report showed. "the united states and china showed the largest overall growth, while demand fell in japan and korea and was stagnant in europe." natural gas consumption grew by an estimated 4.6 percent, its largest increase since 2010 when gas demand bounced back from the global financial crisis. "coal demand grew for a second year, but its role in the global mix continued to decline. last year's 0.7 percent increase was significantly slower than the 4.5 per- cent annual growth rate seen in the period 2000- 10," the report indicated. in- creased by 4 percent, ac- counting almost one-quarter of global en- ergy demand growth. the power sector led the gains, with renewables- based electricity genera- tion increasing at the fastest pace this decade. renewables for according to iea, electricity contin- ues to position itself as the fuel of the fu- ture, with global electricity demand growing by 4 per- cent in 2018 to more than 23,000 terawatts-hours (twh). % 4 energy consumption grows energy consumption worldwide grew by 2.3 percent in 2018, nearly twice the average rate of growth since 2010, driven by a robust global economy as well as higher heating and cooling needs in some parts of the world. as a result of higher energy con- sumption, global en- ergy-related co2 emissions increased to 33.1 gigatonnes of co2, up by 1.7 percent on an annual basis, the re- port said. in addition, coal- fired power generation continues to be the sin- gle largest emitter, ac- counting for 30 percent of all energy-related carbon dioxide emis- sions. "higher energy de- mand was propelled by a global economy that expanded by 3.7 per- cent in 2018, a higher pace than the average annual growth of 3.5 since percent 2010. the united states, and india ac- counted for nearly 70 percent of the rise in energy demand," the report said. seen china, together electricity as fuel of the future according to iea, electricity contin- ues to position itself as the fuel of the fu- ture, with global electricity demand growing by 4 percent in 2018 to more than 23,000 terawatts-hours (twh). this rapid growth is pushing elec- tricity towards a 20 percent share in total final consumption of energy. "increasing power generation was responsible for half of the growth in pri- mary energy demand. renewables were a major contributor to this power gen- eration expansion, accounting for nearly half of electricity demand growth. china remains the leader in renewables, both for wind and solar, followed by europe and the united states," the iea stated. fatih birol, the iea’s executive di- rector said in the report that last year can also be considered another golden year for gas, which accounted for almost half the growth in global energy de- mand. "but despite major growth in renew- ables, global emissions are still rising, demonstrating once again that more ur- gent action is needed on all fronts — de- veloping all clean energy solutions, curbing emissions, and spurring invest- ments and innovation, including in car- bon capture, utilization and storage," birol concluded. source: www.aa.com.tr 06 energyghana.com july 2019

energy news / local is pds really the panacea to dum-sor? for the longest time on record, ghana had dire issues with its power distribution sector. a number of issues accounted for this; chief among them were perceived inefficiencies of the electricity company of ghana (ecg) which included huge in- debtedness to power generators particu- larly the independent power producers (ipps). ‘dum-sor’, to find a lasting solution to the seri- ous power distribution challenges, infa- mously christened the country exhausted resources, both inter- nal and external, to curb the record-high power sector crisis. these culminated in the millennium power compact, which eventually saw the pds take on some op- erations and management of ecg from march 1, 2019. being a private sector led company,, therefore, the pds, was ex- pected to deliver more quality service than its host – ecg. pds’ entry unto the ghanaian power scene was, thus, welcomed with serious expectations from the general ghanaian population and stakeholders in the sec- tor. consumers, for instance, looked for- ward to a reliable, affordable and sustainable power supply, while industry partners – the ipps – on the other hand, anticipated that the pds will at least de- 08 energyghana.com “ pds was to inject about us$580 million invest- ment into the ecg and its operations after the planned takeover to give the country’s power distributor a face-lift and untag it as a major debt-store. liver strictly by the terms of the power purchase agreements (ppas) which it received from ecg, most especially by avoiding the delay in paying for power purchases with respect to the bargained credit days. however, that does not seem to be happening since pds’ take-over. rather, the company appears to be following in the footsteps of some of the less agree- able contractual and poor business prac- tices known to be typical of its host – the ecg. by implication, the pds is suppos- edly accumulating the revenues paid by power consumers. quite unfortunately, though, ipps are frustrated that for the past four months since taking over from march 1, pds has not extended any pay- ment to the ipps, not until now – an ac- cusation the pds has denied. these ipps had at least expected the pds to engage industry players to inform them of any challenges, which have ac- counted for the below-par delivery so far, according to elikplim kwabla apetorg- bor, chief executive officer, chamber of independent power producers and bulk consumers, cipdib. meanwhile, the huge financial indebtedness of pds to- ward the ipps means the ipps are bur- dened with huge debts to their creditors and suppliers, and also challenged in paying employees’ salaries. in light of these constraints, the cipdib subsequently warned the gen- eral public of imminent power outages – a situation which resurfaced exactly two weeks under pds’. given a 7-day ultima- tum to address its financial obligations, a failure on the part of pds’ could actu- ally force members of the chamber to shut down their plants as they could not july 2019

energy news/local inter alia, was to increase private sector investment and the productivity and profitability of micro, small, medium and large-scale businesses. among the six (6) projects within the 2nd compact is the ecg financial and operational turnaround project (efot), which seeks to introduce a private sector participant into the management and operations of the ecg. consequently, the gog, under the auspices of the millennium development authority, embarked upon a competitive procurement process which resulted in the selection of a partner to manage, op- erate, and invest in ecg’s operations for 20 years. meralco consortium, led by the manila electricity company of philip- pines, which covers a third of the philip- pines and serves a customer population of over six million, was declared winner of the bid on 20th april, 2018. meralco partnered aenergia sa, an angolan company, and three ghanaian companies: tg energy solutions ghana limited, santa power limited and gts power limited - to form the power dis- tribution services ghana ltd. (pds), which is 51% ghanaian-owned as re- quired by the government of ghana. effective march 1, 2019 the conces- sionaire, pds, took over the country’s power scene to strengthen the gover- nance, management and operations of ecg and improve the delivery of power to end users to support socio-economic growth in ghana. pds was to inject about us$580 mil- lion investment into the ecg and its op- erations after the planned takeover to give the country’s power distributor a face-lift and untag it as a major debt- store. the takeover was expected to bring efficiency and improvement in the oper- ations of the power distributor. the com- pany was also to remove leakages and financial losses in the system as well as provide the ecg with the funds it des- perately needed to stabilise the country’s power distribution. ecg vs. pds though pds has taken over distribu- tion of power in the country, there seems to be a lack of clarity on the distinction between the respective roles of the for- mer power distributor and the pds. many ghanaians have the idea that ecg has been sold or taken over the pds after the concession and that the ecg is now defunct. however, ing. boakye-appiah, man- aging director of the ecg has stated on on utilising the company’s fibre optic backbone to venture into utility telco services. “ecg will collect all outstanding monies customers owe to ecg on ecg’s behalf”, mr boakye-appiah emphasised. having diversified its services, the company, according to its managing di- rector, is still exploring other opportuni- ties in the energy sector, especially, by leveraging its fifty years of experience and the huge intellectual capital at its disposal to provide training and consul- tancy services to players in the industry. the ecg training school is the strategic competence development cen- tre of the company, providing technical and non-technical training to serve ecg, vra, gridco, nedco and other utili- ties in the west africa sub-region. it has been accredited by the national accred- itation board for professional and tech- nician examinations (nabp tex). the training programme covers technical areas for organisations within the energy sector, mining, oil exploration and pro- vides in-service training, tailored pro- grammes for organisations, refresher programmes and engineering basics for non-engineers in engineering fields. pds the power distribution services, on the other hand, is currently responsible for electrical network operations, includ- ing regular maintenance, fault repairs, and commercial operations – billing, revenue collection, new services connec- tions and investments, rehabilitation, ex- pansion and network extensions. pds ghana limited, as the power distributor, is to handle and manage on behalf of ecg, all legacy - outstanding is- sues, revenue collection and unpaid bills prior to the transfer date on 1 march 2019. job security contrary to claims of mass unem- ployment of ecg staff after the takeover, the managing director of ecg has de- nied the claims stating that no staff of the company lost his or /her job after the concession agreement, where some staff were transferred from ecg to pds. “in accordance with government’s di- rective, 6,400 staff of ecg were trans- ferred to pds on the same conditions of service as they were enjoying with parent company ecg. similarly, the 112 staff who remain with ecg are also enjoying their existing conditions of service there- fore no staff has lost his or her job.” source: energy ghana the contrary that the company has just let off some of its responsibilities to pds and is concentrating on different opera- tions. “we wish to emphasise that neither ecg’s assets nor its liabilities were trans- ferred to messrs. pds. ecg has retained all the network assets and is also liable for debts incurred prior to the transfer of its operations to pds. “we must emphasise that ecg has not been sold. ecg has not changed to pds. ecg is ecg and pds is pds. they are two different entities playing differ- ent roles in the power sector,” he stressed. ecg’s current operations the ecg is now selling energy in bulk to the pds for which the latter will, in turn, pay for the energy consumed and make lease payments to ecg for using ecg’s networks. “ecg still operates providing value- added services to its numerous clients. ecg still operates as a bulk energy trader and also monitors the perform- ance of pds,” the md noted. ecg is currently into networking, asset ownership and consultancy serv- ices, having turned its training school into a consultancy services provider, ac- cording to its new business model. the new business model of ecg also focuses 10 energyghana.com july 2019

energy news / africa european commission rally be- hind africa’s finance platform the african development bank announced a €40 million ($45 million) in- vestment from the euro- pean commission for the facility for energy inclusion (fei), a new platform for financing small-scale renewables in africa. joao cunha, manager for re- newable energy initiatives at afdb said fei had been developed to offer debt instruments to compa- nies providing affordable, clean and sustainable access to underserved communities in the sub-saharan re- gion. “through fei, we aim to in- crease co-financing and private sec- tor investment in innovative on-grid and off-grid clean energy access so- lutions, and consequently move faster on our “light up and power africa priority to achieve universal energy access in africa by 2025,” said cunha. spearheaded by fei is a $500 million financing platform the african development bank to catal- yse financial support for innovative energy access solutions. fei on-grid, a targeted $400 million fund, supports improved commission torate-general for international co- operation and development of the european (dg devco) approved a €25 million in- vestment to fei on-grid window, €13 million into the fei ogef win- dow, and €1.6 million to support the fund’s technical assistance facil- ity, which aims to build investee ca- pacity in structuring and executing transactions in african capital mar- kets. these investments will provide junior equity to strengthen fei’s capital structure, and enable fei to fundraise from a range of commer- cial and private investors. "fei is a great example of how the eu has been developing innova- tive financing initiatives together with financial partners such as the african development bank, to stim- ulate and de-risk private sector in- vestments without which we won't be able to address the growing en- ergy demands and provide access to sustainable energy in sub-saharan africa," said hugo van tilborg, head of infrastructure, and afdb li- aison at the eu. source: esi-africa.com the african development bank energy access through the develop- ment of small-scale renewable en- ergy generation and mini-grids across africa, while the off-grid energy access fund (ogef), a tar- geted $100 million fund, supports off grid energy distribution compa- nies and boosts their long-term ca- pacity to access capital markets at scale. innovative financing ini- tiatives in december 2018, the direc- 12 energyghana.com july 2019

exclusive interview dr alfred ofosu- ahenkorah visionary skillful resilient executive secretary, energy commission energy ghana magazine hooked up with dr alfred ofosu- ahenkorah, the executive secretary of the energy com- mission. in this interview, he shares his thoughts on the current status and future of the country’s energy sector, renewable energy, local content in the sector, ghana’s 10% renewable target and some achievements of the commission. q: tell us about your job as the executive secre- tary of the energy commission. a: the executive secretary of the energy commission is responsible for the day-today operation of the commis- sion and is responsible for anything that goes on here. he is responsible for anything that goes wrong here, and also responsible for anything that goes right. so practically, he is in charge of everything. q: on a personal level, what is the most exciting bit about your job? a: the most exciting part of my job is when i get results. some negative results will serve as lessons, so you learn from them, so you avoid doing them again or in the same way. most of the time we plan before doing anything. so, as we plan, we do risk analysis, ‘what-if analysis’; what if this does not go well, what if what we wanted to do does not go the way we thought it would go. so, we do a lot of that before we carry out the plan and we minimize the risk as much as possible. q: as the executive secretary of the commission, what has been your most significant achievement? a: we have really achieved a lot. the energy commis- sion is the policy advisor to the government. we published our first policy advisory paper, which we call the strategic 14 energyghana.com

interview national energy plan in 2006 and i’m happy to say that almost all the recom- mendations in that plan have been imple- mented. though they will not come and tell you that we did it because of you, we follow and we see that they have been im- plemented. some of the monumental achieve- ments include the lighting efficiency proj- ect which moved ghana from the inefficient lighting system where incan- descent lamp was the basic lighting de- vice to the compact fluorescent lamp. and that single work saved ghana about $39 million in a year and this saving has been compounding since 2007. so that is one principal achievement. the other one is when we introduced efficient refrigeration; implementing standards and labels for refrigeration. and that project in 2015 also saved ghana 400gwh of electricity, that is about 40% of the output of the bui dam. and it is occurring every year. right now, we have been able to re- duce the energy consumption of refrig- erators in ghana from 1200kwh a year to 385kwh a year. so that spread to not only the country but also to individuals because if you use an efficient refrigera- tor, you pay less. so, these are some of the achievements, there are many more. q: what do you look forward to most in the country’s energy sector at present? a: at the moment, we have significant excess generation capacity. we have what we call ‘an energy glut’. we have so much energy resources; electricity, gas. what we can do is to put these energy resources into productive activity. and if we are able to do that, it will expand the econ- omy, it will create jobs for people. that will be a monumental achievement for the economy, not only for the energy commission or the energy sector, but it would be good for the economy. what we are trying to do to make use of the electricity is that we are trying to introduce electric cars that will use elec- tricity as a motive power. it’s cheaper to use electricity as fuel for vehicles than petrol and people will gladly pay for elec- tricity that they use to drive around rather than becoming a burden for their homes. these cars have batteries and they have electric motor instead of an en- gine. so, the batteries are charged de- pending on the type of vehicle and the size of the battery. some cars can go up to between 200-400km before another charge. so then, we wouldn’t be needing fuel stations but rather charging stations. you can actually charge in your house, if you have the house charging system, as you go to bed, you can charge it and you’d be okay to go in the morning. it’s good for people in the cities, but if you’re travel- ling, it becomes a challenge as there is a limit to how far you can go and then 16 energyghana.com some monumental achievements lighting efficiency proj- ect which moved ghana from the inefficient lighting system where incandescent lamp was the basic lighting device to the compact fluo- rescent lamp. and that single work saved ghana about $39 million in a year and this saving has been compound- ing since 2007. so that is one principal achievement. and labels the other one is when we introduced efficient refrig- eration; implementing stan- dards for refrigeration. and that project in 2015 also saved ghana 400gwh of electricity, that is about 40% of the output of the bui dam. and it is occur- ring every year. reduction of energy consumption of refrigerators in ghana from 1200kwh a year to 385kwh a year. so that spread to not only the country but also to individu- als because if you use an ef- ficient refrigerator, you pay less. so, these are some of the achievements, there are many more. charge, and that’s why we need charging stations along the routes. now, with the modern cars, you can have to 80% charge in 40 minutes. so, maybe on your way to kumasi, for exam- ple, you can stop at your favourite restau- rant, plug it in before you have your meal and by the time you are done, your charg- ing will be done. “we are introducing electric cars this year; we will launch it along with our re- newable energy fair in october, 2019.” q: which of the sectors in the country’s re space is fast developing and what do you think is accounting for it? a: i think solar is developing fast and it is because of the cost. the cost of solar has dropped so fast and so steep that it is now so cheap to build solar plants. back in 2012, it was selling at $4/w. today it is about 36 cents per watt for the average polycrystalline model. the cost of battery storage is also coming down – it is less than $200/kwh. so, it becoming cheaper and adoption is getting faster. a time will come when it will be cheaper than grid electricity. even now, in some cases, it is cheaper than grid electricity, so more people are shifting to solar. q: what do you think about govern- ment’s plan to have public institutions shift to renewable energy? a: the initial capital outlay is big; you need a lot of money before you can do that and you may not be sure that banks will be ready to give you that money. the good thing about solar is that it is good for the rural areas. we have 15% of our population still not connected to elec- tricity and so for these people, the renew- able solar is the immediate solution. they are not connected because they are far away from the grid, maybe they live on is- lands which make it very difficult to con- nect them to the grid and so solar becomes the most practical way of con- necting them. of course, we also have wind that can be developed. and then biomass, we have agricultural waste and municipal waste that can also be used to generate electricity and others, but there are more to it than just that, it is not as simple as that. q: the future of re in ghana in the next five/ten years. a: re has been adopted in ghana but what we have do to is to be careful how we deploy it. we have grid electricity, if it is not going to reduce the cost of electric- ity, then let’s hold on. let’s move it to the areas where grid electricity is not avail- able. but i know that in some countries, solar is much cheaper than grid electric- ity. q: could there be a time where there would be no grid electricity, only re? a: that would be a little bit of utopia. it could happen but not immediately. the problem we have with renewable is that it is not predictable. you cannot rely on solar when the sun is not shining. though there are storage kits, they are not cheap. rains even make it worse. likewise, wind which can also stop blowing in seconds. so, it is unpredictable and you cannot rely on it fully. that is the handicap with re. q: projects of the energy commission a: the commission actually does not undertake projects, rather we provide policy advice. but most times before we do that, we try to test the technologies, we do little pilots and we also develop the market. if you take the lighting efficiency project, government asked us to do it. we provided the technical information and government said go ahead and do it. we did it once and in three months only, we july 2019

cover story maintain, highly energy efficient and climate friendly. as of 2019, there are about 5.6 million electric cars on the roads worldwide. what needs to be done, before commercial adoption in ghana, is to build charging stations which could use both the grid and solar power. solar panels could offset grid electricity use and provide shade. “now, with the modern cars, you can have to 80% charge in 40 minutes. so, maybe on your way to kumasi, for example, you can stop at your favourite restaurant, plug it in before you go for your meal and by the time you are done, your charging will be done,” he adds. benefits of electric vehicles (evs) evs record a number of positives over conventional petrol/diesel cars. they are: cheaper to run: owners of an ev have the advantage of much lower run- ning costs. the electricity to charge an ev works out around a third as much per kilometre as buying petrol for the same type of vehicle. a than cheaper to maintain: a battery electric vehicle (bev) has fewer mov- ing parts conventional petrol/diesel car. there is relatively lit- tle servicing and no expensive exhaust systems, starter motors, filters, fuel in- jection systems, radiators and many other parts that aren’t needed in an ev. with just one moving part – the rotor – bevs are particularly simple and very strong. just maintain the brakes, tyres and suspension. batteries, however, do wear out so replacement batteries will eventually be needed. most car manu- facturers warrant ev batteries for around eight years. other types, the plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (phevs), have a petrol engine that needs regular servicing so cost more to maintain. however, be- cause the electrical motor requires little maintenance due to far fewer moving parts, this leads to less wear and tear of the petrol components. engine better for the environment: less pollution: the choice to use an ev contributes to helping to reduce harmful air pollution from ex- haust emissions. an ev has zero ex- haust emissions. renewable energy: using renew- able energy to recharge an ev can re- duce greenhouse gas emissions even further. the ev could be recharged from a solar pv system during the day instead, and not from the grid. eco-friendly materials: there is also a trend toward more eco-friendly production and materials for evs. some evs are made up of recycled materials with the padding made out of bio-based materials. ergon.com.au reports that the nissan leaf’s interior and body- work, for instance, are partly made out of green materials such as recycled water bottles, plastic bags, old car parts and even second hand home appli- ances. health benefits: evs give re- duced harmful exhaust emissions. thus, better air quality will lead to less health problems and costs caused by air pollution. evs are also quieter than petrol/diesel vehicles, which means less noise pollution. safety improvements: recent find- ings have shown that several ev fea- “ electric cars are easy to maintain, fuel effi- cient and climate friendly. as of 2019, there are about 5.6 million electric cars on the roads worldwide. tures can improve safety. evs tend to have lower centre of gravity that makes them less likely to roll over. they can also have a lower risk for major fires or explosions and the body construction and durability of evs may make them safer in a collision. ghana’s readiness for evs toward the end of 2018, ghanaian- based automobile company, kantanka automobile, announced it was soon going to introduce evs onto the ghana- ian market, a move that was solidly ap- proved by the country’s ministry of environment, science and technology during a workshop, organised to train individuals and organisations on elec- tric mobility technology (emt) policy for implementation in ghana. challenges notwithstanding the innumerable benefits, there are challenges that affect the ev industry globally, such as the need for significant infrastructure in- vestments (dedicated charging sta- tions), grid integration and planning requirements, as well as change in con- sumer attitudes and behaviour. despite the generality of these prob- lems, there are factors that offer pecu- liar hindrances to ev adoption particularly to sub-saharan african countries, including ghana. these in- clude a reliability on stable and consis- tent power supply with reasonably lower electricity prices, both of which are serious issues on this part of the continent, where electricity blackouts usually occur, sometimes on a daily basis, in 30 out of the 48 countries. electricity prices as well, are higher than most countries. global environmental issues of battery manufacture and disposal could also be a source of concern as there are rela- tively informal waste management sys- tems. moreover, cases demonstrate that rapid ev adoption “requires strong enabling policies, in- cluding tax incentives and subsidies,” which could be quite problem- atic given that many sub-saha- ran countries have competing priorities for limited govern- ment funding. 20 energyghana.com july 2019

industry news upstream getting the most out of petroleum contracting in ghana ghana’s oil scene, since com- mercial discovery in 2007 and subsequent commercial pro- duction in 2010, has seen giant international oil companies (iocs) make several expressions of interest with some success stories. recognizable names including tul- low oil plc (tullow), anadarko petro- leum, kosmos energy, sabre oil and gas and e.o. group are familiar iocs in ghana’s oil terrain. recently, exxon mobil and aker energy (takeover from hess) have been welcome additions to the list. upstream contracting is governed by the petroleum production and explo- ration law. prior to commercial discov- ery, the country operated an open-door policy to drive investment attraction into the oil sector. it was an administrative measure where companies gained access to oil blocks on a first-come first-served basis. however, it was found post discov- ery that the adequacy of industry regula- tions for upstream contracting was lacking and thus necessitated a review of the existing law – petroleum (explo- ration and production) law, pndc law 84. this birthed the current e&p law – oil exploration and production act (act 919 –2016), passed in 2016. for the sake of attracting and sus- “ for the sake of attract- ing and sustaining in- terest in the country’s nascent oil industry, it was considered that change in the contract- ing practice, particu- larly introducing transparency in the award process was crucial. taining interest in the country’s nascent oil industry, it was considered that change in the contracting practice, par- ticularly introducing transparency in the award process was crucial. this was also anticipated to curb a surging scramble for blocks by new entrants and marginal ¬field developers in the oil industry, whose technical and ¬financial capacity upstream exploration & production to deliver on their contractual obligations was subject to questioning. non-performing agreements the results of existing contracts un- dertaken with the open-door policy was a disturbing culture of non-compliance with contract obligations. most of the firms did not honour their contract agreements with the country. though some of the companies blamed their inability to perform on a preliminary ruling of the international tribunal for the law of the sea (itlos) which placed an injunction on field oper- ations in the disputed area of a maritime dispute between ghana and ivory coast, the status of non-performance remains the same two years after the ruling of the tribunal in ghana’s favour. even companies outside the disputed area also failed significantly to deliver on their obligations. this failure has been attributed to a direct function of non-en- forcement of the contract terms by gov- ernment. energy think-tank africa centre for energy policy notes that the “approach used for awarding the existing contracts and subsequent monitoring glorify inef- ficiency and deprive the country the op- portunity to produce more oil to meet national objectives of oil production such 22 energyghana.com july 2019

industry news/upstream ghana’s oil: the journey so far it’s getting close to a decade, since commercial production of oil in 2010. ghana presently has three oil fields producing oil: the ju- bilee fields, tweneboah ennyera ntomme (ten) fields and the sankofa gye nyame. jubilee is, however, the most productive. the gnpc forecasts that the value of ghana’s oil will reach us$60bn by 2022. out of a total of 21 licensed blocks, 14 are in ultra-deep waters and five are in shallow waters. eight of these were discovered over the last five years. the country’s largest oil field is the jubilee, estimated at 1.2bn barrels of crude in re- serves. ten has three fields of 240m barrels in reserves. both fields, operated by tullow, gave the country the largest portion of its daily total production of 145,000bpd in 2017. for the 2018 year of production, there was 79.500 field output, 300.4 capital & operational costs, 2174.9 gross revenue, with an average barrel price of 75 $us, 1.400 (64,37%*) the gnpc forecasts that the value of ghana’s oil will reach us$60bn by 2022. gains so far available data records $4.7billion in revenues so far. total production from inception of oil production to september 30, 2018 is 242,278,382 barrels, accord- ing to data from the ministry of finance, while total petroleum revenue received by the government between 2011 and september 2018 is us$4.723 billion. analysts commend the contribution of oil to ghana’s gross domestic prod- uct (gdp) describing it as remarkable. the country is said to have experienced one of the strongest growth numbers in the world at 14.4 per cent in 2011, up from 8 per cent in 2010, according to the ghana statistical service (gss). ghana’s gdp growth reached 8.5 per cent in 2017, attributed to strong performance in the oil and gas sector as well as significant growth in the coun- try’s industrial sector. the increase in oil production was accounted for by the commencement of crude oil production on the sankofa-gye nyame (sgn) and increased the tweneboa-enyenra-ntomme (ten) as well as the jubilee fields, according to the 2019 budget statement and eco- nomic policy. production from n b 0 6 $ the country can point to the atuabo gas facility, now contributing to liquid petroleum gas (lpg) consumption in ghana, as a worthy investment in its oil and gas sector. for instance, between 60 and 65 percent of domestic lpg consumption comes from the atuabo gas plant which has a major effect on demand for foreign currency used to import such products into the country, notes economist, prof john gatsi of the university of cape coast. “it is a remarkable achievement, using proceeds from our petroleum rev- enues to build the gas plant.” provision of jobs, skills training the atuabo gas processing plant has provided jobs for many within the catch- ment area, for both technical and non- technical people in the oil and gas sector. the sector has helped in the training of technical people for the in- dustry, so ghana can also boast of strategic human resource that should help the country become self-sustain- able in terms of sole engagement in the sector. greater demand for transparency, accountability prof gatsi noted that the country has over the years seen greater demand for transparency, disclosure and accounta- bility in the oil and gas sector, as many ghanaians are increasingly demanding accountability, which he said, is an achievement to be proud of. complications ghana’s political calendar and polit- ical wrangling, local content issues, lim- itations in infrastructure and financing, lack of expertise and the small size and fragile nature of the banking sector come together as an assortment of chal- lenges that shackle and thwart the growth of the country’s oil and gas sec- tor. for instance, according to a presen- tation given by the gnpc in 2014, the development costs of jubilee, ten and sankofa—which around us$6bn a project—is approximately equivalent to half of the entire assets of the ghanaian banking sector. average moreover, the willingness of stake- holders to be open about issues of trans- parency, responsibility, disclosures and accountability, which are the pillars of proper petroleum management, has been shaky. in almost all reports of the public interest and accountability com- mittee (piac), there have been chal- lenges of one or more non-existent or poorly executed projects which received allocations from the annual budget funding amount (abfa). way forward industry experts forecast opportuni- ties to boost local participation. for in- stance, it will become more difficult to process all of ghana's future crude oil production offshore (currently it is processed at floating production storage and offloading vessels), therefore, new offloading terminals and tank farms (as well as refineries) could be invested in onshore. since it is a fact that the upstream sector has limited number of jobs, there is need to create a strong mid- and downstream oil industry which will open up more jobs and value addition to resources. large scale investment is also a must, beginning with a bottom-most approach to capacity building, that is, of training low-level manpower, instead of training phd and masters programmes. moreover, there should be strict compliance with the petroleum revenue management act (prma) to improve oil governance and accountability. this task falls on government to ensure com- pliance. source: energy ghana 24 energyghana.com july 2019

industry news/downstream kwaebibirem in the ashanti and eastern regions. the authority attributes the choice of the two towns to good control and traceability of cylinders, active refill- ing outlets with consistent lpg sales over the last six months and multiplicity of lpg marketing companies (lpgmcs). meanwhile, the authority has indi- cated the programme will be imple- mented in october, 2019. the module crm, which is the implementation model for the national lpg policy, is aimed at providing direction for market- ing and distribution of lpg in a safe and efficient manner. the model also seeks to increase access from the current 25 per cent to at least 50 per cent to safe, clean and environmentally friendly lpg for do- mestic, commercial and industrial usage by 2030. npa’s chief notes that funding has been secured by ghana cylinder manu- facturing company to produce the 37,000 cylinders needed for the pilot ex- ercise. “cylinders produced now will be based on the accepted ghana standard authority’s standard for imports or do- mestic production” he stated. moreover, six licenses for the estab- lishment of cylinder bottling plants has been issued to begin the process for the implementation of the earlier this year. meanwhile, the risk assessment of lpg facilities, which forms part of the crm, would be extended to cover about sixty-six senior high schools across the country. the crm will create over 4,500 direct jobs under the actors of the new value chain and door to door delivery service. “this does not affect current jobs of lpg bulk transporters, lpg bulk distri- bution companies, and lpg bulk storage companies,” says mr tampuli. aside the prospective jobs, the au- thority will recruit over 200 safety audi- tors throughout the country as well as recruit additional resource for its newly established health safety security and environment department. “there will also be a number of indi- rect jobs created for installations, main- tenance, fabrication and other services. new investment opportunities such as bottling companies, bottle trans- portation, manufacturing of cylinders and cylinder re-distributors would also be available for grab,” he added. s t a k e h o l d e r inclusion hassan tampuli, ceo, npa holder engagement to keep vari- ous forms of dis- sent at bay, the npa has been embarking on a nationwide stake- to rope in the general public on the policy, as well as to also seek their suggestions on the most appropriate means of rolling out the policy that will make its implementation comfortable and suitable to the needs of consumers. earlier the lpg retailers association had challenged the rolling out of the new national policy which ended in a court suit. the vice chairman of the associa- tion, mr. gabriel kumi, has, however, ob- served that despite their initial resistance to the policy implementation, they now realize the need to embark on this policy, taking into consideration the instances of gas explosions across the country in re- cent past and has thus called on npa to continue its stakeholder engagement. cylinder recirculation smuggling of petroleum products reduces source: energy ghana the fight against the smuggling of petroleum products has yielded positive results, as the menace has not been recorded since the beginning of the year. the country lost close to gh¢1 bil- lion in revenue to petroleum smuggling activities in 2017 because of miscreants who brought in petroleum products in vessels which docked on the high sea and used smaller vessels to siphon them to tankers onshore. another form of the smuggling in- volved some dealers using export li- 26 energyghana.com cences to enjoy tax reliefs and turning around to sell the products at market prices for astronomical profits, to the disadvantage of law-abiding oil market- ing companies (omcs) and bulk oil dis- tribution companies (bdcs). the government also lost taxes due it in the process. however, periodic operations in- volving officials from the national pe- troleum authority (npa), the national security and the ghana revenue au- thority (gra) have brought the situa- tion under total control. the association of oil marketing companies (aomcs), which threatened to lay off more than 4,000 workers two years ago if nothing was done to stop the menace, has subsequently commended the government and other stakeholders for taking steps to ward off smugglers. the products often smuggled in- cluded marine gas oil (mgo), petrol and diesel. interview the respective leaders of the chief executive officer (ceo) of the aomcs, july 2019

industry news/downstream western region to get $300m oil tank farm the western region is sched- uled to get a $300 million fuel tank farm to be built at ahuntumano, near dixcove in the ahanta west municipality of the re- gion. the project is ex- pected to provide more than 2500 jobs to the local people. the 62,000-cubic-metre-capacity tank farm, which is expected to be one of the largest in the country, will be able to store up to 62,000,000 litres of pe- troleum products at a time. it would have six loading bays and 13,500 cubic metres of water for firefighting. saint louis petroleum, the petro- leum products storage company which will undertake the construction of the farm, explains that when completed, the tank farm would be beneficial in supplying fuel to large commercial con- sumers in the mining, bauxite and manganese industries. the project is expected to provide more than 2500 jobs to the local people. the company was setup as a bulk oil distributor mainly to supply and dis- tribute fuel to entities in the petro- chemical industry. specifically, it builds tank farms to store refined fuel for dis- tribution to oil marketing companies (omcs). saint louis petroleum’s group chief executive, nana kwame nkansah ii, said the project site, and afterward the build- ing of the fuel tank farm. meanwhile, ahead of the com- mencement of the first phase of the project in early january 2019, eval- uators have been contracted to esti- mate the worth of properties on the proposed site for payment of due compensation to the rightful land owners. 0 0 5 2 s b o j the chief and natives of the area have also been encouraged by the member of parliament for the area, kojo kum, to be supportive of the project and the company so that the construction will see a smooth sail to the mutual benefit of all parties involved, including the entire com- munity. ahanta west coordinating di- rector, innocent haligah, also urged the investors to operate within the confines of the law so they can oper- ate without stress. source: energy ghana operational phase of the project would constructing pipelines from the harbour at takoradi to the involve 30 energyghana.com july 2019

events/ghana energy awards vice president commends ghana energy awards in an interaction with the event organizer, mr henry teinor(right), the vice president, dr mahamadu bawumia(middle) said the awards is a good initiative and a perfect platform for the industry, adding that it would enhance healthy competition among stakeholders. his excellency the vice presi- dent, dr mahamadu bawu- mia, has described the annual ghana energy awards (gea) as a commendable motivation scheme for the energy sector. inspecting the gea booth at the opening of the 4th ghana renewable en- ergy fair at the accra international con- ference center, dr bawumia said the innovation and excellence of various companies, organisations and institu- tions in both private and public sectors of the country’s energy industry deserve “ the vice president said the awards is a good initiative and a perfect platform for the industry, adding that it would enhance healthy competition among stake- holders. he, therefore, urged all the sector’s insti- tutions, organisations and individuals to take advan- tage of the platform to market their brands. recognition as encouragement to con- tinue to do more. in an interaction with the event or- ganizer, mr henry teinor, the vice pres- ident said the awards is a good initiative and a perfect platform for the industry, adding that it would enhance healthy competition among stakeholders. he, therefore, urged all the sector’s institu- tions, organisations and individuals to take advantage of the platform to market their brands. this endorsement from the vice pres- ident adds to those from the ministry of energy and the world energy council ghana and is a further boost to the in- tegrity of the awards scheme. the 2018 event was under the theme: “sustainable energy for a ghana beyond aid,” and was in line with the govern- ment’s vision to move the country beyond a heavy dependence on foreign assistance for its economic development. the awards scheme was instituted to recognize the efforts of individuals and organisations in ghana’s energy sector. it is superintended by a carefully hand- picked awarding panel constituted of ex- perts in the industry, from both private and public sectors. the maiden event of the awards in 2017 recognised the achievements of twenty (20) individuals and companies in the energy industry and was well at- tended by over 300 stakeholders, with the presence of the former minister of lands and natural resources, hon. john peter amewu, to grace the occasion. for the second edition of the annual event, a total of 29 individuals and com- panies in ghana's energy sector were ho- noured at the awards gala held at the movenpic ambassador hotel in accra. some of the personalities honoured in- cluded dr. wereko-brobbey and lawyer tsatsu tsikata who received the lifetime achievement awards for their invaluable contributions to the country’s energy sec- tor. source: energy ghana 32 energyghana.com july 2019

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feature ghana gas company the gas challenge: bridging the knowledge gap in ghana’s gas sector ministry of energy receiving their awards as part of efforts to promote ca- pacity building in the gas sec- tor and gradually eliminate inaccuracies in knowledge sharing processes and reports, the ghana national gas company (gngc), the state entity in charge of natural gas resources in the country, has instituted the ‘gas challenge,’ which maiden event was organized on the 20th of june, 2019. the challenge presents an open and competitive platform that serves as a knowledge-sharing avenue to imbue gas sector knowledge into its stakeholders, including the academic community and the general public. with particular focus on the operations of the ghana national gas company, the competition covers is- sues of the entire gas value chain in the country, coupled with issues of health and safety in the gas sector, domestic use of gas, commercial issues in the gas in- dustry, among others. an initiative taken by the company; the challenge fulfills one of the gngc’s four core thematic areas – human ca- pacity development, an area which since 2017, has been a real concern for the company under the leadership of the chief executive, dr. ben k d asante. established against a backdrop of challenges confronting the petroleum “ the challenge pres- ents an open and com- petitive platform that serves as a knowl- edge-sharing avenue to imbue gas sector knowledge into its stakeholders, includ- ing the academic com- munity and the general public. sector with regard to inaccurate re- portage by some media organizations, the initiative by the gncg was wholly welcome and highly commended by deputy minister of energy in charge of petroleum, mohammed amin adam, who was present at the event as its spe- cial guest of honour. taking the opportunity to reprise the critical role gngc has played in the last few years in stabilizing the power sector and making electricity cheaper, dr amin encouraged all stakeholders to involve themselves actively in the capacity build- ing initiative to help meet international standards. the first event, christened ‘the stakeholder edition’ of the gas chal- lenge, organized at the british council auditorium in accra, comprised three categories; regulators, represented by the ministry of energy and the state en- terprise commission (sec) formed the first category. civil society organisa- tions with representation from the africa centre for energy policy (acep), public interest and accountability (piac) and kumasi institute for tech- nology and energy (kite) formed the second category while the media made up the third category and was ably rep- resented by the ghana broadcasting corporation (gbc), graphic communi- cations group and ghone tv. with gallant display of knowledge in the gas industry, the ministry of energy won the competition with piac and gbc coming first and second places respec- tively. 38 energyghana.com july 2019

vra profile of volta river authority on april 26, 1961, the volta river authority (vra) was es- tablished with the mandate to generate, transmit and distrib- ute electricity under the volta river de- velopment act, act 46 of the republic of ghana. in 2005, following the promulga- tion of a major amendment to the vra act in the context of the ghana govern- ment power sector reforms, the vra's mandate has now been largely restricted to generation of electricity. this amend- ment has created an enabling environ- ment to attract independent power producers (ipps) into the ghana energy market. following the amendment, the trans- mission function has been hived off into an entity, designated ghana grid com- pany (gridco) while vra's distribution agency, the northern electricity depart- ment (ned), established in april 1987, has been transformed into the northern electricity company (nedco), a stand-alone, wholly-owned, subsidiary of vra. distribution power activities the authority solely operates a total installed electricity generation capacity of 2,600mw, from the akosombo and kpong generation stations both located on the volta river with 1,020mw and 160mw respectively; with a complement of 2.5mw solar pv plant located at navrongo. the vra also owns a number of ther- mal plants located in aboadze near tako- radi, and within the tema enclave, with a capacity of 1,292mw. these thermal fa- cilities operate on a combined cycle and include; • the 330mw takoradi thermal 1 (t1) power plant, • 340mw takoradi thermal 2 (t2) power plant, which is a joint venture (jv) be- tween vra and taqa from abu dhabi, • a 110mw tema thermal 1 power plant (tt1pp) • an 80mw mines reserve plant (mrp), • 49.5mw tema thermal 2 power plant (tt2pp), • 38mw tema thermal 2 plant expan- sion (tt2pp-x), and • a 220mw kpone thermal power plant (ktpp) and • a 250mw ameri power plant. power expansion activities as part of the authority's expansion programme, vra is exploring the possi- bility of repowering the 132mw t3 plant and also converting the existing 220mw kpone thermal power plant (ktpp) into a combined cycle power plant. the vra also has plans of replacing the 80mw mines reserve power plant (mrp) with a new combined cycle technology. addi- tionally, the development of the 186mw t4 plant at aboadze is also being ex- plored. other collaborations include the vra and beijing fusing xiaocheng electronic technology stock company ltd for the vra/bxc project and the production of 700mw coal power project with shen- zhen energy. to diversify the authority's genera- tion portfolio and assist to achieve the government of ghana renewable energy (re) policy, vra formulated a renewable energy policy to develop and operate re plants (10% of renewable energy sources) in an efficient, cost effective and environ- mentally sustainable manner in its gener- 42 energyghana.com july 2019

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renewables cleaner energy for ghana: the renewable energy masterplan ghana hopes to expand the re- newable energy sources in its national energy mix by 2030. together with a policy target of universal electricity access by 2020, government is expending considerable efforts and resources to achieve these ambitious goals. the grand design of this national objective is captured in the renewable energy masterplan (remp), a national document that stipulates clear policy di- rections on how to materialize this goal toward a cleaner greener lower carbon future for the country. in a wider realizing the masterplan, elaborate with short through medium to long- term targets, is a topmost national pri- ority international commitment – the cop agreement, also known as the paris agreement; a global party of countries with strong pledges to reduce global greenhouse gas and carbon emissions through individ- ual country efforts termed ‘nationally determined contributions’. under this globally binding agree- ment, ghana’s renewable energy (re) sector has four comprehensive policy directions with a total of nine pro- grammes of action to be implemented to achieve desired mitigation goals in the agreement. uppermost on the priority list is to scale up national plan of re penetration by 10%, spread across sectors of the re- newable terrain: wind (50-150mw); hydro (150-300mw), (utility scale solar: 150-250mw); 55 mini-grids and 200,000 solar rooftop installations (both distributed generation and off- grids). secondly, the country must pro- mote clean rural households’ lighting with a specific target of two million solar lanterns. again, the plan stipu- lates the expansion of the adoption of market-based cleaner cooking solu- tions, scaling up adoption of lpg use from 5.5% to 50% for households cook- ing while facilitating the adoption of two million efficient cookstoves. the country is also tasked to double energy efficiency improvement to 20% in power plants – to replace lcos with natural gas. ghana’s renewable energy master- plan (remp) with the timeline of 2030, 46 energyghana.com however, has set ambitious targets to achieve: solar utility scale - 447.5mw, distributed solar pv - 200mw, stand- alone solar pv - 20mw, solar lanterns - 1,000,000 units, wind utility scale - 325mw, biomass utility scale - 72mw, waste-to-energy utility scale - 50mw, small/medium hydro plants - 150mw, solar traffic signals (% of total traffic signals installed in the country)- 60, and mini/micro-grids 12mw. nonetheless, the remp is not the only national document available on es- calating renewable energy technology adoption in the country. other govern- ment documentation includes national plans (ndpc), strategic national en- ergy plan (ec), integrated power sector master plan (ec, pptc), annual sup- ply-demand plans (pptc), transmis- sion system master plan (gridco) and distribution master plan (ecg, nedco). challenges to re adoption globally, re penetration is affected by overall load growth, cost of other technologies, gas prices and re capex, solar installations in rural ghana re targets and decrease in average gen- eration cost. ghana’s power situation is saddled with serious challenges; cost of genera- tion significantly contributes to finan- cial constraints in the sector, variable fuel cost and supply also impact system reliability. utility companies are bur- dened with payment for idle capacity charges while there is also high indebt- edness of power utilities. regardless of oversupply capacity, the country still feels the strain of recurrent power cuts. strong demand, it is estimated, will re- solve the oversupply issues in few years ahead. the renewable energy terrain in the country has generally been character- ized by a lack of knowledge and techni- cal skills in the sector, low-quality training, less or ineffective regulations and lack of financing. extended and cumbersome transaction and approval processes, as well as unclear criteria and process for government support of re projects and land acquisition and access issues all have served to obstruct the diffusion and use of renewable en- july 2019

opini n is there a global shortage of crude? from russia to saudi arabia, iran to venezuela, the list of crude oil supplies being curtailed or dis- rupted around the world is grow- ing longer by the month. this story examines whether the market’s biggest supply shifts are actually netting out into a global shortage of oil or not. the answer is a complex one, hing- ing on the type of crude in question and the time-frames selected. the simplest supply measure is all the oil pulled out of the ground globally. on this view it does indeed look like global production has fallen sharply over the past six months, as the opec+ group of countries slashed supply, while the u.s. has toughened sanctions on the oil industries of iran and venezuela. figures published by the energy in- telligence group show that global oil pro- duction was 96.79 million barrels a day in april. that is a drop of more than 2 million barrels a day since the end of last year. but just a slightly longer time-frame gives a different picture. if you compare april with a year earlier, production is ac- tually up, by 570,000 barrels a day -- pretty much in line with oil demand growth. while such a broad look at global oil production data offers some insight, it misses a lot of important detail. most of the new refineries built in asia and the middle east in recent years were designed to run on a diet of heavy, sour crudes. these barrels feature a high proportion of large hydrocarbon mole- cules that need to be broken down into smaller ones to make high-value trans- port fuels. they also tend to contain rel- atively high concentrations of sulfur that have to be removed to meet anti-pollu- tion regulations. but that’s not where the growth in oil supply has been. booming production from the u.s. permian basin has driven a surge in the supply of light crude, which was up year- on-year by more than 1.8 million barrels a day in april. by contrast, the increase since the end of 2018 has been much smaller, at 160,000 barrels a day. the picture for heavy crude is com- pletely different. slumping output from venezuela, where years of mismanagement and under-investment have been com- pounded by the impact of u.s. sanctions on the state oil company, has driven a sharp drop in global supply, both year- on-year and year-to-date. the impact of venezuela’s difficulties has been exacer- bated by continuing declines in mexico’s oil production, which was previously ex- pected to be reversed this year. an uptick in canadian output, which had been curtailed by government-im- posed restrictions in the first months of this year, has done little to offset the re- cent declines in heavy oil production elsewhere. and then there’s that big bit in the middle of the range -- medium crude -- that’s dominated by russia and saudi arabia and includes most of the other persian gulf producers. saudi oil production, which surged in the second half of 2018, is now back where it was a year ago. initially, it more than offset the decline in iranian supply that resulted from the snap-back of u.s. oil sanctions. but since january, a drop in iran’s output hasn’t been covered by increases in medium crude production elsewhere. sanctions waivers, issued to eight buyers of iranian crude, were not re- newed by the u.s. when they expired in early may and that will keep iran’s out- put under further pressure in the coming months. for now, saudi arabia appears unwilling to boost its own supply, prefer- ring instead to push for an extension of the opec+ output restraint. so, is there an oil shortage? there’s certainly no shortage of light crude, but the picture is very different for the medium and heavies. the 2 million bar- rel a day drop in total production since the end of 2018 has all been medium and heavy, with little additional light oil to offset the decline in that period. but over the longer time-frame, rising light crude output has more than offset the declines elsewhere, giving a small net increase. note: heavy crude is usually de- fined as having an api gravity below 26, while light crude has a gravity above 35. grades between those two limits are classed as medium. source: julian lee, oil strate- gist & writer for bloomberg 48 energyghana.com july 2019

energy / politics in 'perspectives' the dangers of energy politics for the uk it seems astonishing that some of the most critical issues in uk life have been subject to short-term political processes instead of longer-term en- deavour. the handling of uk energy strat- egy leaves much to be desired. the fact is that we face a ‘trilemma’ caused by the op- posing pulls of climate change, national security and the cost of energy. will it be possible to resolve these tensions and keep the lights on? these issues are the ele- phants in the chamber during the current discussion of the energy bill in parlia- ment. first, the nation is committed to legis- lation to reduce co2 emission by 80% by 2050 and this requires action relating to the sectors of transport, heat and power. much of the change being considered re- volves around developing the electricity sector with attempts to reduce the carbon intensity from 500 to 100 g/kwh. of course it is easy to cast aside the reality that long-term electricity usage is ex- pected to grow double by 2050 to 1750 twhr/yr). the uk currently depends on gas, coal, oil and nuclear sources. but many of our coal plants will close in the next few years and all current nuclear capacity will expire within nine years leaving a poten- tial gap in our capacity that may be filled post 2020 by new nuclear - meantime op- tions might include wind (expensive and intermittent) or greater use of gas turbines (locking us into electricity at high carbon intensity) or simply not closing some of the intended coal plants. our ability to de- liver decarbonisation leans heavily on methods for carbon capture, at present yet to demonstrated at scale and with poten- tially high costs. second, what about the cost of energy? in the uk we experience high energy costs for domestic and industrial manufactur- ing. there is much uncertainty whilst the energy bill and the electricity market re- forms are in progress. public tolerance of rising energy costs is running thin, espe- cially in comparison with other nations. there is significant energy poverty. elec- trification carries a high tariff due to the needed investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure. it has been es- timated that the uk energy policy will re- quire £161bn to deliver by 2020 alone and there must be doubts this is a credible out- come from the energy bill, given the lack in confidence for investment in the uk. at its worst this is projected to mean rises in energy bills by 30% in 2020 and 100% by 2030, by which time the requirement is estimated to be £376bn. finally, there is on-going concern about security of supply. currently we have only one interconnect into europe (of 3gw capacity), although this is being expanded. we have a projected strong de- pendence on the import of gas and we are well equipped for transfer of liquefied nat- ural gas from tankers ships. the govern- ment, wisely, favour a diversified approach to balance risks. the future yield of fracking may change the equation in some ways. the uk is fortunate to have examined many options with careful analysis by the key government depart- ments. however, questions remain as to whether we can be nimble and secure our energy needs? we have no cost effective way of pro- viding for the storage of energy like wind power. this is why there is a growing im- perative to convince policy makers and re- searchers to ensure that large scale energy storage solutions are explored. here at the university of birmingham we have been exploring energy storage using hydrogen fuel (and have our own filling station, cars, boat and train running on such systems). we are also committed to opening-up new methods in the use of clean ‘liquid air en- ergy storage’ using cryogenic liquids. bat- teries have their place but if progress is to be made we need low cost large-scale stor- age solutions, that do not consume min- eral and metal resources, and we need them fast. so, what advice can we give politi- cians? there is a need to look at integrated solutions for power, transport and heat, not isolated pragmatic interventions that carry one-off job creation storylines (solar fitters and making more ‘smart’ (sic) me- ters). uk contribution to climate change is of course tiny on the global stage. so, we must balance our aspirations as leaders of the pack with reality and focus on changes that also bring business value (and there are indeed many such opportunities in buildings, local heat systems, efficiency projects etc). there is a need to demon- strate clear economic benefits as drivers for change. ‘wrong time, wrong place energy’ is endemic with renewable systems and we must find ways to store energy and despatch it when needed. energy storage urgently needs special considerations in legislation, regulation and market stimu- lation. politicians seem to have adopted rather aggressive stances to energy com- panies of late. energy has become a cen- trepiece for political rhetoric. there should be a more measured and mature understanding of the sector and the chal- lenges it is facing. there is great prospect to deliver higher percentage dependence on renew- ables for uk but the current pathway and timeline is not well conceived. a backstop of nuclear and fossil fuels will be needed to buffer the pathway before proper stor- age technology will ensure robust secure renewable provision. there is a need for certainty in an un- certain investment environment. this would provide clarity for investors on rev- enues. there is need for greater trans- parency on costs. there needs to be work done on setting the carbon floor price and emissions performance standards. at present these all add up to weak signals for investors in low carbon innovation. it’s clear that politics needs to catch up with the pace of the economy and debate as the appetite for climate change and de- 50 energyghana.com july 2019

mining news understand what makes for a “sound” business environment. the country cut corporate taxes in 2016 and in 2017 changed gold fields’ mineral royalty to a sliding scale based on the gold price, from a 5% flat rate. “the government of ghana’s 10% free-carry stake in all mining companies provides a level of security to the invest- ment,” said sven lunsche, spokesman for gold fields. back in south africa, a dearth of exploration and invest- ment means the sector that once powered africa’s most-in- dustrialized economy will continue to shrink, said mineral resources and energy minister gwede mantashe. as south africa’s 130-year-old industry limps toward its final years, mining investors must look beyond gold for better returns, he said. “gold is an old sector and naturally it will decline,” man- tashe said. “new minerals that are discovered are becoming more important.” source: mining.com price of aluminum going down ghana seeks investors to mine untapped bauxite sources ghana is inviting investors to submit plans on how to tap the nation’s baux- ite deposits as the government seeks to leverage more of its mineral resources to fund infrastructure. ghana integrated aluminium de- velopment corp. is receiving proposals on how to expand bauxite production and build refining and smelting capac- ity for the manufacturing of alumina and aluminum, chief executive offi- cer michael ansah said in an inter- view. the state-owned company was created last year to implement the gov- ernment’s plans for the industry. interested parties can submit bids over three rounds, of which the first one closes at the end of the month, said ansah. the country wants to raise annual output through these rounds of deals to 5 million metric tons, from 1.4 mil- lion tons at the moment, said ansah. west african neighbor guinea, the largest exporter of bauxite to china, produced about 50 million tons of the aluminum ingredient in 2018, accord- ing to the u.s. geological survey. the government of president nana akufo-addo is seeking to use the pro- ceeds of bauxite mining to build schools, hospitals, bridges and roads. last year, it concluded a $2 billion deal with china’s sinohydro corp. for infrastructure projects, an agreement that it will finance with the proceeds of refined bauxite sales. the country also mines gold, diamonds and man- ganese, and is the world’s second- biggest grower of cocoa. ghana’s plans to increase bauxite output come even though the alu- minum market has declined for the past year, reversing a surge in april 2018 that happened in the wake of sanctions on major producer united co. rusal. priority projects include a refinery for alumina production, estimated to cost over $1 billion. raising output ca- pability of the volta aluminium co. smelter from 200,000 tons. the refinery is cur- rently operating at a fifth of its capac- ity. to 350,000 tons, source: mining.com 52 energyghana.com july 2019

news techn logy improving solar cell efficiency with a bucket of water solar cell a simple frame that allows a solar cell to track the sun's path across the sky beth parks has devised an as- tonishingly simple way to overcome a limitation of solar cells -- a bucket of water. she developed a frame that holds the solar cell with a bucket suspended on either end. by controlling the leak of water from one of the buckets, the solar cell shifts, tracking the arc of the sun throughout the day.’ “looking at your cell phone, you re- alize the battery is low, which means you have to make another long walk into town to pay money to charge the device. by the time you get home, it's getting dark. you light the kerosene lamp that casts a dim glow across the room. a significant amount of your in- come is burned by the lamp, and it emits noxious gases. breathing the same air as your burning lamp can be equivalent to smoking several packs of cigarettes a day.” this scenario seems foreign to most people living in the united states, but it's a common reality for many people living in the developing world. one pos- sible solution is to use off-grid renew- able energy sources like solar to generate electricity for lighting and charging on site. during the 2019 american physical society march meeting in boston this week, beth parks will present a design that her team created that increases the amount of sunlight captured by a solar cell, enhancing its energy production by almost one-third. "in uganda, between 20 to 25 per- cent of people have no access to elec- tricity," said parks, an associate professor at colgate university. "one solar cell supplies enough energy to power lights and charge cell phones and radios. this is a huge quality-of-life im- provement." while solar panels offer a clean source of renewable energy, they are typically mounted on a fixed frame and only optimally oriented toward the sun during specific hours of the day. parks previously saw a design for a new technology to improve solar cell efficiency frame that would allow the solar panel to track the sun using hanging weights. but the design had not been tested to see how it actually performed. nor had it been optimized for affordability to en- sure commercial viability and adoption. during her year on a fulbright fel- lowship in uganda, she worked with students at the mbarara university of science and technology to design a frame using metal tubing that a local welder could easily obtain and assem- ble. "we have created a frame using in- expensive materials that allows the solar panels to track the arc of the sun throughout the day," parks said. "this approach could make solar energy more affordable to households and small businesses in the developing world." in her design, a bucket of rocks is placed on the west side of the frame and a bucket of water is placed on the east side. using a controlled leak from the water bucket, the weight shifts and the panel slowly rotates from east to west throughout the day. parks and her team tested the de- sign on 20 random days in uganda. the solar cell on the movable frame cap- tured 30 percent more sunlight than the stationary solar cell at the same lo- cation. "if this frame is adopted, it has the potential to create a small industry for the local community," parks said. according to parks, the cost of the system -- the solar cell, battery, charger and frame -- is about 10 percent less than a comparable rooftop solar cell system. this astonishingly simple, inex- pensive and ingenious method could in- crease solar energy captured for people in developing countries, as well as re- mote regions that are off the grid. source: www.sciencedaily.com 54 energyghana.com july 2019

personality profile emmanuel antwi-darkwa chief executive, vra male personality of the year 2018 mr emmanuel antwi-darkwa is a civil engineer with over thirty years’ experience in ghana’s energy sector. he began his career in 1985 with the volta river authority (vra), serving in various capacities until 2002. between 2002 and 2009, he was the director of power at the ministry of energy. three years later, he went into private engineering consultancy until he was appointed as chief executive of vra. mr. antwi-darkwa has detailed knowledge in func- tional and infrastructural developments, regulatory influ- ences in the country’s energy sector, and the dynamics of international power systems development. he is also ex- pert in strategic planning, policy formulation and evalua- tion, contract negotiations as well as the management of several multi-disciplinary power projects. achievements he was instrumental in the planning studies for the im- plementation of the 330mw tapco and the bui hydro- electric power projects. he was also a core figure in the preparation of project agreements for the development and expansion of the 220mw takoradi thermal power plant by an additional 110mw. he has also served on several committees including the technical committee of the government negotiating team on the valco agreement, and a lead member of the ghana negotiation team for the necessary technical and financial agreements with the chinese government for the 400mw bui power project. as director of power at the ministry of energy from 2002 to 2009, mr. antwi-darkwa was responsible for the formulation of policies, their monitoring and evaluation, and the supervision of operations of state institutions in the sector; the vra, gridco and the ecg. again, he served as project manager for the govern- ment of ghana’s national electrification programme, and lead member for the government negotiating team for the technical and coordination of support from multilateral and bilateral institutions such as the world bank, interna- tional finance corporation (ifc), the african development bank and european investment bank (eib). his exposure to the workings and operations of these institutions opened opportunities for him to serve as a liaison for a number of appraisal/supervisory missions of these institutions over the years. mr. emmanuel antwi-darkwa is well versed in the de- velopment and operation of the oil and gas business in- cluding the design and evaluation of international oil and gas transactions, as well as extensive knowledge of the var- ious contractual arrangements in the oil & gas sector in- cluding resource sharing arrangements, taxation, and the evaluation of oil & gas infrastructure projects. he is a member of several professional bodies includ- ing the ghana institution of engineers (ghie), interna- tional hydropower association (iha), society of petroleum engineers (spe), association of international petroleum negotiators (aipn) and the editorial advisory board of the hydro review worldwide, an international professional magazine on hydropower development. mr. antwi-darkwa holds a master of business admin- istration (mba) in international oil & gas management, university of dundee, uk. he also holds a master of public administration (mpa) from harvard university, usa, and a bachelor of science (hons) (civil engineering) from the kwame nkrumah university of science and technology, ghana. 56 energyghana.com july 2019

top 10 biggest mines in the world 3. goldstrike the goldstrike gold mining complex is in eureka county in north-eastern nevada and forms part of the newly-created bar- rick-newmont jv in the us state. the mine consists of both open pit and underground operations. it is located on the carlin trend, a prolific gold – since barrick acquired goldstrike in 1986 it has produced 42m ounces of gold. in 2018, goldstrike (which includes output from the cortez mine) produced just under 2.1 million ounces of gold. 4. olimpiada located in one of russia’s most prolific gold mining provinces, olimpiada is polyus’ largest operation. the mine began produc- tion in 1996 and currently accounts for over a half the moscow- based company’s total gold output. the ore mined at the site is processed at three plants with a combined capacity of 13 million tonnes of ore annually. olimpiada produced over 1.3 million ounces of gold in 2018, a 12% increase over the prior year. 5. lihir newcrest’s lihir operation on aniolam island in the new ireland province of papua new guinea is 900 kilo- metres north-east of the capital port moresby. the gold deposit at lihir is within the luise caldera, an extinct volcanic crater that is geothermally active. the lihir mine produced 976,000 ounces of gold in 2018, a 6% improvement over 2017. 6. pueblo viejo the pueblo viejo mine in the dominican republic is about 100 km northwest of the capital city of santo domingo. the mine is operated by the pueblo viejo dominicana corporation — a joint venture between barrick (60%) and newmont goldcorp (40%) the pueblo viejo mine produced 969,000 ounces of gold in 2018, losing its status as a 1moz+ annual producer. 8.kibali kibali mine in democratic republic of congo is situated adjacent to the town of doko and 210km from arua on the ugandan border. kibali is co- owned by anglogold ashanti (45%), barrick gold corporation (45%) following its merger with randgold resources, and société minière de kilo- moto (sokimo) (10%), a state-owned gold min- ing company. kibali produced 807,000 ounces of gold in 2018, a 35% jump over 2017. 7. carlin newmont goldcorp’s four mine sites in nevada include integrated opera- tions at carlin, located west of the city of elko on the geologic feature known as the carlin trend. stretch- ing 56km (35mi), the carlin trend was first prospected by newmont ge- ologists john livermore and alan coope in 1965. carlin produced 927,000 ounces of gold in 2018, down nearly 5% year on year. 9.cadia east cadia valley operation in new south wales was australia’s top producing mine last year, dethroning newmont goldcorp’s boddington operation in western aus- tralia and helping to push the storied kal- goorlie super pit out of the top 10. cadia east underground panel cave mine com- menced commercial production in janu- ary 2013. cadia east mine in the cadia valley produced 752,000 ounces of gold in 2018, a stunning 52% more than last year. 10. boddington newmont goldcorp’s boddington mine is lo- cated within the saddleback greenstone belt in western australia. boddington is located 120 km southeast of perth. boddington was a three-way joint venture between newmont goldcorp, anglogold ashanti and newcrest. in 2009, newmont goldcorp purchased angl- ogold ashanti’s shares to become the sole owner. boddington produced 709,000 ounces of gold in 2018, a 10% year on year decline. 60 energyghana.com july 2019

top 5 african countries shifting to renewables top 5 african countries shifting to renewables our dependence on fossil fuels amounts to global pyroma- nia, and the only fire extin- guisher we have at our disposal is renewable energy.” – hermann scheer from morocco to south africa, millions of people are gaining access to electricity for the first time as countries in africa turn to solar, wind and hydropower projects to boost generation capacity. switch- ing to renewable energy can help meet this rising demand and drive africa’s rapid economic growth without adding to global climate risks. an energy deficit has effec- tively stunted africa’s development, with an estimated 70 percent of people in sub-saharan africans without reliable access to electricity. tapping into africa’s renewable en- ergy potential would put the conti- nent on the right path to achieve the sdgs. a few interesting facts about africa’s energy systems: today, 60 million people in africa use off-grid solar power as an electricity source almost 87% of the rural poor in sub-saharan africa do not have ac- cess to electricity. ethiopia, kenya, and tanzania expanded access to electricity by at least 3 percent of their population annually between 2010 and 2016. renewable energy creates 5 times more jobs than fossil fuels. here we have listed 5 african countries that are switching to re- newable energy: 1. kenya kenya is the global leader in the number of solar power systems installed per capita. more kenyans are turning to solar power every year rather than making connections to the country’s electric grid. the reason for this is the high connectivity costs and the fact that there is an abundance of solar power in kenya. 3. algeria despite being a hydrocarbon-rich nation, alge- ria is making a change to harness its renewable energy potential. the country’s renewable energy program is one of the most progressive in the mena region and the government is making all- out efforts to secure investments and reliable technology partners for ongoing and upcoming projects. 2. south africa since 2010, south africa has had one of the world’s fastest growth rates for renewable energy invest- ment. $10.7 billion has already been invested in the south african economy with another $4.7 billion to be invested over the next three to five years when construction of 27 renewable power projects signed in april, will commence. 4. ghana ghana aspires to industrialise and provide economic opportunities for its growing popu- lation of 28.2 million. the nation is looking to diversify its power resources, as its current reliance on hydropower makes it particularly vulnerable to droughts. in an effort to im- prove its national electric grid, the country implemented a national electrification scheme to provide universal access to electricity by the year 2020. 5. morocco in 2015, 34 percent of the country’s energy supply was provided by renewable en- ergy (pdf), with solar representing 2 percent of this. morocco is a country with sunshine up to 350 days a year, so it has wisely decided to invest heavily in solar powered energy production. the first phase of the world’s biggest concentrated solar plant recently opened in morocco and in combination with their wind and hydro production facilities, is predicted to produce enough energy for more than one million moroccan households by 2020. 62 energyghana.com july 2019

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