Net-metering portal for clean energy access launched

The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has launched a web exertion level for net-metering aimed astatine enhancing entree to cleanable vigor successful the country. 

Net metering is an energy billing mechanics which is simply a constituent of the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP), which allows customers who make their ain energy, typically done star PV systems, to merchantability excess vigor to the grid organisation web of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the Northern Distribution Company (NEDCo) and Enclave Power.

The user-friendly web portal volition alteration homes, businesses, manufacture owners and nationalist facilities to use for the astute net-meters for some existing and caller captive renewable vigor installations.

The Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, whose code was work connected his behalf astatine the motorboat of the system, said the level was captious to the government's greenish modulation docket arsenic it would let for the tracking of each renewable vigor strategy installed successful the country.

To that effect, helium directed cardinal stakeholders successful the powerfulness sector, peculiarly ECG, NEDCo, Energy Commission, and the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), to nexus the level to their websites for seamless entree by users. 

Context

In 2022, the authorities signed agreements with the African Development Bank (AfDB) - Climate Investment Fund (CIF) and the Swiss government, represented by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), to undertake the Ghana Mini Grid and Solar Photovoltaic Net Metering task nether the Scaling up Renewable Energy Programme (SREP).

The nonsubjective was to summation entree to cleanable and reliable energy services and enactment debased c socio-economic improvement successful the country.

The task is besides to enactment the electrification of land communities, which marque up 15 per cent of the remaining 10 per cent of the colonisation without entree to electricity. 

, the task is besides to deploy Rooftop Solar PV Net Metered Systems to trim the government's indebtedness to the powerfulness utilities and to trim the outgo of doing concern by backstage assemblage SMEs.

Those interventions are aimed astatine the government's people to execute a renewable vigor premix of 10 per cent by 2030.

Project description

The SREP is structured astir 3 main components - mini-grids and star location systems; net-metering star PV (NMPV); and task absorption and supervision.

Mini-grid and Solar Home Systems (SHS) constituent aims to make 35 renewable mini-grids standalone star PV systems for 750 tiny and medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), 400 schools, 200 wellness centres and 100 communities' vigor work systems successful the Volta Lake portion and Northern Region.

The NMPV constituent aims to standard up the existing Ghana nett metering programme and deploy up to 12,000 units of roof-mounted net-metered star PV systems for nationalist facilities, SMEs and households.

Mr Jinapor said though Ghana’s renewable capableness stood astatine 280 MW, representing astir 5 per cent of the nationalist mix, determination was optimism for 7 per cent by 2027 done strategical rollouts. 

Good initiative

The Swiss Ambassador to Ghana, Simone Giger, said the net-metering exertion portal was a milestone successful the country’s greenish vigor transition.

She added that the Swiss authorities would proceed to enactment Ghana’s efforts to accelerate entree to cleanable vigor for each to heighten sustainable development.

The Country Manager of AfDB, Eyerusalem Fasika, commended the government’s committedness to expanding renewable vigor and said that it was a bold measurement towards warring clime change.