Power system expansion using renewable energy sources in Ghana

Thermal power generation using light crude oil or natural gas and hydropower generation across the Volta Lake in Ghana, which is the world's largest man-made lake in terms of surface area, predominate Ghana's generation. The dependence of the power system on hydro (54.7%) and thermal (45.2%) generation results in high fuel (water and crude oil or natural gas) risk and insecurity, which translates into generation insufficiency in the country. Nonetheless, the average generation from these two energy sources for the year 2014 was estimated to be 2,515 MW, for a projected total peak demand of 2,381.58 MW, which represents a 13% increase in the previous year's demand. The closeness of the power generation and demand indicates a small reserve margin for contingencies in the power system. This has consequently led to excessive pressure on the power system especially as power generation has been inadequate to meet the increasing demand. An extensive expansion of the power system is thus urgently required to concurrently meet the increasing demand and maintain an optimum reserve margin necessary for the safe operation of the power system. In this regard, various generation expansion projects have been commissioned in Ghana, which focus on augmenting the generation capacity and hence utilize both conventional and renewable energy sources. This paper therefore highlights the deployment of renewable energy sources in Ghana's power system expansion.