Ghana will not rush to transition to clean energy – Mohammed Amin Adam
Dr Mohammed Amin Adam, a Deputy Minister of Energy, has stated that Ghana will not rush through the energy transition period from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
He stated that the oil-producing West African country will transition at its own speed, rather than following other countries’ plans and arrangements.
Ghana, according to Dr Amin Adam, must leverage the maximum benefits of crude oil production in order to grow the country before considering abandoning the sector.
The European Union is attempting to move the emphasis away from fossil-based energy production and consumption systems, such as oil, natural gas, and coal, and toward renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, as well as lithium-ion batteries, as part of the energy transition.
Mr Amin Adams, a Karaga Member of Parliament, said in an interview with TV3 that “Ghana will transition at its own pace, we want to produce oil and gas, we want to continue to do that because we need the resources, we need the revenue to develop our country, we need the value addition, and we cannot abandon it now.”
The deputy minister further revealed that “some natural gas has just been recognized by the European Union as transition fuel because it is the cleanest in the fossil chain and so, when Europe has agreed that natural gas is a transition fuel, then there is no basis for us to even contemplate abandoning natural gas. We can use natural gas for power production, we can use natural gas for fuel or transportation, and we can convert natural gas into petrochemicals. There are so many ways we can develop our country using these resources.”
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta recently made a similar comment to the effect that Ghana needs to maximize its full potential in the crude oil sector.
He said that Ghana has multiple oil blocks to help with the nation’s development but the West is calling for drift from fossil fuel to renewable energy.
He said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) was seeking to acquire two additional oil blocks valued in excess of $2billion.
According to the minister, “Ghana has multiple oil blocks and as we speak now, our own GNPC is looking to acquire stakes in just two blocks which are valued by an external valuer in excess of $2 billion. Potentially, we could bring in billions of dollars if we are given the chance to develop these multiple blocks. But now, all of a sudden, the West is saying we should move to clean energy.
“Taking funding on the table for oil and gas investments is not the solution. The delivery of low-cost energy to fuel our development will require a whole new approach toward investments in developing oil and gas.
Mr. Ofori-Atta while speaking at a National Energy Transition forum organized by the Ministry of Energy in Accra on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, said “We will need to make investments on a long term basis delivered through a competitive evaluation that is optimized to reduce cost. Our ultimate aim will be to develop term decarbonization pathways that do not jeopardize our growth prospects and chances of attaining industrial transformation”.
