General News of Friday, 14 May 2010

Source: GNA

Renewable energy bill before Cabinet - Oteng Adjei

Accra, May 14, GNA - Dr. Joe Oteng Adjei, Minister of Energy, has announced that a renewable energy draft bill setting out a feed-in-tariff to ensure guaranteed price for electricity generated from renewable energy sources was before Cabinet.

He told a meeting organised by Afrika Verein in cooperation with Hamburg Chamber of Industry and Commerce and Ghanaian-German Economic Association that the bill could be passed before the end of the year. A statement issued and signed by Mr. Stephen Antwi, President of the association copied to Ghana News Agency in Accra said the forum dubbed "Ghana Energy Day", was attended by German business entrepreneurs interested in investing in Ghana's Energy Sector. Dr. Oteng Adjei briefed the meeting about the sector, especially electricity generation, transmission and distribution and pledged government's support to investors in the sector.

In the renewable energy sector, he urged them to invest in the solar panel plants to serve Ghana and the ECOWAS market. In another development, a delegation of Ghanaian business executives has returned from a week's Solar Energy Trade Mission to Germany, acclaimed the world's leader in renewable energy production. Most of the German companies visited expressed their desire to invest in Ghana where, compared to Germany, solar radiation is very high. "They are, however, waiting for the promulgation of the renewable energy law that would set out policy guidelines and address operational issues", the statement said. 14 May 10