President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday stated that the National Energy Policy, 2020, has been completed to improve the framework and strategies towards meeting the contemporary energy needs of the country.

He said the government had also improved the financial sustainability of the energy sector through several interventions, including paying up the energy legacy debts.

“Furthermore, negotiations with Independent Power Producers, the terms of whose contracts entail substantial financial charges on the state, are ongoing and should be completed by the end of the year. This should result in a more affordable cost of power for the Ghanaian people.”

Delivering the State of the Nations Address (SONA) in Parliament, President Nana Akufo-Addo said under the National Electrification Scheme, a total of 1,436 communities were connected to the national grid, which had increased the national electricity access rate to 85.17 percent as of October 2020, saying his ambition was that, by the end of his term, the figure would be 100 percent.

He said the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation had also accelerated petroleum exploration activities in the inland Volta Basin and that it had successfully acquired and processed 2,538 line kilometre of 2D seismic data, analysed 1,537 geochemical samples, and established a working petroleum system.

“A gas processing plant-train is being constructed in the Western Region to complement the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant to increase dry gas delivery for power and non-power users.”

The President said the Takoradi portion of the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project (TTIP) had been completed with an increased capacity of gas exports from Takoradi to Tema, through the West African Gas Pipeline.

“GNPC and its private sector partners have advanced the work on the Tema LNG project, Sub-Saharan Africa’s first LNG regasification terminal, which is expected to come on stream in the year, to improve gas supply reliability for power and non-power industrial applications.

“The facility will also become a hub for regional energy security, ensuring low-cost fuel for both Ghana and her partners in the ECOWAS Region.”