Dr Bawumia: Ghana targets net zero carbon emissions by 2070

Ghana targets to fully transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy by 2070.

Until then, natural gas will continue to be part of Ghana’s energy mix.

Currently, about 70% of the country’s generation installed capacity of 5,321 megawatts (MW) is from a thermal plant that uses natural gas as its primary fuel.

Ghana has made a determined effort to phase out fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy, as a party to the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

Vice-President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia who announced this said as much as the government is committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2070, the country must strike a balance in the context of its social, economic, and environmental requirements in the transition process.

He said the Government would put strategies in place to increase the share of renewable energy in the mix from medium to long term.

Dr Bawumia was speaking at the opening of the 2022 Ghana International Petroleum Conference (GhIPCon).

The three-day Conference is being organised by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in collaboration with the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Distributors (CBOD) and under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy.

The Conference will highlight the petroleum downstream industry’s perspective and guidance on issues of government policy and regulatory framework.

It is on the theme: “Energy Transition in the African Petroleum Downstream Context: Prospects, Challenges and the way Forward.”

Dr Bawumia noted that the energy transition process will affect the demand for energy and the downstream industries that relied on the production and use of fossil fuels.

According to him, the transition might also lead to increased investment in renewable energy and the development of new technologies for the transportation and storage of energy.

Consequently, he urged players in the downstream sector on the African continent to focus on innovation and diversification in order to thrive and mitigate the impact of the transition.

The Ministry of Energy has set up the National Energy Transition Committee (NETC), whose aim is to develop a national energy transition policy for the country.

Mr William Owuraku Aidoo, Deputy Minister of Energy, said the petroleum downstream industry was one of Ghana’s major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, thus, the transformation of the sector was criticial to mitigating the impact of climate change on humanity.

He said Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), natural gas, hydrogen gas and biofuels blended with petroleum products were expected to play a major role in the country’s energy transition agenda in the petroleum downstream sector.