Renewable Energy policy must favour private investors

Energy research firm, KITE has cautioned that the current energy regime is not favorable for the private sector to go into renewable energy.

According to KITE, although it will be a good initiative to get the private sector on board, it will need the right policies and assistance from government to achieve this aim.

“We are developing renewable energy master plan which has some targets for the various options but I think the government is talking about working with the private sector but the current regime is not too favorable for the private sector” Executive Director of KITE, Ishmael Edjekumhene said.

He added, “The tariffs are not even clear to the people. Government has this universal tariff pricing policy where regardless of where you produce electricity you are charged the same amount. So it really isn’t logic for private people to go into these areas”.

In recent times, there have been calls to reduce the electricity tariffs as the nation prepares to venture into renewable energy.

Speaking to Citi Business News, Ishmael Edjekumhene was hopeful the private sector will be able to delve into renewable energy soon especially with the passage of the renewable energy law.

“So there are some grey areas, some regulatory issues that would have to be resolved but we started the right path by passing the renewable energy law, and following up with all these plans subsequently, I think once we tackle some of these challenges, we should be good to go” he added.

He spoke to Citi Business News at the sidelines of the launch of the new Exeron hybrid off-grid system by Metka Energy.

The Exeron Technology is designed to offer power for areas with limited access to grid or bad grid connection, whilst providing significant cost savings.

The product is developed and manufactured by International Power Supply (IPS).

About Metka

Metka is an engineering contractor and industrial manufacturing group, active within the Energy, Infrastructure and Defence sectors.

It is active in carrying out major power plant projects throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with strong emphasis on highly-efficient combined cycle gas turbine technology.

The company has significant experience in gas turbine based power generation, including combined cycle, co-generation and simple cycle technology, providing solutions and optimal performance.

By: Jessica Ayorkor Aryee/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana