Fred Oware, Board Chairman of Nuclear Power Ghana
Fred Oware, Board Chairman of Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG) – owner and operator of Ghana’s first nuclear power plant, has said that the nation has come to the realisation that nuclear power offers the best solution to ensure cheap production and sale of power to spur growth through industrialisation.
According to him, an assessment of the nation’s power generation sector has shown that with the current industrialisation agenda “nuclear power is the future for Ghana’s power generation sector”.
He made this known during an event that saw NPG sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) for effective nuclear power communication.
For him, Akosombo and Kpong hydropower systems are dwindling in capacity, and power production from private sources are becoming more expensive by the day – hence the reason a Nuclear Power Programme Comprehensive Report is currently before cabinet awaiting a decision. The decision will see government commit and invest into the programme and call on a vendor to build the nuclear power plant for the nation.
Even before that decision, government – through the NPG – has procured Seismic Monitoring Equipment to install at the nation’s probable site for establishing the first nuclear plant, which would be the biggest energy investment since building the Akosombo Dam in 1965.
Power consumption
Ghana’s current peak demand is less than 3,000 megawatts, and with Akosombo and Kpong as the country’s base load which grant a maximum of 1,500 megawatts, Mr. Oware explained that with nuclear power providing 1,000 or 2,000 megawatts plant capacity into the future, Ghanaians can be certain that incidents of power outages will become a thing of the past.
Memorandum of Understanding
The MOU signing event was chaired by Prof. Audrey Gadzekpo, Dean of the School of Information and Communications Studies at the University of Ghana. It was attended by Executive Director of NPG, Dr. Steven Yamoah; Director of the Nuclear Power Institute, Dr. Seth Debrah; CEO of GNA, Albert Kofi Owusu; Director General of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC); and Prof. B.J.B. Nyarko among others.
In their various remarks, they were confident that the collaboration will go a long way to help educate the public about the good uses of nuclear, and the nations preparedness to adopt nuclear power.
The management of NPG and GNA said: “NPG seeks to establish essential communication links with the GNA to expand its information reach, effectively share knowledge on nuclear technology, and stimulate public discourse to advance Ghana’s Nuclear Power Plant project”.
It said NPG is committed to supporting GNA’s Energy Desk to broaden the dissemination of news on nuclear power and related energy subjects. “We are confident that this collaboration among other initiated media and public partnerships will help to demystify misconceptions about nuclear, and encourage interest and discourse on nuclear science and technology along with related energy issues,” it added.