Demand for electricity supply witnessed an increase of 10.2 percent in 2020
• Demand for electricity supply in Ghana witnessed an increase of 10.2 percent in 2020
•Energy supply including losses consumed in Ghana was at 19,717 GWh Gigawatt hours)
•Energy supply across the country also did not affect the load and distribution trend
Demand for electricity supply witnessed an increase of 10.2 percent in 2020 even as the country was adversely hit by coronavirus pandemic, a 2021 Energy Outlook report on Ghana has revealed.
The report which was released by the Energy Commission showed the total figure of energy supply including losses consumed in Ghana was at 19,717 GWh (Gigawatt hours) as compared to 17,887 GWh in 2019.
“Analysis conducted to determine the impact of COVID-19 on electricity demand in 2020 showed that there was a dip in demand during the partial lockdown, attributed to reduced activities in the industrial and service sectors.”
“However, following the easing of restrictions and the announcement of electricity relief by the government on April 11, 2020, system demand returned to normal such that electricity demand in 2020 grew by 10.2 percent over that of 2019,” portions of the report noted.
It added that despite the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions in 2020, demand for energy supply across the country did not affect the load and distribution trend for the country.
The report revealed system peak demand for 2020 was 3,090 MW (megawatts) an increase of 10.2 percent above the 2019 peak and almost equal to the 10.3 percent annual growth rate of system peak demand in the last five years.
“Installed generation capacity, excluding embedded capacity, at the end of 2020 was 5,134 MW, an increase of 2.9 percent over 2019. The dependable capacity was 4,710 MW, 3.1 percent more than in 2019,” the report showed.