The ooh! sound was made by both young and the old and everything including the brownish corn miller at the right corner of the milling room grants to a total halt in the early hours of Monday morning at the Samba Foods Ltd – a company that provides a value-added services to food products for domestic use and export.
Whenever the lights go off the impact felt goes beyond the sound, says the production manager Yao Bentum. The need for an alternative power supply for production is a herculean task for me now because it is certainly not going to be a generator, the fuel prices keep increasing he added shaking his head in disapproval.
Erratic power supply locally christened as ‘dumsor’ in Ghana remained one of the biggest challenges to industry over the years. Many companies who couldn’t sustain their operations folded up to other destinations contributing to the country’s unemployment situation among its teeming youths.
It is estimated that Ghana’s industry is the largest consumer of power making access to power for production a challenging one. According to the Association of Ghana Industry, the AGI industry spends 20 to 30 per cent of its production budget on power annually. As a result, the AGI intimated that although power supply to the country has improved over the years, reliability and cost remain a major hurdle for the industry.
“Available data from the Energy Commission, the industry is the largest consumer of electricity at 42 per cent in 2022. Although electricity supply has improved, reliability and cost is still a challenge to industry”.
Presenting on the theme: a reflection of AGI’s preparedness to leverage the opportunities of Ghana’s nuclear power project, the Chief Executive Officer of AGI, Seth Twum Akwaboah enumerated the trilemma of Ghana’s industry saying a secure and reliable, affordable and available, green and clean energy will inure to energy security and sustainability, economic growth and environmental benefits such as contributing to the mitigation measures of climate change.
‘Currently, the industry is faced with this power trilemma: We need a very secure and reliable but affordable and available, green and clean energy for operation and so I got to know nuclear is even cleaner than solar’’
With nuclear we are sure of energy security and sustainability, economic growth green and clean energy as a way of helping mitigate climate change, Akwaboah added.
Touching on opportunities nuclear power might have for industry, Akwaboah explained the industrial opportunities such as consulting, corporate professional services, decommissioning, engineering, food and beverage, generation – Parts, maintenance services, generation – -plan/component systems, technological advancements, partnerships and collaborations, just to name a few are up for grabbing hence the need for industry to position itself and build capacity.
Potential challenges/ threats
Among the many potential hindrances to nuclear power generation and utilization in Ghana, experts have outlined the regulatory and safety, grid size, technical know-how, as well as financial and investment concerns as the major barriers to nuclear power exploitation in Ghana. However, Debrah et al 2020 said in a long-term vision outlined in Ghana’s development plan; that the projected growth in demand for electricity; and the limitation of future hydroelectric power projects in the country is enough reason to prepare for the future holistically.
‘‘The need to diversify generation to ensure robustness and security of supply, the negative effects of fossil-fueled plants on the environment and; the industrial transformation agenda, provide a strong justification for the choice of nuclear power as a long-term energy option for Ghana’s electricity sector and development’’
Regulatory and safety concerns
Over the years myths and misconceptions about the use of nuclear power were rife among the Ghanaian public. However, experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority NRA, assure the public of suitable systems that exist to safely manage and dispose of all kinds of radioactive wastes in a manner that will prevent any form of hazard to lives.
‘’Using nuclear energy implies that adequate measures and standards are adhered to in the generation of radioactive wastes to protect lives and the environment from all forms of potential hazard and at NRA ’’.
Standardization
Speaking on the importance of standardization in the nuclear, Felix Ameyaw, said Safety and reliability, consistent quality assurance, operational efficiency and risk mitigation tops Ghana’s commitment to a transparent compliance process in the nuclear project. He, however, appealed to the media to help build public and stakeholder trust as they propagate transparency and accountability with consistent communication to enhance the credibility of the sector.
Implementation and the way forward
The Executive Director of Nuclear Power Ghana, Dr. Stephen Yamoah says, that to ensure a successful Implementation of the Nuclear Power Project, the Ministry of Energy and NPG have been active on the international front discussing vendor issues and evaluating proposals. ‘’These meetings are critical as they allow us to assess the best technological and operational solutions for our Project and have culminated in the signing of some significant agreements’’.
The first is the signing of a cooperation and framework agreement between NPG and CNNC Overseas Limited for the construction of a large reactor project and upgrading Ghana’s grid infrastructure to accommodate additional power generated and ensure efficient distribution across the country, Yamoah added.
Ghana has so far signed two Memorandums of Understanding, MoUs through the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), with the United States to establish a Regional Welding Certification Programme and a contractual agreement for the provision of a NuScale Exploration (E2) Centre at GAEC.
The Regional Welding Certification initiative aims to establish a comprehensive training programme to equip Ghanaian technicians with specialised skills in welding and prepare them for the demands of Ghana’s Nuclear Power construction projects, while the NuScale Exploration Centre, - a simulator facility of NuScale Power's Small Modular Reactor (SMR) control room, will offer hands-on training for our future nuclear operators and engineer, Yamoah explained.
‘It will also position Ghana as a regional hub for nuclear education and training to support safe and secure civil nuclear deployments in Africa’.
Credits https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1155/2020/8873058
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352484719311023