Ghana’s Energy Deficit. - the way Forward – As pressure on global energy resources continue to increase, there is no doubt Ghana needs a forward-looking Energy Policy that captures every available potential in the energy mix, to resolve her energy deficit in a clean, efficient and environmentally friendly manner. This writer submits Renewable Energy (RE) i.e. Wind, Solar, Hydro, and Biomass/Biofuels etc. is the way to go - and there are smart and compelling reasons to back this submission. According to the Energy Commission (technical regulator of the power, natural gas and renewable energy industry), an overview of Ghana’s Energy Situation indicates the country had an installed electricity capacity of 2170MW (2011), electricity generation of 10,166GWh (2011) and 74% electricity access (2012). Available data also indicate Ghana has the following renewable energy resources: Solar energy _________________________ 4.5-6.0kWh/m2/day Wind energy (along coast) ______________ 5.0 m/s at 12 meters height Hydro _____________________________ 2,500MW (1,580 exploited) Bui hydro power __________________ 400MW (under construction) Crude oil production (2011 av.) __________ 80,000b/day Wind Energy Below is a submission offered to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the general Ghanaian public by Ing. Robert Woode (Ghana’s Crusading Engineer). It offers a medium/long-term solution to the country’s chronic energy deficits. By rule of thumb, wind speed increases about 20-25% every 30-ft up. DOES GHANA REQUIRE TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY TARIFFS AS A SOLUTION TO HER ENERGY PROBLEM? WE SAY NO! Ghana has enormous renewable energy resources waiting to be tapped provided we initiate bold actions. What is the relationship between the tidal waves in the Volta region and the energy problem? It is common knowledge that the Volta River lies between two parallel mountain ranges, thus the river lies within a wind corridor that is a trough. The unique topography of the area generates the wind corridor as the result of the globe turning on its axis at 1040-mph and orbiting the sun at 67000-mph. Tidal Waves peculiar to this area are induced by the winds in this corridor. Simultaneously, rain bearing clouds travelling westwards from the East (Nigeria, Benin etc.) are temporarily dispersed and regain their potential as they reach Central Region peaking in the Western Region. Thus Ghana has the most rain in the Western Region compared to the rest of the country. Installing wind turbines in this corridor will utilize the wind energy and consequently reduce the wind force that induces the tidal waves around Ada and Keta. MAP Ghana’s Energy Deficit. - the way Forward – As pressure on global energy resources continue to increase, there is no doubt Ghana needs a forward-looking Energy Policy that captures every available potential in the energy mix, to resolve her energy deficit in a clean, efficient and environmentally friendly manner. This writer submits Renewable Energy (RE) i.e. Wind, Solar, Hydro, and Biomass/Biofuels etc. is the way to go - and there are smart and compelling reasons to back this submission. According to the Energy Commission (technical regulator of the power, natural gas and renewable energy industry), an overview of Ghana’s Energy Situation indicates the country had an installed electricity capacity of 2170MW (2011), electricity generation of 10,166GWh (2011) and 74% electricity access (2012). Available data also indicate Ghana has the following renewable energy resources: Solar energy _________________________ 4.5-6.0kWh/m2/day Wind energy (along coast) ______________ 5.0 m/s at 12 meters height Hydro _____________________________ 2,500MW (1,580 exploited) Bui hydro power __________________ 400MW (under construction) Crude oil production (2011 av.) __________ 80,000b/day Wind Energy Below is a submission offered to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the general Ghanaian public by Ing. Robert Woode (Ghana’s Crusading Engineer). It offers a medium/long-term solution to the country’s chronic energy deficits. By rule of thumb, wind speed increases about 20-25% every 30-ft up. DOES GHANA REQUIRE TO INCREASE ELECTRICITY TARIFFS AS A SOLUTION TO HER ENERGY PROBLEM? WE SAY NO! Ghana has enormous renewable energy resources waiting to be tapped provided we initiate bold actions. What is the relationship between the tidal waves in the Volta region and the energy problem? It is common knowledge that the Volta River lies between two parallel mountain ranges, thus the river lies within a wind corridor that is a trough. The unique topography of the area generates the wind corridor as the result of the globe turning on its axis at 1040-mph and orbiting the sun at 67000-mph. Tidal Waves peculiar to this area are induced by the winds in this corridor. Simultaneously, rain bearing clouds travelling westwards from the East (Nigeria, Benin etc.) are temporarily dispersed and regain their potential as they reach Central Region peaking in the Western Region. Thus Ghana has the most rain in the Western Region compared to the rest of the country. Installing wind turbines in this corridor will utilize the wind energy and consequently reduce the wind force that induces the tidal waves around Ada and Keta. MAP Standard wind turbines - average height 120-metres and diameter 85-metres - would generate 3MW of energy per unit. The wind corridor stretching from Ada to the north is over 1000km. Our studies indicate that this is amongst the biggest and more reliable wind corridors in Africa. Installing these turbines at a distance of 300-metres triangular should produce 9900 towers or 29,700MW of energy. Now given a wind outage of 66% over the whole stretch of 1000km, it should guarantee 9000MW watts at all times Modern Wind turbines (tower/blade) are manufactured from fiber-glass which can be produced from a reactivated Aboso Glass Factory (fiber-glass is extracted from molten glass).This would provide a large potential market for any investor willing to take part in the reactivation of the Aboso Glass Factory. We require less than 2MW of electrical energy to cover the total needs of the factory. The Volta River moves very slowly because it has a low gradient (0.002) as calculated by Dr. SB Arthur, Africa’s topmost hydropower engineer. It must be remembered that during the initial design of the Bui Dam, the power was estimated at 260MW. It was Dr. SB Arthur who recalculated the power to prove 400MW of energy could be obtained from the Dam. The calculations were initially disputed by Soviet specialist working on the Dam, but Dr. SB Arthur’s assertions were collaborated by the French consortium, Coyne et Bellier. Dr. SB Arthur is alive and can be contacted on telephone number +233.208.074.642 (2013). It is therefore obvious that the frequent capsizing of boats on the river could only come from the wind. Any casual visitor to the Afram plains will realize that most of the houses in the area have huge stone boulders on the rooftops - a clear evidence of strong wind availability. (Note: information at our disposal indicates the name “Volta” emanates from the Portuguese word “twist”. The Portuguese gave it this name in the 14 Century when they sailed on the river from Ada to Kpone). Dr. SB Arthur is alive and can be contacted on telephone number +233.208.074.642 (2013). It is therefore obvious that the frequent capsizing of boats on the river could only come from the wind. Any casual visitor to the Afram plains will realize that most of the houses in the area have huge stone boulders on the rooftops - a clear evidence of strong wind availability. (Note: information at our disposal indicates the name “Volta” emanates from the Portuguese word “twist”. The Portuguese gave it this name in the 14 Century when they sailed on the river from Ada to Kpone). Installation of wind turbines for power generation is becoming fashionable these days all over the world. Presently the US, is working on a 3000 megawatts wind park in Southern Wyoming. The wind park covers 220,000-acres or 100,000-hectares. 1000 wind turbines will be installed over this large area. Our research indicates that our wind density and wind speeds are better than what pertains in Southern Wyoming of the United States. Colonel Jackson, a renowned Ghanaian inventor of international repute and a member of CTED, is presently working to patent a new type of wind turbine which is more efficient that existing ones. According to him, existing wind turbines utilize only five percent of the wind in contact with the blade. Colonel Jackson’s design incorporates 100% contact with the wind and consequently reduces the sizes of the wind tower and blade. The United States is implementing a wind energy program to ensure that 20% of its energy mix would come from wind by 2030. Presently US and German wind turbine manufactures are installing wind turbines with the capacity of 6MW per unit .Channeling the wind energy in the Volta Basin for electric power generation would help us kill 2 birds with one stone: Minimize the menace of the Tidal Waves and Increasing our renewable energy resources, jobs etc. Wind Resources (Ghana 2013) • Atiteti (Dzita), Volta Region – Ghana. • Anloga, Volta Region - Ghana • Wind Measurements in the Volta Region – Ghana It is important to note the relationship between Ghana’s ability to produce Salt in the areas affected by this wind corridor and the inability of Nigeria and Ivory Coast to produce salt due to absence of such a wind corridor. The relatively higher wind availability facilitates evaporation of sea water for the natural production of salt. The strategic installation of wind turbines would reduce the power of the wind to interfere with the rain bearing clouds from the East and result in a possible increase of rains in Ghana. Our new renewable wind energy should phase-out our Thermal Plants, and also control the release of water from our Hydro-power Stations into the sea making more water available for irrigation etc. The enormous availability of this energy source would help us distill sea water directly for high quality salt production and also obtain fresh-water from the sea for miscellaneous applications. With extra-cheap wind energy, we can also use “reverse osmosis technology” to produce fresh-water and highly concentrated brine for salt production. At this point, it is necessary to note that salt is the basic material for the chemical industry and is found in about 14,000 products. Since energy is one of the seven parameters of the value addition chain (the rest being time, tool, material, money, man power and information), the availability of cheap energy would attract many industries from all over the world to locate here in Ghana to create jobs for our teeming unemployed youths. Let us take a lesson from Ghana’s first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who in 1963 at the OAU Conference in Addis Ababa said among others: “With enormous electric power, we shall drain marshes and swamps, clear infested areas, feed the undernourished, and rid our people of parasites and diseases. It is within the possibilities of Science and Technology to make even the Sahara bloom into a vast field with verdant vegetation for agricultural and industrial development. We shall harness the media to lift our people from the dark recesses of illiteracy. A decade ago this would have been visionary words, the fantasies of an idle dreamer. But this is the age in which Science has transcended the limits of the material world, and Technology has invaded the silences of nature….. The world is no longer moving through bush paths or on camels and donkeys. We cannot afford to pace our needs, our development, our security to the gait of camels and donkeys......This is because we have emerged in the age of science and technology in which poverty, ignorance and diseases are no longer the masters, but are the retreating foes of mankind.” Dear Ghanaiansafricans, the world is now afloat with millions of idle money. Just see how our bonds are over-subscribed anytime we float them. Let us be bold and capitalize on this. We can kill this energy deficiency monster threatening to enslave us .The CPP is ready to engage any Government on the Energy issue and if you the reader is with us, please say Amen. Amen. THIS COUNTRY MUST TAKE ITS DIGNITY BACK. Yours faithfully, Robert Kwame Woode, (The Crusading Engineer) May, 2013.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Nov 2013 14:54:19 +0000
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