21st July 2022

Ghana’s quest to become a nuclear power operator in 2030 has reached an advanced state as the country is expected to announce the preferred nuclear vendor country and technology for its nuclear power project by the end of 2022.

Given this, the West African nation’s Ministry of Energy has prepared a memo for the Cabinet to consider the appropriate technology for the country’s nuclear power project.

Speaking at the opening of a three-day workshop for selected media practitioners in Accra on the theme: ‘Nuclear Safety, A Public Fear and Concern’, the Executive Director of Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG), Dr. Stephen Yamoah, said his outfit has submitted a Report to the Energy Ministry and was hopeful the Ministry would submit a Memo to Cabinet as soon as possible for consideration and decision on the technology Ghana wants to adopt.

He said the country is on course as far as its nuclear power program is concerned.

Dr. Yamoah said Ghana is in the 2nd Phase of the Nuclear Power Program as per the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

According to him, NPG has completed the ranking assessment of the four candidate sites it selected and would, in due course, settle on the preferred site based on seismicity and environmental condition of the location.

He, however, did not disclose which region the site is situated in but said due to the large volume of water required for the cooling of the plant activities, areas along the coast of the country are most preferred.

The Deputy Minister for Energy in charge of Power, Hon. William Owuraku Aidoo said the Ministry of Energy has prepared a Memo on the Ghana Nuclear Power project and would, in the next couple of days, submit it to Cabinet.

He said the government is committed to executing the project “because it offers cheaper electricity and guarantees energy security for the country.

“Recently steps are being taken to finalize the selection of a preferred site for Ghana’s first nuclear power plant. Recently, Ghana issued a Request of Information (RFI) as part of the required processes to identify a vendor country and nuclear technology.”

“Currently, the RFI report is under review and the government will soon announce a decision on vendor and technology”, Hon. Owuraku Aidoo said.

Dr. George Tettey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Bui Power Authority (BPA) in charge of Finance, who represented the CEO, said the Authority supports the nuclear power project.

The Director for Renewable Energy at Bui Power said Ghana needs reliable cheap power to industrialize.

He said the Government’s flagship industrialization program ‘1D1F’ can only strive “if we have cheap power.”

He, therefore, said Ghana’s nuclear power program is in the right direction.

Source: www.energynewsafrica.com