The Energy Commission says it is making progress

The Energy Commission says it is making progress with moves to get industrial firms that generate their own power like mining and steel companies, purchase a specified amount of renewable energy for their operations.

The Commission plans to begin full implementation of the initiative before the end of the year towards achieving the 10 percent renewable energy target in the country’s energy mix by 2020.

The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) has welcomed it as a cheaper option but wants government to support its members with direct or indirect funding because of the huge initial cost of installation.

The Director of Technical Regulations, Dr Nii Darko Asante says uncertainty among the firms is the only challenge with implementation.

"There is no resistance and there is not also adoption, it everybody being cautious. I spoke to one company which is willing to take all the risk and supply to companies. These are not necessarily big companies, it could be an office complex or a car dealer," Dr Asante said He said they would be supplying energy under a megawatt where the only thing they have to commit to is to buy the power.

"People are very cautious about signing a 20-year agreement to buy power...it is just a little bit of fear of the unknown that is why we are encouraging them to that it is not a pipe dream. It can happen, it can work and it and it is cost effective," he stressed.

Meanwhile, the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) has criticized the Energy Commission for what it describes as an abuse of its authority - to regulate the importation of renewable energy technology into the country.

According to the Deputy Executive Director, Ben Boakye the Commission can be blamed for the country’s inability to effectively deploy renewable energy.