The production of nuclear energy in Ghana is set to begin by 2030 according to Professor Stephen Yamoah. Yamoah is the Executive Director of the Nuclear Power Ghana (NPG). He explained that the Ghanaian government will soon announce the technology and the vendor country or countries to collaborate with in the energy projects.
Furthermore, Professor Yamoah said the government of Ghana has already evaluated responses from six vendor countries. This follows the government of Ghana’s submission of a request for information (RFI) technical document recently. Yamoah was speaking to the B&FT during a three-day workshop for regional managers of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) and selected editors in the Eastern Region.
He said, “We’re collaborating with the Ministry of Energy, which will then produce a document for the Cabinet’s review. The construction of a small reactor nuclear power plant will cost the taxpayer US$ 5bn. Based on current nuclear power plants in Egypt and UAE, a large one will cost about US$8bn.
Noteworthy, the Ghanaian government received approval from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2014. This approval allowed that country to use nuclear energy to generate electricity. However, Dr. Kwame, Ghana’s first president, started the process to approve the country’s first nuclear power plant back in the 1960s.
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Technical and scientific support for nuclear energy in Ghana
Professor Seth Debrah, the director of Ghana’s Nuclear Power Institute, referred to nuclear energy in Ghana as “the country’s next green baseload answer.” He spoke about the provision of effective technical and scientific support to Ghana’s nuclear power program during the workshop.
According to Professor Debrah, there will be increased technical and scientific support activities to ensure the projects for nuclear energy in Ghana are implemented successfully. These activities will cover, among other things, plant safety, power generation performance, efficiency, maintainability, and operability. Additionally, these activities will cover reliability, functionality, availability, the longevity of equipment and controls, and licensure support.
The former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) and technical controller at the Millennium Development Authority (MIDA) stated that GRIDCo is prepared to handle the power generated by nuclear power plants once they are fully operational.
