Ghana Living Lab

The 2021 Ghana energy statistics indicated that about 82.8% of households in Ghana were connected to the national electricity grid. Electricity remained the main source of power for lighting for 93% of urban households, and electricity use for lighting in rural households was less than 72%. The report also highlighted that energy for cooking was primarily from biomass, largely in the form of firewood and charcoal (74.4%), LPG (25.3%) and only about 0.3% electricity. The LPG penetration is however lower in rural areas with only about 12.8% of the rural population using LPG compared to 34.1% in the urban settlement. There is however higher dependence on the use of biomass in rural areas. It is worth noting that even in urban areas 43.6% of households use charcoal for cooking.

The following highlights some of the overarching issues regarding the current energy situation of the validation sites:

• Electricity: All the communities are connected to the national grid and pay for the power using a pre-paid metering system. The electricity supply from the national grid is however not reliable as it is characterized by power outages, especially during peak hours. Also, the rural areas of the districts are not connected to the national grid.
• The communities, therefore, rely on standby diesel generators, which have very high operating costs (fuel cost).
• Boarding senior high schools in the districts spend an average amount of Gh¢7,000.00 (€1,000.81) each year on emptying a total of 11 Septic Tanks and food waste within the schools’ premises. The sewage is later disposed of usually into the Ocean or sometimes at unauthorized places due to Sewage Treatment Plants’ inadequacy. This situation often poses a lot of health hazards to communities that live close to the final disposal sites.
• Also, on average, each of the schools spends about Gh¢12,000.00 (€ 1,729.88) monthly on Electricity Bills, whilst a total of Gh¢14,000.00 (€2,018.20) is spent each month on the purchase of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) to provide energy for cooking in the schools.
• The high cost of LPG and electricity makes most people in the communities especially in the senior high schools rely heavily on firewood and for cooking meals for the students. The use of firewood and charcoal is harmful to the environment and directly exposes individuals who are cooking to harmful gases. The schools also rely on mechanized wells for the supply of potable water. Due to the erratic power supply, they are not able to pump water when needed. Also, Solar-powered pumping could give them a continuous water supply and also reduce their energy bills.

The technologies to be implemented in the Ghana living lab include bioethanol fuel and stoves for cooking and solar and recycled batteries for off-grid applications. These will be implemented in both rural and urban sites. The bioethanol fuel and stoves will be developed by Econexus while the solar solutions will be provided by Nastech.

Bio Ethanol cooking fuels which will be developed largely from sugarcane molasses, cashew apples, cellulose gel and water will be provided in the form of Ecogel.

Characteristics of the Ecogel:

• Energy from waste products • 100% organic
• Contains Mosquito Repelling Additive
• No black flame stains on cooking pots
• 0.75 litres of fuel per day for a family of 5
• 1 litre of fuel burns for 15+ hours
• Non-spill, non-explosive, and non-toxic

The solar technology to be implemented by Nastech involves integrating E-waste to develop affordable solar solutions. Thus, solar generators, lithium battery packs and inverters are developed from e-waste Nastech proposed to achieve the following deliverables in the short term: • recycling of 200 tons of electronic waste and plastics into renewable energy solutions to power communities and businesses thereby contributing to a 5% reduction in power sector CO2 emissions by October 2024 and providing renewable energy support to up to 200 businesses.

The microgrids which consist of 20 MW PV plants each and have been installed by NASTECH at Berdaabuo Community and KwameDwaa Community, both in the Atwima Mpanua Districts, Kumasi. Three bioethanol industrial stoves designed and produced by ECONEXUS VENTURES have also been installed at St John’s Grammar School at the Ga North Municipal, Greater Accra and Nkawie Senior High Technical School and Toase Senior High School, both at Atwima Nwaibiagya districts In Kumasi.

• Integrated Solar Solutions: The project executed solar micro-grid solutions using repurposed lithium-ion batteries for solar generators and power systems. These systems addressed the unreliability of the national grid and the high cost of traditional energy sources in rural areas.

Community Electrification:

• The Berdabour community received two separate 20 kW solar models designed to meet the energy needs of over 200 homes. Currently, 36 homes are connected, including a vital school facility to support academic activities.
• In the Kwamedwaa community, 12 homes have been provided with individual 2 kW solar generator systems, totaling 24 kW combined capacity, with plans for further subscriptions.
• Individual solar generator systems were also provided to homes in the Beposo community.

• A Climate Finance Workshop in Accra engaged 28 participants, including government officials and private sector representatives, leading to the co-development of a waste-to-energy project concept.
• A practical renewable energy training event in Kumasi involved 110 participants (100 in-person, 10 virtually), covering brick cookstoves, biofuel cookers, and solar installation/maintenance.
• NASTECH, in partnership with other organizations, provided solar energy installation training to 225 people.
• A BSc Renewable Energy programme was developed (currently undergoing accreditation), ensuring a lasting educational infrastructure for renewable energy.
• An energy decarbonization workshop in March 2024 was attended by 51 participants, including policymakers and SMEs.