The Institute of Energy and Climate Change Policy (IECP) has said it will be difficult for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) to achieve its 2016 manifesto target in the energy sector in the next four years.
According to the institute, the target can only be achieved in 20 years.
“According to our projections, it will take about 20 years for the NDC to fulfill it targets in the power sector,” IECP said in a report analyzing the NDC’s 2016 manifesto on energy.
IECP said it arrived at the conclusion following assessment of previous promises and achievements of the NDC government in the energy sector.
“Based on the analysis of the NDC’s 2016 manifesto and the government’s previous achievements, IECP is of the view that, the NDC cannot achieve all of these promises in the next four years. This is grounded on the fact that, between 2012 and 2016, the government has only achieved 35.06% of the power sector promises.”
IECP among other things also urged government to implement power sector policy reforms to enhance private participation.
“The implementation of effective policies will enhance private sector participation which will speed up the achievement of the party’s power sector targets. Private sector participation will also help reduce the capital needed by government to add additional generation capacities to the national grid,” it added.
NDC’s key promises in 2016 manifesto on energy
Key among NDC’s 2016 manifesto promises in the sector includes increasing the stock of power generation assets, developing more sustainable power sources, encouraging energy conservation, increasing generation capacity in excess of 5,000 MW by 2021 and achieving universal access to electricity by 2025.
The party is seeking to construct power plants to generate additional 3062 MW.
The NDC also promised to embark on massive renewable energy production. Per their manifesto, the NDC promises to generate additional 537 MW of power from solar, wind and biomass.
Click here to read IECP’s full report:
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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin