An energy expert and engineer, Mr. Robert Woode says the 622 million dollars used by the government to construct the Bui hydro dam could have been used to produce 622 megawatts of solar energy for the country.
Government commissioned the Bui Hydro dam in the latter part of 2013 with about 400 megawatts capacity to be fed into the national grid.
The project was initiated under former President John Adjekum Kufour’s regime and completed a year ago under President John Dramani Mahama.
Engieer Woode also known as ‘The Crusading Engineer’ has questioned the decision of spending such a huge amount of money on the project.
Speaking in a news conference as part of the Convention Peoples’ Party’s 65th anniversary, he argued that the country could have gotten more power if that amount of money had been invested in the development of Solar Power stations.
He went further to cite countries like Germany where infrastructure for solar energy cost the country less than the amount used for Bui in providing hydro energy.
His comment comes at a time the country is faced with an acute power shortage with limited power generation capacity.
The most viable suggestion from several quarters to government has been for the country to explore alternative sources of power with solar power being the first on the agenda.
By: Afiba Anyanzua Anyanzu/citifmonline.com/Ghana