Abstract
The high level of fossil fuel consumption globally is wreaking havoc on the global climate through the emissions of greenhouse gases. Against this backdrop, there have been calls from national and international stakeholders for a transition towards renewable energy (RE). However, the investment and adoption of renewable energy technologies especially, in developing countries have been woefully inadequate. Even though various policy and legislative instruments in support of RE development abound in Ghana, the contribution of RE to the energy generation mix is notably insignificant, due to constraints that limit high investment. Using the Political Economy Analysis (PEA) approach, this article examines the deficiencies in these policy strategies, and unravels the complexity as well as the alignments of interests of stakeholders regarding policies that could provide a more favourable investment in renewables in Ghana. The article recommends that Ghana’s leaders champion those policies with the highest support across all stakeholders.
Highlights
1 Introduction Provisions for renewable energy (RE) development have featured in the energy policy regimes of Ghana for some time
4 Methodology The methodology used for this study is informed by the Political Economy Analysis of Climate Change Policies (PEACH) Methodology by Schmitz (2012) and the PEA framework by Barnett et al (2016)
The PEACH methodology focuses on answering the central question: who drives/obstructs certain policies? According to Schmitz (2012), an application of the PEA in climate change issues should be able to bring out relevant sector players who by their actions and policy priorities promote or obstruct such initiatives
Summary
Provisions for renewable energy (RE) development have featured in the energy policy regimes of Ghana for some time now. The current energy policy of the country sets a policy target of 10 per cent contribution of RE to the country’s energy generation mix by 2020 (MoE 2010). There is the Renewable Energy Act, 2011 (Act 832), which gives legislative backing to the promotion and development of renewable energy technologies (RETs). The feed-in tariff (FiT), mini-grid infrastructure systems development and the RE Fund are provisions in the RE Act (Act 832) that demonstrate Ghana’s quest to diversify its energy sources to take account of RE. Notwithstanding the existence of these various policies and legislative instruments in support of RE development in Ghana, the contribution
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