Advancing sustainable energy solutions at the local level in Ghana

Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly (STMA), Ghana, made progress towards addressing climate change and advancing sustainable energy solutions by joining the Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2023. Driven by the goal of reducing energy costs and aligning with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to become a smart and green city, STMA reinforced its commitments through the implementation of Urban Smart Energy (USE), one of GIZ CoM SSA standardised products. The USE productaims to explore the potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency in public buildings owned by the city. Under USE, CoM SSA partner, GIZ, will assess the feasibility of such projects and work towards establishing a business case, enabling private sector investment in these initiatives. Within this collaborative area, CoM SSA will closely cooperate with the respective city departments, initially focusing on ten sites, and facilitate capacity-building activities for the county staff involved. 

As its first step of support, which is technical assistance to conduct a feasibility study effectively, CoM SSA conducted a preliminary assessment of potential buildings and installed smart energy meters to measure their power consumption accurately in ten sites in STMA in March 2024.
 

The introduction of smart meters supplied by VEER.IO and installed by RIFE will provide STMA with real-time energy data through a web-based portal for all facilities. This will enable power system monitoring, load profile access and analysis, determining causes for unusual occurrences (dips and spikes) for action and identifying energy consumption patterns. This effort is expected to support energy conservation, cost savings, and the training of STMA's climate and energy champions in energy efficiency and the effective use of the data for city planning and development.

In the words of Hon. Abdul-Mumin Issah, STMA Chief Executive: “STMA made history for being the first Assembly in Ghana to implement the Urban Smart Energy Programme funded by CoM SSA. Through this initiative, smart solar energy meters were installed on 10 buildings owned by the Assembly. This is a breakthrough towards achieving our sustainable Urban energy goal by 2025. The initiative is aimed to reduce the cost of energy up to 50% or more. We are very grateful to CoM SSA for the support.” 

 

In addition to the installation of smart meter, training for STMA’s technical staff on their operation and maintenance has been conducted. This year, a comprehensive feasibility study and report focused on the techno-economic analysis and viability of the STMA sites for solar PV projects will be completed. This study will cover solar PV sizing and designing, investment and profitability, implementation cost, lifetime savings, energy savings and recommendations for energy efficiency. CoM SSA will also keep supporting STMA with capacity development in energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, financing models, operations and maintenance, smart meter dashboard access, data reporting, data analysis, data management, and storage.