Ghana must move beyond simply adding more renewable energy to the national grid and focus increasingly on battery-backed renewable power to address the country’s biggest electricity challenge, supplying reliable power after sunset.
Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, says the country does not face its biggest electricity challenge during the day, when solar power is readily available. The more pressing problem comes at night, when electricity demand rises, and solar generation falls to zero.
Speaking at the Annual Stakeholder Engagement by the Bui Power Authority, Dr Jinapor said Ghana must therefore prioritise renewable energy systems equipped with battery storage to shift excess daytime generation into the evening.
The Problem Is Not Daytime Power – It Is the Night
According to Dr Jinapor, the gap between off-peak and peak electricity demand can reach as much as 700 megawatts, creating a major challenge for the power system.
During the day, solar plants can produce significant amounts of electricity. But as the sun sets and demand increases, that generation disappears precisely when the system needs more power.
This, he says, creates an expensive mismatch. Ghana may have electricity available during the day but still needs to maintain or pay for conventional generating capacity that is required to meet demand at night.
Dr Jinapor believes battery storage can help close that gap. Such a battery-backed technology can help Ghana generate electricity when the sun is shining, store it during the day and release it when people need it most.
Store Solar During the Day, Use It at Night
Dr Jinapor said Ghana should use battery-backed renewable energy to store excess daytime electricity and provide several hours of continuous power after sunset. He proposed using battery systems to deliver about five hours of continuous electricity in the evening, when demand is typically higher.
This would allow solar power to play a bigger role in meeting peak demand rather than being largely confined to daylight hours.
For households and businesses, the concept could make renewable energy more useful in practical terms. Instead of solar generation falling away just as electricity demand rises, stored solar power could continue supplying the grid into the evening.
It could also reduce the pressure to keep expensive conventional generating capacity available primarily for a few hours of peak demand.
Existing Solar Projects Could Also Get Storage
The Minister said the focus should not be limited to future renewable energy projects. He wants stakeholders to explore adding battery storage to solar projects that have already been commissioned.
“I’ll plead that we focus on battery-backed renewable energy,” he said, arguing that other countries have successfully adopted the approach and Ghana should be able to do the same.
Dr. Jinapor believes that the transition to renewable energy is not simply about producing more solar power. It is about making renewable electricity available when the country actually needs it, including after the sun goes down.
Battery storage, he maintains, could become a critical link between Ghana’s growing renewable energy ambitions and the practical challenge of keeping the lights on at night.
