2023 Budget: CSO Budget Forum wants renewable energy listed among government’s priority areas
The CSO Budget Forum is advocating for the enlistment of renewable energy among government’s four priority areas in the 2023 budget statement to be presented to Parliament in November.
Government, per the PRMA Act, is mandated to select 12 priority areas for investment with oil revenues.
Of the 12 priority areas, four are selected and given utmost priority with oil revenues channelled into the four areas over a three-year period.
Four other areas of the 12 areas are selected and also financed for another three years. The 12 priority areas are divided into a group of four and financed on a three-year rotational basis.
The push for renewable energy to be considered a priority area by the CSO Budget Forum, is on the back of recent energy transition talks by government as well as the development of an energy transition plan for the country.
In an engagement with the media on Tuesday, October 18, the CSO Budget Forum noted government must diversify revenues from fossil fuel into renewable energy.
According to the Forum, government presently has the opportunity to use oil revenues to invest massively into renewable energy which currently accounts for 2.4% of the country’s energy mix.
Meanwhile, Ghana is looking to raise a whopping $250bn from domestic and international investors to finance its energy transition plan.
The anticipated $250bn funds, is based on projections for the country’s GDP growth, population and access to electricity in the next 50 years.
The anticipated funds from investors, the National Energy Transition Committee (NETC) says, will help Ghana transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2070.
According to the NETC, Ghana has already set in motion its energy transition plan evidenced by the 95% conversion of the country’s thermal plants from liquid fuels to natural gas, the zero gas flaring policy by government, among others.
The country’s transition, NETC notes, will be gradual, as a sudden transition from fossil fuel to clean energy, will result in some adverse impacts on Ghana’s economy.
These adverse impacts include potential threats to energy security, reduced funding for fossil fuel related projects, stranded assets in the petroleum industry, job losses and oil revenue losses to government.
