Power generation to dwindle as 23% of dams exposed to droughts, 54% to floods over climate risks
Some fifty-four (54) percent and twenty-three (23) percent of dams in the country are exposed to floods and droughts under a high-hazard climate risk situation by 2050.
This is per the report put together by the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI).
According to the report, dams or power plants such as the Akosombo hydroelectric power plant in the Asuogyaman District, Eastern Region, with 1020 MW generation capacity and serving over 8.6 million people, is affected by exposure to high drought intensity. This includes the location of the power plant as well as a part of the Lake Volta reservoir which supplies the plant.
This, the GCA notes, poses an increased risk of reduced river flow and a reduction in reservoir capacity, which reduces generation capacity.
“Several periods of severe electricity rationing have occurred in recent decades (1983–4, 1997–98, 2003, 2006–2007), attributed to low water levels in the reservoir, which reduced generation capacity to about one third of its potential. This left factories idle, reduced state revenues, and threatened Ghana’s image as an attractive destination for foreign investment,” the report noted.
Another major dam which stands the risk of high intensity drought hazard over climate change conditions is the Kpong Dam.
The GCA in the report asserts the Kpong Dam, further downstream, is affected by this same level of drought hazard in addition to flooding, which can impact its 160 MW generation potential and 1.3 million people served by this dam.
Also, the Sunon-Asogli thermal power plant at Tema, which has a generation capacity of 560 MW and serves over 4 million people, is exposed to river flooding hazards – and is also likely to be vulnerable to coastal flooding from sea level rise and increased storm surge owing to its location near the sea coast.
Other prioritised power plants exposed to river flooding include the 400 MW Bui dam (1.7 million residents served) and the 360 MW Cenpower CCGT plant (576 thousand residents served) in the Tema industrial zone.
In all, twenty-one (21) substations face some degree of flooding exposure under a high hazard scenario. Substations in Ga West (district vulnerability 0.23),
Ga South (0.43), Greater Accra (0.16), and Sefwi Bibiani-Anhwiaso Bekwai (0.37) are most exposed, which collectively threaten power disruptions to 2.7 million residents.
Meanwhile, two (2) substations are exposed to landslide hazards. Notably, the substation at Hohoe in the Volta region, which serves nearly one million residents living in a district with high vulnerability (0.72), is very susceptible to landslides.
The GCA and MESTI report titled “Ghana: Roadmap for Resilient Infrastructure in a Changing Climate” was carried out to assess the country’s vulnerability to climate change risks and how well those risks can be mitigated.
To avert a climate change crisis, the national assessment proposes 35 adaptation options for funders and investors to invest in Ghana’s future, offering impactful, evidence-based adaptation projects and enabling environment interventions.
