Identification of barriers to renewable energy technology ... to Renewable Energy Technology... · CONTENTS ii Identification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to

CONTENTS

iIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

China-Ghana South-South Cooperation on Renewable EnergyTechnology Transfer

Empowered lives.Resilient nations.

Identification of barriers to renewableenergy technology transfer to Ghana

CONTENTS

iIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

Empowered lives.Resilient nations.

UNDPPresent in over 170 nations and territories, the United NationsDevelopment Programme (UNDP) helps countries to developpolicies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutionalcapabilities and build resilience in order to sustain developmentresults. In Ghana, UNDP supports efforts and capacity building forsustainable human development related to DemocraticGovernance, Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development, inline with national programmes such as the Ghana Shared GrowthDevelopment Agenda.

Energy CommissionThe Energy Commission is the statutory body mandated to prepare,review and update indicative national plans to ensure allreasonable demands for energy are met in a sustainable manner.The Commission is responsible for regulation, management,development and utilization of energy resources in Ghana.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful to Paolo Stella ofUNDP-Ghana and Eric Antwi-Agyei ofEnergy Commission for making valuablecontributions and sharing informationfor the successful completion of thiswork. Further thanks go to Dr. YiyangShen for providing information from theChinese perspective, Benjamin Moore ofUNDP-China, as well as Cao Yu andZhang Lu of the PMU in China. Finally,the contributions of all persons consultedduring the field trips and the stakeholderworkshop are greatly appreciated. Thefull list is shown in Annex A.

AUTHORS

This report has been prepared by:

Ing. Edem C. Bensah (lead author),Centre for Renewable Energy andEnergy Efficiency, CREK, KumasiPolytechnic, Ghana

Dr. Francis Kemausuor, The EnergyCentre, College of Engineering,KNUST, Ghana

Ing. Edward Antwi, CREK, KumasiPolytechnic, Ghana

Julius Ahiekpor, CREK, KumasiPolytechnic, Ghana

CONTENTS

iiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND BOXES............................................................................................vi

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...................................................................................................................... viii

INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background....................................................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Objectives and scope........................................................................................................................ 2

1.3 Approach and strategy.................................................................................................................... 3

1.4 Report structure................................................................................................................................ 3

2. CONSTITUENTS AND ELEMENTS OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER...................................................................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Introduction to technology transfer .............................................................................................. 5

2.2 Renewable energy technology transfer (RETT) ........................................................................... 7

2.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 8

3. GHANA’S TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REGULATIONS............................................................ 10

3.1 Background..................................................................................................................................... 10

3.2 Review of technology transfer regulation (LI 1547).................................................................. 12

3.2.1 Restrictions on agreements .................................................................................................... 13

3.2.2 Improvement and adaptation of licensed technology ....................................................... 13

3.3 Gaps identified and recommendations....................................................................................... 15

3.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 17

4. HISTORY, CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS OF RETT IN GHANA ..................................... 18

4.1 Background..................................................................................................................................... 18

4.2 Solar PV (stand-alone and grid-connected) and solar Lanterns.............................................. 19

4.3 Solar thermal systems.................................................................................................................... 25

4.4 Biogas............................................................................................................................................... 27

4.5 Other bioenergy types ................................................................................................................... 33

4.6 Wind................................................................................................................................................. 37

4.7 Mini-hydro...................................................................................................................................... 38

4.8 Improved cookstoves..................................................................................................................... 39

CONTENTS

iiiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

4.9 Renewable energy training activities .......................................................................................... 43

4.10 Future of RETT in Ghana ............................................................................................................ 45

4.11 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 47

5. SUCCESS STORIES OF RETT GLOBALLY...................................................................................... 48

5.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 48

5.2 Solar thermal: case study of solar water heater (SWH) TT programmes............................... 49

5.3 Solar lighting: China-Kenya solid state solar TT centre ........................................................... 52

5.4 Concentrated solar power in India.............................................................................................. 52

5.5 Integrated solar combined-cycle (ISCC) in Algeria................................................................... 54

5.6 Improved cookstoves technology transfer programmes.......................................................... 54

5.7 Pelletisation..................................................................................................................................... 59

5.8 Biogas technology .......................................................................................................................... 60

5.9 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 64

6. BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA................ 65

6.1 Background..................................................................................................................................... 65

6.2 Specific barriers .............................................................................................................................. 66

6.2.1 Market barriers ........................................................................................................................ 66

6.2.2 Economic and financial barriers............................................................................................ 68

6.2.3 Human skills............................................................................................................................ 71

6.2.4 Technical barrier...................................................................................................................... 72

6.2.5 Information and awareness ................................................................................................... 72

6.2.6 Legal and regulatory barriers................................................................................................ 73

6.2.7 Socio-cultural barriers ............................................................................................................ 76

6.2.8 Network barriers ..................................................................................................................... 77

6.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 81

7. SCREENING AND ESTABLISHMENT OF KEY BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGYTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER.................................................................................................................. 82

7.1 Methodology................................................................................................................................... 82

7.2 Analysis and results....................................................................................................................... 83

7.3 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 83

8. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOGHANA..................................................................................................................................................... 87

CONTENTS

ivIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

8.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 87

8.2 Political barriers ............................................................................................................................. 88

8.2.1 Previous and current interventions.......................................................................................... 88

8.2.2 Mitigation actions and measures .............................................................................................. 89

8.3 Economic barriers .......................................................................................................................... 95

8.3.1 Previous and current interventions.......................................................................................... 95

8.3.2 Mitigation actions and measures .............................................................................................. 95

8.4 Technical barriers ......................................................................................................................... 100

8.4.1 Previous and current interventions........................................................................................ 100

8.4.2 Mitigation actions and measures ............................................................................................ 100

8.5 Socio-cultural barriers ................................................................................................................. 107

8.5.1 Previous and current interventions........................................................................................ 107

8.5.2 Mitigation actions and measures ............................................................................................ 107

8.6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 109

9. IDENTIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIESFOR TRANSFER TO GHANA ............................................................................................................. 110

9.1 Background................................................................................................................................... 110

9.2 Evaluation and ranking of RETs ................................................................................................ 112

9.3 Results of the AHP model........................................................................................................... 116

9.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 119

10. ROADMAP FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA ....... 120

10.1 Roadmap for removing barriers to RETT............................................................................... 120

10.2 Targets for prioritised RETs...................................................................................................... 126

10.2.1 Solar lanterns ....................................................................................................................... 126

10.2.2 Solar dryers .......................................................................................................................... 128

10.2.3 Solar PV ................................................................................................................................ 129

10.2.4 Solid fuels and cookstoves................................................................................................. 129

10.2.5 Biogas.................................................................................................................................... 130

10.2.6 Solar water stills .................................................................................................................. 130

10.2.7 Efficient charcoal kilns ....................................................................................................... 130

10.3 Institutional support from China and other countries ......................................................... 131

CONTENTS

vIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

10.4 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 133

BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 134

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................. 138

ANNEX A-I List of experts interviewed during field trips.............................................................. 141

ANNEX A-II List of participants during stakeholder consultation................................................ 147

ANNEX B Summary of projects with RETT components ................................................................ 149

ANNEX C Appolonia biogas programmes........................................................................................ 153

ANNEX D Anaerobic waste treatment plant at HPW Fresh & Dry Ltd: building know-how thehard way.................................................................................................................................................. 156

ANNEX E Tunisia: SWH programme – Programme Solaire (PROSOL) ....................................... 158

ANNEX F Biogas support programme of Nepal............................................................................... 160

Annex G Questionnaire for data collection on barriers to RETT (for private companies) .......... 162

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND BOXES

viIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana


FIGURES

Figure 1 Approach used to undertake the assignment..................4Figure 2 Main process for technology transfer ...............................8Figure 3 Kimminic’s ‘uncompleted’ biodiesel factory in the Yejiarea ......................................................................................................34

Figure 4 Final energy demand in 2013 .......................................... 66Figure 5 AHP model for the evaluation and ranking ofdecentralized RETs in Ghana........................................................ 113

TABLES

Table 1 Main solar grid-connected systems in Ghana .................23Table 2 FIT in Ghana.........................................................................69Table 3 Barriers to RETT in specific sectors...................................78Table 4 Perceived barriers to RETT ................................................84Table 5 Important barriers after screening of stakeholdersresponses ............................................................................................85Table 6 Key barriers to RETT to Ghana. ........................................86Table 7 Mitigation measures to address political barriers ..........92Table 8 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under politicalbarriers................................................................................................93Table 9 Mitigation measures to address economic barriers........97Table 10 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under economicbarriers................................................................................................99Table 11 Mitigation measures to address technical barriers.....103Table 12 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under technicalbarriers..............................................................................................105Table 13 Mitigation measures to address socio-cultural barriers...........................................................................................................108

Table 14 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under socio-cultural barriers............................................................................... 108Table 15 List of RETs for evaluation ............................................ 111Table 16 RETs screened out........................................................... 111Table 17 List of sub-criteria for prioritizing RETs...................... 114Table 18 Relative weights of the criteria in relation to the goal117Table 19 Relative weights of the sub-criteria in relation to therespective criterion ......................................................................... 117Table 20 Relative weights of the sub-criteria in relation to thegoal ................................................................................................... 117Table 21 Relative weights of the RETs in relation to the goal .. 118Table 22 Roadmap for removal of barriers to RETT to Ghana. 122Table 23 Stages of TT for prioritised RETs in Ghana................. 126Table 24 Targets for each RET....................................................... 127Table 25 Institutions capable of supporting RETT to Ghana ... 131


viiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

BOXES

Box 1 Section 4 of Technology Transfer Regulations, LI 1547 ........................................................... 14Box 2 Section 10 of Patent Law of Ghana, Law 305A.......................................................................... 15Box 3 GEDAP solar project ..................................................................................................................... 21Box 4 Solar grid-connected system at KNUST..................................................................................... 23Box 5 Piloting solar dryers for drying of agricultural produce ......................................................... 26Box 6 Case study of 3.5 kW biogas plant at Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA) .... 29Box 7 Technology transfer in pellet production .................................................................................. 35Box 8 Research into second generation biofuels.................................................................................. 36Box 9 Technology transfer in improved cookstoves ........................................................................... 40Box 10 Technology transfer in solar thermal technology ................................................................... 44Box 11 South Africa: National SWH programme – Eskom rebate scheme...................................... 49Box 12 Zimbabwe – Building SWH for local conditions .................................................................... 51Box 13 Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative (Soltrain).......... 51Box 14 Kenya: a success story of TT in institutional cookstoves ....................................................... 55Box 15 Programme for Basic Energy and Conservation (ProBEC) .................................................. 58Box 16 Rwanda: Inyenyeri micro-gasification pellet stove programme ......................................... 60Box 17 African biogas partnership programme (ABPP).................................................................... 62Box 18 Merits and demerits of weak IP lays ........................................................................................ 76

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

viiiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

The lack of knowledge and technical skills, low quality training, ineffective regulations and lackof financing have been identified among key barriers to the dissemination and usage of renewableenergy technologies (RETs) in Ghana. Consequently, UNDP and Energy Commission areimplementing a four-year project dubbed ‘China-Ghana South-South Cooperation on RenewableEnergy Technology Transfer (RETT)’ to expedite the transfer and diffusion of RET from China toGhana. The project is funded by the Danish Government in support of coherent cooperationbetween China and countries in Africa within the framework of the UN’s Sustainable Energy forAll (SE4ALL) initiative.

The project supports broader national socio-economic and environmental objectives, mostnotably poverty reduction through employment generation and supporting action on climatechange mitigation. The project will do so by creating an enabling environment for technologytransfer and promote the production of RETs in Ghana with a strong focus on private sectordevelopment and inclusion. In the first year of implementation (2015), the project is focusing onestablishing an enabling environment for the transfer, production and regulation of the use ofRETs in Ghana.

As one of the outputs of the project, this report identifies and examines the barriers to RETT toGhana and proposes concrete mitigation actions for the removal of key barriers in a roadmap,drawing from lessons from Ghana’s history in RETT as well as lessons from other developingcountries. It provides information on the stage of technology transfer of prioritised RETs andproposes timelines for the achievement of full technology know-how. The assignment has beencarried out via in-depth desk review studies, surveys, and interviews with stakeholders in Ghanaand experts in China. The proposed roadmap is expected to form the foundation for thedevelopment of a RE Masterplan for Ghana. Some of the key points of the assignment aresummarised below.

Constitutes and elements of RETT

Technology transfer (TT) is generally defined as the movement of information form one point toanother. Technology transfer can be vertical or horizontal. Vertical transfer refers to transfer oftechnology from basic research to applied research, development, and production. On the otherhand, horizontal (international) technology transfer involves the movement of technology usedin one place, organisation, or context to another place, organisation, or context. Consequently,RETT refers to the movement of mature (advanced and appropriate) renewable energytechnologies from one country to another, usually from an industrialized to a developing country.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ixIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

This enables the receiving country to acquire, adapt, deploy and diffuse renewable energytechnologies from overseas and further innovate as a result of the capabilities acquired throughthe technology transfer process. The movement may involve equipment, skill and know-how,values and capital occurring at various stages.

Three stages of technology transfer are identified: the first stage involves the movement ofequipment and capital goods; the second stage includes skills and know-how for operating andmaintaining equipment; and the third stage involves the transfer of knowledge and expertise forgenerating and managing technological change. At this stage new technological capacity iscreated through technology transfer and active independent learning, creation and innovation ofthe recipient. Technology transfer process is successful when the recipient is able to acquire, use,replicate and possible resell the technology.

Review of Ghana’s technology transfer regulations, 1992 (LI 1547)

Ghana’s technology transfer regulation (LI 1547) was enacted in 1992 as a legislative instrumentenforceable by the Ghana Investment Centre, now the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre(GIPC), established by an Act of parliament in 2013 (Act 865). GIPC is the government agencyresponsible for encouragement and promotion of investments in Ghana through the creation ofan attractive incentive framework and enabling environment for investments. The technologytransfer regulations (LI 1547) require that all technologies transferred to Ghana for the purposesof doing business must be entered into an agreement between the transferor and local partnerand duly registered with GIPC.

Cross-border technology transfer agreements have become an important element of the overallbusiness strategy of any firm that seeks to expand its operations globally. These agreementsprovide the framework under which an owner (transferor) of a technology (specializedknowledge or expertise) can transfer certain legal rights to a partner (transferee) in foreigncountry while retaining title and control of such technology. The LI 1547 does not place anyrestrictions on the use of local components, raw materials or labour. However, it encouragesinnovation by allowing for transferred technology to be modified, adapted or improved byrecipient with or without the consent of the owner of the technology. It is recommended that theLI be amended to address contemporary issues in technology transfer. These include specifyinghow Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are shared, enforcing research and development, andspecifying sanctions for breach of contract.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

History, current and future trends of RETT to Ghana

Ghana has had experience with RE development and technology transfer (TT) since the firsthydropower plant was constructed in Ghana more than 50 years ago. Since that first plant washanded over to Ghanaian management, two other hydropower plants have been constructed andare fully managed by Ghanaians. A lot has happened in the area of RE development and TT sincethen. Interestingly, many of the RE projects implemented in Ghana were not meant as pure TTprojects, however, by their nature, they were TT related. With time, Ghanaians have learnt toaccept, embrace and adapt to these technologies. Some of the technologies went through verticaltechnology transfer while others took the horizontal transfer route.

Solar PV systems, first introduced to Ghana for lighting, have been adapted and now providepower for other uses as well. Many of the projects that were implemented have specific TTcomponents such as training of technicians, development of manuals, and preparatory processesleading to local manufacturing. Solar dryer experiments have been conducted for close to twodecades but commercial scale projects have been lacking due to high cost of acrylic glazingmaterials. Close to four decades of biogas development in Ghana has not led to a scale-up of thetechnology due to challenges such as poor level of construction; lack of skilled attendants; andpoor maintenance, and weak government support.

Of the other bioenergy types, only pellets had made in-road into large scale manufacturing, butby a single company even though support frameworks for such investments are not encouraging.Improved cookstoves have enjoyed several TT related activities and there is a lot of localmanufacturing capacity for especially household stoves. A number of institutions in the countryconduct training in RE technologies, leading to the award of all levels of academic certificates,from basic participation certificates, through bachelor degrees to PhD.

It should be noted that many Ghanaian RE projects often miss ‘further innovation’ eventually asprojects fail to proceed to local manufacture, notwithstanding the numerous capacity buildingactivities. The projects succeed in adapting, deploying and diffusing RE into the country but fallsshort of innovating. Ghana’s target of about 5000 MW of installed electricity generation capacityby 2020 means that about 500 MW (or 10%) target for RE electricity by 2020 could bring TT to thelimelight. Ghana must cease this opportunity, under the China-Ghana South-South project, todevelop local capacity in the design, manufacture, installation, operation and maintenance of REsystems in the country. Doing this would likely lead to cost reduction and opportunities for localmanufacture that can have several positive impacts. In this vein, China’s ‘superpower’ status inRE infrastructure could benefit Ghana immensely under the current project.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

Success stories of RETT globally

There are several RETT success stories in developing countries across the globe with Chinaepitomizing a country with an all-round success. Other developing countries, including some inAfrica, have implemented successful projects that serve as lessons for Ghana. Some of thecountries reviewed in this document include South Africa, Zimbabwe and Tunisia (for solarwater heating); Kenya (for solar lighting and institutional cookstoves); Algeria (for IntegratedSolar Combined-Cycle); Rwanda (for micro-gasification pellet stove programme), Nepal (fordomestic biogas); and multi-country initiatives such as the African Biogas PartnershipProgramme (ABPP) implemented in Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia and others. Moroccois a shining example, with the upcoming commissioning of what is being described as ‘the largestsolar plant in the world.’

Some of the key success factors in the countries reviewed include: development of localmanufacturing capacity; ‘hardline’ policies: e.g. strict building efficiency codes and banning ofconventional systems; building on niches within the specific countries; taking advantage ofopportunities and massive awareness campaigns. For technology transfer to be successful, it mustbe accepted that some things are (sometimes) achieved the ‘hard way,’ and with commitment anddedication. Zimbabwe’s plan to ban imported water heaters (after completion of its local capacitydevelopment in solar water heaters manufacturing) is a lesson that could truly drive innovation,and worth considering in Ghana.

Barriers to RETT to Ghana

In spite of the high RE resource base, penetration of modern RE in Ghana’s final energy mix hasbeen very marginal. This is due to a number of barriers that are militating against RETT toGhana. A total of 48 barriers were identified in the desktop study. The identified barriers weregrouped under 8 themes reflecting their main area of impact as follows:

1. Financial and economic barriers – High upfront costs; high interest rate; limited access tocapital; lack of consumer financing options; unstable currency; subsidies on conventionalsystems; and high operations and maintenance cost;

2. Market barriers – Underdeveloped supply chain; small market size; unstable marketsituation; failed past experience; and lack of successful reference projects;

3. Policy and regulatory barriers – Insufficient legal and regulatory framework; lack ofenforcement of codes and standards; unfavourable policies; corruption; intellectual propertyrights; low level of political will; inadequate re codes and standards; and problems in landacquisition;

4. Technical barriers – Difficulty in obtaining equipment and spare parts; immaturetechnology; poor operations and maintenance of facilities; new technology too complicated;and lack of infrastructure;

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xiiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

5. Human skills barriers – Lack of skilled personnel for manufacturing and installation; lack ofpersonnel for preparing project; lack of service and maintenance specialists; and inadequatetraining facilities;

6. Socio-cultural barriers – Lack of interest in shifting from conventional energy to RE;consumer preference and social biases; lack of confidence in new technology;dispersed/widely distributed settlement; lack of understanding of local needs; and fear offailure;

7. Information and awareness barriers – Poor or lack of information about cost and benefits ofRETs; and media not interested in RET promotion;

8. Network barriers – Weak connections between stakeholders promoting the new technology;strong network of conventional technologies favoured by legislation; difficult access toexternal manufacturers/institutions; lack of involvement of stakeholders in decision making;and weak network between foreign institutions and local ones.

A total of 71 stakeholders were initially identified as playing important roles or involved to someextent in RETT. The list comprises stakeholders from academic and research institutions,manufacturers/producers and service providers, international NGOs and developmentalpartners, policy and regulatory bodies, and financial institutions. The stakeholders were made toreview the identified barriers by ranking them in terms of their importance using an ordinal scale.A total of 51 stakeholders were reached for their views on the identified barriers.

Screening and establishment of key barriers to RETT

The initial ranking of barriers based on the least score per the assessment by the stakeholdersproduced 20 important barriers. The 20 barriers were further reduced to nine key barriers byconsidering barriers that were scored more than 50% by the respondents. The nine key barrierswere regrouped using the PESTEL analysis as follow:

Category Key barriersPolitical Lack of enforcement and political willEconomic High Initial Cost

High Interest rateUnstable currencyLimited access to capital

Technical Inadequate training facilitiesLack of skilled personnel for manufacturing

Socio-cultural Poor or lack of information about cost and benefits of RETs

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xiiiIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

Mitigation actions for removing key barriers to RETT

Mitigation measures to reduce the effect or completely eliminate the nine key barriers wereproposed, as follows:

Barriers Mitigation actionsPolitical a. Expedite the development of RE master plan

b. Operationalize the RE fund under RE lawc. Develop national programmes on prioritised RETsd. Develop/adopt standards, codes and labels for biogas plants, SWH,

solar dryers, wind mills and other RETs.Economic a. Develop and implement tax incentives on prioritised RETS

b. Provide financial support for RET investment in prioritised sectorsTechnical a. Strengthen existing training facilities

b. Build capacity of researchers and trainers in RETsc. Build capacity of researchers and trainers in RETsd. Conduct capacity building programmes for entrepreneurs and local

enterprisese. Arrange networks and partnerships for local enterprises with

counterparts in other countriesSocio-cultural a. Run cost benefit campaign on the use of RE products

b. Include RETs in technology catalogue

SWOT analyses have been conducted for all proposed mitigation measures.

Identification and prioritisation of RETs for TT to Ghana

RE technologies for off-grid applications were identified as having potential for technologytransfer and evaluated:

Biomass and bioenergy (biogas, ethanol, biodiesel, bio-oil and syn-gas, solid fuels andimproved cookstoves, and improved charcoal kiln);

Solar thermal technologies (water still, water heater, dryer); Solar PV technology; Solar lantern; Mini- and micro-hydro; and Standalone wind turbine.

Other technologies were screened out based on the following reasons: Landfill gas - Process of harnessing landfill gas complicated; lack of well-engineered

landfill sites; economics unfavourable;

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xivIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

Solar ovens/cookers - Not too successful in Ghana; appear not to fit into traditionalcooking;

Concentrated solar power/heating - Low direct normal radiation (DNI) in Ghana; and Solar fuel - Immature technology; under development.

The selected RETs were evaluated and ranked using the multi-criteria and multi-perspectivedecision tool, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), by 33 experts and stakeholders in aconsultative workshop organised by UNDP and Energy Commission on 24-25 November 2015.The goal for evaluating and prioritizing RETs as agreed by participants was ‘prioritization ofRETs to identify high impact technologies for national support.’ The RETs were evaluated basedon a set of criteria and sub-criteria in relation to the goal. The ranking of criteria, sub-criteria andRETs and based on collective agreement by stakeholders is shown below:

Item Details Rank

Criteria

Economic 1Technical 2Environmental 3Socio-cultural and political 4

Sub-criteria

Investment (upfront cost) 1Economic viability 2Market potential (scalability andreplicability)

3

Resource availability 4Ease of local manufacture, repair andcomponent supply

5

Jobs creation 6Proven technology (technical maturity) 7Emission reduction 8Land requirement 9Adverse impact of RET on environment 10Macro-economic benefits 11Social acceptability 12

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

xvIdentification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

Item Details Rank

RETs

Solar lantern 1Solar dryers 2Solar PV 3Solar water heaters 4Solid fuels 5Biogas 6Solar water stills 7Efficient charcoal kilns 8Standalone wind turbines 9Mini- and micro-hydro 10Ethanol 11Biodiesel 12Bio-oil and synthetic-gas 13

Experts ranked the economic criterion as the most important in achieving the goal, followed bytechnical, environmental and socio-cultural and political. From the ranking of sub-criteria,stakeholders agree RETs that are prioritized for national support must have favourable indicatorsas far as the economic sub-criteria are concerned. Finally, stakeholders ranked solar lanterns asthe alternative with the highest impact in relation to the goal. Solar lanterns have already receivedconsiderable national interest and large programmes such as GEDAP have prioritised solarlanterns for dissemination especially in areas remote from grid power.

Roadmap for RETT to Ghana

A roadmap with concrete actions and timelines has been proposed for the removal of key barriersto RETT and diffusion in Ghana. The roadmap takes into consideration the current stage of TTwith respect to prioritised RETs and provides timelines for the achievement of full manufacturingcapabilities of the technologies. Specific areas to focus whenever appropriate are highlighted.The policy timeline is focused on what government can do to accelerate RETT to Ghana in orderto meet the national RE targets. This is essential in cases where proposed actions relate tolegislation or use of government funds. However, in many other cases, there are opportunitiesfor other stakeholders such as development partners, research and tertiary institutions,enterprises and NGOs to facilitate these activities, with or without government support. Thesestakeholders need to play different but complementary roles in policy development andimplementation from the national to the local level. Key aspects of the roadmap pertains to thecapitalisation and operationalisation of the RE Fund and the development of the RE master plan,which will serve as a catalyst to support RETT and diffusion, as well as growth of privatecompanies in the sector.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1Identification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to Ghana

Wind pump for irrigation in GhanaPhoto: AESD-MOFA

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

This report is the main deliverable of theassignment “Identification of Barriers toRenewable Energy Technology Transfer toGhana” which has been undertaken for theUnited Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and Energy Commission. It is partof a larger initiative dubbed China-GhanaRenewable Energy Technology (RET)Transfer Cooperation, financed by the

Danish Government and implemented byUNDP. The project will lead to theestablishment of a South-South Cooperation(SSC) Centre in China to promote RenewableEnergy Technology Transfer (RETT) fromChina to Ghana through various packets oftraining and capacity building.

INTRODUCTION


It is accepted that RE can play a crucial rolein enhancing electricity access especially inrural and isolated communities if itsdevelopment receives the necessary supportfrom all stakeholders. Though access toelectricity in Ghana (73%) is high in relationto the sub-Saharan African average (24%)1,there are still many rural communities thatlive under extreme socio-economicchallenges due to factors that include lack ofaccess to grid electricity. Further, most ofthese communities may be rural, isolated orscattered where the national grid is unlikelyto reach them anytime soon2. In addition,Ghana has frequently faced difficulties ingenerating sufficient electricity to meet theenergy requirements needed for growth andeconomic development. This has resulted infrequent power outages and planned powerrationing across the country in recent years,leading to reduced workforce productivity,high cost of doing business, and lack ofpower for essential activities in the home.

RETT would have several advantages forGhana in aspects such as strengtheninghuman resource in research anddevelopment, cost reduction of RE products,increased local manufacture and income aswell as employment generation. However,the potential benefits of RETs could eludeGhana if the key barriers to effective RETTare not identified and assessed, so as toimplement effective strategies and actionplans for removing the barriers.

1.2 Objectives and scope

This assignment is focused on developing aroadmap detailing actions, measures andstrategies for the removal of all forms ofbarriers to effective RETT in Ghana, withemphasis on cooperation between China andGhana.

The underlying final report aims at:

1. Describing RETT and its components andforms;

2. Reviewing Ghana’s Technology TransferRegulations, 1992 (LI 1547) and assessingits appropriateness to addressing trendsin RETT;

3. Studying past and current RETTprogrammes in Ghana, emphasizingstudies from China and developingcountries;

4. Studying successful case studies of RETTat the global level, analysing factors thatcontributed to the success as well aslessons from such programmes;

5. Prioritizing relevant RETs based on theirpotential for technology transfer inGhana, with emphasis on China and otherdeveloping countries;

6. Examining barriers to RETT, highlightingany Chinese experience wheneverpossible;

7. Examining and screening all barriers,identifying key ones and proposingconcrete measures to tackle the barriers;and

8. Proposing a detailed roadmap for RETTin Ghana.

1 UNEP Finance Initiative. Financing RenewableEnergy in Developing Countries: Drivers and barriersfor private finance in sub-Saharan Africa, February2012.

2 Ahiekpor, J.C. Overview of Solar Projects in Ghana.A Study conducted for SNV-Ghana, 2013.

INTRODUCTION


1.3 Approach and strategy

The assignment has been carried out throughdesk-based research, using data and insightsobtained from published materials, as well asfield trips involving semi-structuredinterviews with key actors and stakeholdersin Ghana (Figure 1). In total, forty-eightexperts and stakeholders in Ghana wereinterviewed, comprising private companiesand enterprises, technology suppliers,service providers, academic experts andresearchers, developmental partners, non-governmental organisations (NGOs),community-based organisations (CBOs) andgender-based organisations, andgovernment advisors and policy makers,across all sectors of RE. A summary of theprofile of actors consulted is shown in AnnexA. Experts from China were also interviewedvia Skype and email exchanges.

1.4 Report structure

This rest of the report is structured asfollows:

Section 2 provides a description of RETTand its components and forms;

Section 3 reviews Ghana’s TechnologyTransfer Regulations, 1992 (LI 1547)with the view of assessing itsappropriateness to trends in RETT;

Section 4 provides information on thehistory of RETT in Ghana and highlightslessons learnt. It further outlines currentRETT activities in Ghana and highlightsfuture trends in RETT in view of thecountry’s strategic position as a businesshub in the sub-region;

In Section 5, successful case studies ofRETT in other developing countries arediscussed, focussing on how barriers toRETT were removed;

In Section 6, barriers affecting RETTglobally are critically analysed withspecific references to Ghana;

Section 7 screens all barriers identified,establishing key ones and proposesmitigation actions for removing them;

Section 8 identifies and evaluates RETswith high potential for transfer to Ghanafrom China and other countries;

Finally, Section 9 details a roadmapproposed for RETT from China andother countries to Ghana.

INTRODUCTION


Figure 1 Approach used to undertake the assignment

Desk reviews

Road

map

for r

emov

ing

barr

iers

to R

ETT

Discussion withstakeholders

Discussion withChinese experts

Stakeholdermeeting

Inputs fromChinese experts

Description of RETT

Review of Ghana’s Technology TransferRegulations, 1992 (LI 1547)

Establishment of history, current andfuture trends of RETT in Ghana

Identification of success stories of RETTglobally

Prioritization of RE technologies

Identification and analysis of barriers toRETT

Screening and establishment of keybarriers to RETT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


Solar water heater assembled by DENGPhoto: Edem Bensah

2. CONSTITUENTS AND ELEMENTS OF RENEWABLEENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

2.1 Introduction to technologytransfer

Technology transfer (TT) has been definedand measured in many different ways andby a wide range of disciplines3. It has been

3 Pueyo A and Linares P (2012). RETT to developingcountries: One size does not fit all. IDS WorkingPaper. 2012 (412).

defined as the process of movement oftechnology from one entity to another. Thetransfer may be said to be successful if therecipient, can effectively utilise thetechnology transferred and eventuallyassimilate it4.

4 Ramanathan, K (2014). An overview of TechnologyTransfer and Technology Transfer Models.

CONSTITUTES AND ELEMENTS OF RETT


The movement may involve physical assets,know-how, and technical knowledge5. TThas also been defined as the movement ofknowledge, skill, organisation, values andcapital from the point of generation to thepoint of adaptation and application.

Inspite of the seemingly complexity in thedefinition of TT, the end result for therecipient must be the ability to use, replicate,improve and, possibly, re-sell thetechnology6. TT must avoid creating andmaintaining dependency on the supplier toensure sustained and equitabledevelopment. Therefore, transfer oftechnology is more than just the moving ofhigh-tech equipment from the developed tothe developing world, or within thedeveloping world. It involves far more thanequipment and other so-called “hard”technologies, for it also includes totalsystems and their component parts,including know-how, goods and services,equipment, and organizational andmanagerial procedures across and withincountries, stakeholder organizations andinstitutions.

Cohen (2004)7 distinguished betweentechnology trade and real technologytransfer, as technology trade is merely theimport of equipment or the execution ofprojects on a turnkey basis, while technologytransfer involves mastering the importedknow-how of core technologies and thedevelopment and generation of technologiesutilising scientific and technologicalcapacities. There exist three different flows oftransferred technological content:8

5 Bozeman, B. (2000). Technology transfer and publicpolicy. A review of research and Theory. ResearchPolicy.6 UNEP-IETC (2003). Technology transfer: The sevenCs for the successful transfer and uptake ofenvironmentally sound technologies. Osaka, Japan.

The first flow involves import of capitalgoods and equipment - increases theproduction capacity of the recipient buton its own does not enable the recipientto use the imported facilities efficientlyor to generate technological change;

The second flow includes skills andknow-how for operating andmaintaining equipment. It places thehuman resources of the importer at thetechnological level required to operatethe imported technology efficiently, butwithout indigenous efforts beyondlearning how to use the technology itwould not enable technological change;

The third flow encompasses knowledgeand expertise for generating andmanaging technological change. Itcreates new technological capacitythrough technology transfer and activeindependent learning, creation andinnovation of the recipient.

According to Ramanathan (2014), the modeof TT can be classified as vertical (internal) orhorizontal (external). Vertical transfer refersto technology being transferred fromresearch to development to production. Thusit follows the progressive stages of invention,innovation and development, with thetechnology becoming more commercialisedas it proceeds through each stage. Verticaltransfer can be within one organisation or atransaction between, say, a research instituteand a manufacturing company.

Horizontal transfer refers to a maturedtechnology being transferred from oneoperational environment to another.

7 Cohen, W. M., Goto A., Nagata A., Nelson R. R., andWalsh J. (2002). R&D Spillovers, Patents and theIncentives to Innovate in Japan and the United States’.Research Policy 31(8–9): 1349–67.8 See Pueyo and Linares, 2012



The technology is already commercialisedand the purpose is to disseminate thetechnology and extend its application intoother contexts. This type of transfer is usedby companies wishing to maximise thereturn from their technology, but beingunable to do this by direct selling of endproducts in a market. Horizontal transfer ismore common when technology is beingtransferred from industrialised todeveloping countries. There is usually nofurther improvement or change to thetechnology unless it needs to be modified tosuit local circumstances or environmentalregulation, in which case when it is adaptedand/or refined.9

2.2 Renewable energy technologytransfer (RETT)

In the context of renewable energytechnologies, technology transfer may referto the diffusion of mature (advanced andappropriate) renewable energy technologiesfrom one country to another. This enables thereceiving country to acquire, adapt, deployand diffuse renewable energy technologiesfrom overseas and further innovate as aresult of the capabilities acquired throughthe technology transfer process (Figure 2).

The process starts with the identification of aneed. The needs are the driving forces fortechnology uptake. To avoid the transfer ofinadequate, unsustainable, or unsafetechnologies, technology recipients shouldbe able to identify and select technologiesthat are appropriate to their actual needs,circumstances and capacities10. For instancein the case of renewable energy technologies,lack of access to modern energy services and

9 UNIDO (2002). Innovative technology transferframework linked to trade for UNIDO Action.10 See UNEP-IETC (2003).

environmental pollution and the apparentlack of technologies to meet these needs aredriving forces for technology uptake. Eventhough the need is apparent, it does notnecessarily lead to technological andknowledge transfer.

In Ghana the RE Law (Act 832) definesrenewable energy as energy obtained fromnon-depleting sources including: wind;solar; hydro; biomass; bio-fuel; landfill gas;sewerage gas; geothermal energy; and oceanenergy. The Law seeks to provide anenabling environment and framework forthe development and utilization of these REsources for the production of heat and powerin an efficient and environmentallysustainable manner. To benefit sustainably inany RETT process to Ghana, RETs that areappropriate to the country’s immediateneeds, circumstances and with potentialcapacities must be selected.

Currently, RETs such as solar energy in itsvarious forms (photovoltaic, heating andthermal or concentrated), wind powertechnologies and several modern forms ofbiomass conversion technologies(particularly biogas digesters), areregistering the fastest deployment growthrates in both developed and developingcountries, and their upfront costs aredeclining fast. These technologies can beapplied in a broad range of developmentcontexts and, in particular, demonstratesignificant potential for application in ruralas well as urban areas in developingcountries through small-grid and non-gridsystems.11

11 UNCTAD, 2011. Powering development withRETs.



It is worthy of note that only a limitednumber of developing countries are makingtheir mark as developers of RETs. Theexperiences of China, India and otheremerging economies show that publicsupport, political will and concerted policycoordination are key to promotingtechnological capabilities over time. Greatersupport for education (especially at thetertiary level) and for the development ofsmall and medium-sized enterprises, as wellas financial support for larger firms andpublic science are important. Some studieshave also noted that expertise in thesecountries initially concentrated to a largeextent on less technology-intensive RETs

such as biofuels, solar thermal andgeothermal. Many of these countries eitherhave existing expertise, or stand goodchances of developing such expertise.

RETT could take several forms depending onthe level of capabilities of the recipient.However, as pointed out earlier, it shouldnot be limited to only the transfer of hi-techequipment but should include skills andcapacity development, organizational andmanagerial procedures for technologicalchange as well as supportive regulatoryframework to acquire, use and adopt thetechnology.

Figure 2 Main process for technology transfer

2.3 Conclusion

Based on the above discussion, the followingconclusions may be drawn:

Commercial technology transfer may bedefined as a mutually agreed upon,intentional, and proactive process bywhich technology flows from an entitythat owns the technology (thetransferor) to an entity seeking thetechnology (the transferee). The transferinvolves cost and expenditure that isnegotiated and agreed upon by thetransferee and transferor. The transfer

may be said to be successful if thetransferee can successfully utilise thetechnology for business gains andeventually assimilate it;

Technology transfer can be vertical orhorizontal technology transfer. Verticaltransfer refers to transfer of technologyfrom basic research to applied research,development, and production whilehorizontal technology transfer involvesthe movement of technology used in oneplace, organisation, or context to anotherplace, organisation, or context; and

Acquisition Adaptation Dissemination



In today’s globalised and liberalisedbusiness setting, many technologytransfer modes could be deployeddepending on how the technologydevelopment aims of the transferor andtransferee are linked. Technologytransfer can commence from a simplelevel to a much more comprehensive onewith time. The mode chosen woulddepend on the corporate strategies of thetransferor and transferee and thetechnological capability of thetransferee.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


Puxin biogas digesters at Hebron Prayer Camp, near NsawamPhoto: Edem Bensah

3. GHANA’S TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REGULATIONS

3.1 Background

Cross-border technology transferagreements have become an importantelement of the overall business strategy ofany firm that seeks to expand its operationsglobally. These agreements provide theframework under which an owner(transferor) of a technology (specializedknowledge or expertise) can transfer certainlegal rights to a partner (transferee) in a

12 Gutterman, A. (2009). Regulations of Technology Transfer Arrangements.

foreign country while retaining title andcontrol of such technology12.

TT agreements can offer a number ofpotential business advantages to thetransferor when the transferor wishes to relyon local partners in a recipient country asopposed to setting up operations on its ownto conduct activities for which thetechnology is being transferred.

GHANA’S TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER REGULATIONS


Some of the benefits include low cost ofmarket access and manufacturing, cheaplabour, available raw materials, andloyalties. For example, if the transferor isinterested in manufacturing and distributingits products in a foreign country it mayefficiently do so by licensing the relevanttechnology to a local manufacturer(transferee) that can use the available labourand raw materials and tap into its existingdistribution channels in the market.

Developed nations tend to place restrictionson transfers (exports) that involve certainsensitive form of technology to othercountries. For example, the United States hasa comprehensive set of regulations, statutesand executive orders with respect to exportcontrols, all of which are intended to curbworldwide proliferation of weapons of massdestruction and prevent certain countriesfrom obtaining technologies that maycontribute to their military potentials.

The recipient countries also benefit from TTregulations. According to Gutterman (2009),many countries in the developing worldenacted TT regulations in the early 1990s dueto the potential advantages to them ofinbound technology transfers fromindustrialized countries. The advantagesinclude introduction of the latesttechnologies into the domestic market,development of local capacities, increasedlevel of employment, and foreign directinvestment. Due to this potential benefits,governments in recipient countries are oftentempted to relax the terms that could beincluded in the technology transferregulations in order to attract investors.Some of these waivers include conditionsthat manufacturing activities involved couldonly be carried out using local components

and labour and reducing the amount to bepaid in taxes and loyalties.

Consequently, technology transferregulations can take a variety of differentforms as each country will have its ownspecific concerns based on domestic,economics and political conditions at thetime the law is enacted. These regulationscan be reviewed from time to time to meetmodern international and nationalrequirements and their potential effect on thedevelopment of the national economy.

Among the most common areas of concern inrecent years are royalty rates, the scope andcontent of control that the transferor seeks toimpose on the transferee, the nature ofimplied representations, warrantiesregarding quality and performance,governing laws, terms of agreement anddispute resolution procedures.

For instance, technology transfer regulationsin India have undergone transformations.For many years India took a very restrictiveand protectionist approach to technologytransfers between transferors and localtransferees. The terms of technologylicensing agreements were subject to thefollowing conditions and restrictions:

1. Royalty percentages could not normallyexceed 5% and the term of agreementcould not exceed 10 years;

2. No minimum guaranteed royalty wasallowed;

3. Exports of the licensed product couldnot be restricted by the transferor, exceptto jurisdictions where it had existinglicense agreements;



4. Clauses that bound the Indian partywith respect to the procurement ofcapital goods, components, or rawmaterials had to be avoided;

5. Indian transferee had to be allowed tofreely sublicense the technical know-how to another Indian part if it becamenecessary;

6. Provision for interest on delayedpayments were not allowed;

7. Foreign brand names were not allowedfor use on products for internal sales;and

8. Agreements have to be subject to Indianlaws.

Recently, however, Indian technologytransfer regulations have been liberalized inorder to promote technology capacity andcompetiveness of industry in India and thegovernment now claims that acquisition offoreign technology is encouraged throughforeign technology collaborationagreements. The terms of payment undersuch agreements include technical know-how fees, payment for design and drawings,payment for engineering services androyalties.

3.2 Review of technology transferregulation (LI 1547)

Ghana’s technology transfer regulation (LI1547) was approved in 1992 as a legislativeinstrument enforceable by the GhanaInvestment Centre, now the GhanaInvestment Promotion Centre (GIPC),established by an Act of parliament in 2013(Act 865). GIPC is the government agencyresponsible for encouragement andpromotion of investments in Ghana, toprovide for the creation of an attractiveincentive framework and enabling

environment for investments in Ghana. Thefunctions of GIPC include inter alia:

- Formulate investment promotionpolicies and plans, promotionalincentives and marketing strategies toattract foreign and local investments inadvanced technology industries andskill-intensive services which enjoygood export market prospects;

- Initiate and support measures that willenhance the investment climate inGhana for both Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian enterprises; and

- Register and keep records of alltechnology transfer agreements.

The technology transfer regulations (LI 1547)require that all technologies transferred toGhana for the purposes of doing businessmust be entered into an agreement betweenthe transferor and local partner and dulyregistered with GIPC. It has provisions toprotect both the transferor and transferee inthe implementation of such agreements.

In the early 1990’s, governments indeveloped countries including Ghana sawtechnology transfer laws as a tool to fosterdevelopment of local technical capabilitiesand increase local employment. This oftenresulted in comprehensive restrictions on theterms that could be included in a licensedagreement. Though these restrictions may begood, industries in Ghana mayrelax/compromise the terms of theseagreements which may not necessarily leadto a comprehensive transfer of technology.

The following sections attempts to reviewprovisions in LI 1547 to ascertain if they arestill relevant for the promotion of particular,RETT to Ghana.



3.2.1 Restrictions on agreements

Apart from the provisions of the regulations,no other restrictions are imposed on theregistration of a technology transferagreement in Ghana. Unlike otherjurisdictions where the use of localcomponents, raw materials and labour arepart of the agreements, Ghana has moreliberal regulations. The transferor andtransferee can decide and agree on theirsource of labour and raw materials, providedit is not an imposition from the transferor.However, the regulations require thetransferor to provide requisite training forthe transferee and its personnel for theeffective utilisation of the technology.Moreover, agreements which contain thefollowing clauses are inapplicable andunenforceable under the regulations:

Transfer of technologies that are freelyand easily available in Ghana;

Restriction on the volume of productionor the sale of transferee’s products inGhana;

Prohibition of exportation of products tospecific geographical areas other thanareas the transferor has previouslygranted exclusive rights to third parties;

Clauses that bound the Ghanaian partywith respect to the procurement of capitalgoods, components, or raw materials;

Obligatory transfer of improvements orinnovations introduced or developed bythe transferee to transferor;

Payment for patents and intellectualproperty rights after their expiration;

Clauses which prohibit the use of licensedtechnical know-how acquired from the

13 Srinivas, K.R (2009). Climate change, TechnologyTransfer and Intellectual Property Rights. RIS-DP153.

technology transferred after expiry of theagreement.

It is worthy of note that, the government ofGhana is developing a local content lawwhich may seek to place restrictions on theuse of labour and local materials whenpassed. Some sectors such as the upstreamoil and gas industry already has a localcontent policy.

3.2.2 Improvement and adaptation oflicensed technology

LI 1547 encourages research anddevelopment activities of the recipient(Transferee) to improve, modify and adaptlicensed technology as stated in section 4clauses (k) and (m) which are part of theinapplicable and unenforceable clauses (Box1). The terms of the technology transferagreements can neither restrict research anddevelopment activities of the transferee toimprove and adapt the licensed technologynor require the transferee to seek the consentof the transferor before any modification canbe made to licensed technology.

Even though this may be regarded as weakprotection of intellectual property right(IPR), the provisions made by LI1547 arenecessary for sustainable RETT in a smalldeveloping country like Ghana. According toSrinivas (2009)13, experience of developingcountries in Asia shows weak IP protectionhelped in building up local capacities even ifthe countries were at low levels ofdevelopment.



For example, it has been pointed out by Kim(2003)14 that in the initial stages of industrialdevelopment, Korea acquired andassimilated mature technologies andundertook reverse engineering andduplicative imitation. At those stages strongIP protection would hinder rather thanenable technology transfer or developmentof indigenous capacity to learn by doing.

In Ghana’s Patent Law (Law 305A), however,any invention as a result of improvement,modification or adoption of licencetechnology does not exclusively belong tothe transferee but shared equally asstipulated in section 10 of the law (Box 2).

The Patent Law provides protection andownership of original inventions andintellectual property. There are other laws inGhana that strongly protect intellectualproperty including the Industrial DesignAct, and Trademarks Act.

Also, TT regulation enjoins the transferee tokeep the licensed technology confidentialand use it only for its own purposes duringand after expiration of the agreement. Thetransferee cannot, except with the consent ofthe transferor, sub-license the know-how ortechnology.

Box 1 Section 4 of Technology Transfer Regulations, LI 1547

Where a technology transfer agreement contains any of the clauses specified in thisparagraph or contains a clause the effect of which is the same as or similar to any of the saidclauses, that clause shall be inapplicable and unenforceable:

(g) clauses which provide for obligatory transfer by the transferee of improvements orinnovations introduced or developed or patents acquired by the transferee in respect of thelicensed technology to the transferor, except that such clause, excluding patents acquiredby transferee, may be permissible where they are mutual or reciprocal; or(k) clause which restrict R&D activities of the transferee to improve and adapt the licencedtechnology or restrict the transferee access to continue improvements in techniques andprocesses related to the licensed technology; or(m) clauses which require the consent of the transferor before any modifications toproducts, processes or plants can be effected by transferee or which impose on thetransferee obligations to introduce unnecessary designs; except where the licensedtechnology is used to manufacture specific products under a license or trademark.

14 Kim, L. (2003). Technology transfer and intellectualproperty rights: the Korean experience. Geneva:ICTSD.



Box 2 Section 10 of Patent Law of Ghana, Law 305A

(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 8 and in the absence of contractualprovisions to the contrary, the right to a patent for an invention made in execution of acommission or an employment contract the express object of which is research or theexercise of inventive activity by the employee shall belong to the person who commissionedthe work or to the employer as the case may be; except that where the invention is of veryexceptional importance the inventor shall be entitled to reasonable remuneration.

(2) Subject to subsection (1) of this section, and in the absence of an order of the PatentsTribunal established under section 70 of this Law varying the proportions, the right to apatent for an invention made by an employee as a result of the use of the resources, data,means, materials, installations or equipment of the employer shall, subject to the provisionsof subsections (3) to (8) of this section, belong jointly and in equal shares to the employeeand employer.

3.3 Gaps identified and recommendations

Ghana’s TT regulation provides thenecessary guidelines to attract investmentand transfer of technologies to Ghana. Itaddresses most issues of unfair businesspractices. However, the following short-comings were identified and must beresolved to better promote TT and itsdevelopment especially in the area of RE:

1. Breach of agreementThe regulations do not address theconsequences of the various breaches ofthe terms in the agreement including thefailure of the transferor to transfer thelicensed technology, use of thetechnology beyond the scope of thetransferee, failure of transferee to remitroyalties and failure of transferee ortransferor to maintain confidentiality;

2. Research and developmentThe regulation does allow for transfereeto modify or adapt licensed technology,however, it does not make provision forincluding research and development as

part of the activities of the agreement.This is necessary to encourage theparties to commit resources to researchand development of their operationslocally. In China for instance, it is arequirement for the transferor to permitthe transferee to exploit even patentsand must make available alltechnological materials relevant to theexploitation of the patent.

3. Sharing of IPRsParties must be allowed to decide onhow technological achievementsobtained from any improvements oradaptation of the licensed technologyshould be shared. Though the patent lawmakes provision for ownership andsharing of IPRs the procedure to acquirepatent can be cumbersome and oftendiscourages applicants. If a sharingregime is allowed to be included in theTT agreements, it could enhance thesharing of information, easy learningand use of licensed technology.



4. Ownership of technologyThe current regulations do not requirethe transferor to prove ownership of thetechnology.



The transferor must guarantee that it isthe lawful owner of the licensedtechnology. This ensures that thetransferor will be liable, absent anagreement to the contrary by the parties,if the use of technology by the transfereein accordance with the terms of theagreement infringes on the legitimateright and interests of others.

5. Technical services and consultingThe regulations do not includeguidelines for contracts relating totechnical services and consulting.Technical consulting contracts includecontracts under feasibility studies,technological forecast, technicalinvestigations, and analytical evaluationreports provided for specific projects.Technical services include contracts inwhich one party undertakes to solvespecific technical problems by using itstechnical expertise for the other party.

6. Duration of agreementFor agreements that involve theexploitation of patents, the duration ofsuch an agreement must not exceed theduration of the validity of the patent.Royalties must stop when the patentbecomes invalid.

3.3 Conclusion

Ghana has a TT regulation that protects boththe transferor and transferee in theimplementation of such agreements.However, it is weak in ensuring acquisitionof knowledge and expertise needed forcreating technological change for thetransferred technology, usually leaving thecountry at the stage of importation ofequipment, repairs, sales and marketing offinished products without the ability toinnovate and create.



Construction of fixed-dome biogas plantPhoto: Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, MoP

4. HISTORY, CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS OF RETT INGHANA

4.1 Background

The threat of energy security and globalwarming continue to spur interest inrenewable energy (RE) deployment aroundthe world. Many developing countries, such asGhana, have had to rely on importedtechnology, even as they seek to build theirown capacity in renewable energy technologydevelopment. A number of RE related projects

have been implemented in Ghana spanningover 30 years. Many of these projects haveserved as learning curves, through which theindustry has learnt to adapt and evolve. Inprinciple, Ghana has been the home of REdevelopment from the very beginning ofelectricity technology development.

HISTORY, CURRENT AND FUTURE TRENDS OF RETT IN GHANA


The very first electricity generation plant builtin Ghana was a hydro power project (inAkosombo) that has been managed byGhanaian engineers for more than half acentury. Interestingly, the second power plantbuilt in the country is also a hydro power plant(built in Kpong). Thermal power plants tookover much later and more or less became thecentre of attention until the Bui hydro powerplant was commissioned in 2013. It is worthmentioning that under Ghana’s RenewableEnergy Act, only hydro power plants ofcapacity 100 MW or below are consideredrenewable and qualifies for RE feed-in-tariffs.

Beyond the hydro power plants, a lot hashappened in the RE sector in Ghana to date. Acareful appraisal of many of these RE projectsin Ghana indicate that the lot may not havebeen intended as pure technology transferprojects, but by their nature, were technologytransfer related. Even though several of theprojects were meant as developmentalprojects, often to bridge the gap between ruraland urban lighting and fuel provision,Ghanaians have learnt to accept thesetechnologies, embrace them, and adapt tothem as the years have gone by.

After several decades though, the diffusion ofmany of these RE technologies has still beenthrough imports from source countries, ratherthan manufactured locally. That trend may yetchange as interesting developments take place,with the recent news that two solar PVassembly plants have been commissioned inGhana.

15 See Ahiekpor, J. C. (2013)

Under the current China UNDP – GhanaUNPE Technology Transfer project, a lot ofinteresting developments may yet happen.This part of the report would discuss thehistory and current trends of RETTs in Ghanaunder the various technologies: thus solar,biogas, wind, small-hydro and improvedcookstoves. Thereafter, a likely future trend,based on the outlook, would be provided,using the trend from the past and ongoingprojects. Annex B shows a summary of projectswith some renewable energy technologytransfer components.

4.2 Solar PV (stand-alone and grid-connected) and solar Lanterns

According to Ahiekpor15, several solar energyprojects have been initiated in Ghana since1989. In the beginning, solar energy provisionwas meant for basic lighting in ruralcommunities, under various governmentprojects, some of which were funded bybilateral and multilateral agencies. Thesystems for basic lighting served as a learningcurve to a certain degree, and as Ghanaiansbecame innovative with solar systems, but alsothrough observation of innovation elsewhere,other uses of solar energy were introduced.

The new applications include: radio and TVoperation in addition to basic lighting, vaccinerefrigeration, classroom lighting and televisionfor distance education, street lighting, solarwater pumping for irrigation, solar batterycharging, solar water heating, communication,and recently centralized grid-connectedplants.



In a way, use of these technologies haveintensified as global prices of solar systemshave dipped with time. Solar energydeployment in Ghana first started undergovernment projects that were supported byexternal donors with the view to providingrural lighting solutions. In many of theseprojects, government has worked directly withlocal system suppliers, which has tended tobuild further capacity of these localcompanies, who have also learnt to innovatewith time.

One of the early projects with technologytransfer components is Lighting Africa, a jointWorld Bank-IFC program launched inSeptember 2007. The project ran fromSeptember 2009 to June 2012 and was meant to‘create an enabling environment for theintroduction of innovative new off-gridlighting solutions and the phase out oftraditional lighting sources’16. It also served asa market entry mechanism by providingmarket intelligence, lowering policy andregulatory barriers, and providing businessdevelopment support.

There were some notable technology transfersuccesses in this project which included:

Provision of advisory services togovernment, manufacturers and suppliers;

Training selected manufacturers anddistributors on funding opportunities,distribution models and businessmanagement; and

Training technicians to provide after salesservices and maintenance.

16 Ahiekpor, J. C. (2013). Solar Lantern Projects in Ghana: An Overview. Final Draft Report prepared for theNetherlands Development Organisation (SNV)

Under a Dutch government led solar project in2007 dubbed Affordable Lighting for All, anumber of technology/knowledge transferactivities were undertaken. The supply chainlinked Philips Lighting (a foreignmanufacturer), with Deng Limited (a localdistributor), as well as other local distributorsand retailers for the sale and distribution ofsolar lighting systems. The local distributorswere expected to have technical knowledge orengage technicians to provide better technicalservices. Training activities were carried out forthe local actors and a training manual wasdeveloped in this regard.

In a more recent project, the government hasbegun distributing solar lanterns to rural off-grid communities to replace kerosene lanterns.The programme is aimed at providing 200,000solar lanterns in off-grid rural homes over aperiod of five years. This programme hadfurther innovation in the solar lantern designas mobile phone charging units were included.Local distributors: Wilkins Engineering andMono Eco-Green Energy, are supplying thesystems, further deepening the technologytransfer process. The second phase of theproject, which is expected to span two years(2014 – 2016), would support the establishmentof local assembly of solar lanterns, a directtechnology transfer activity. Other projectshave been promoted by GEDAP (Box 3).

Somehow, consciously and intuitively, theseprojects have had technology transferimbedded in them, driving innovation andlocal capacity in the assembly of components,with the ultimate aim of local manufacture.



The solar lanterns and solar home systems aresupplied by local companies with a view todriving local participation and innovation, toreach a point where the local industries could

be in a position to locally manufacture theselanterns, a situation that may happen soonerthan later.

Box 3 GEDAP solar project

BackgroundThis project is part of component four of the Electricity Access and Renewable Energy (EARE)component of the GEDAP project. The objective is to increase electricity access via solarphotovoltaic systems to poor rural households in remote regions of Ghana where solar PVsystems in communities where grid service will not arrive for the next ten years or more. Theincreased access to electricity will improve the quality of life, enhance educational services,and provide income-generating opportunities. EARE seeks to assist the GOG to establish anenabling environment and facilitate market development to attract private investments inlarge-scale commercialization of renewable energy and energy efficiency improvement.It has four components:

1. Renewable energy policy framework and renewable energy/energy efficiency (RE/EE)capacity building;

2. Large scale grid-connected renewable energy;3. Mini-grid renewable energy and Energy Service Companies (ESCOs); and4. Stand-alone renewable energy systems.

The project aimed to install 15,000 solar lanterns and small home systems (SHSs), benefitingabout 90,000 people between 2009 and 2012. The project used the dealer credit sale model inwhich accredited dealers compete in an open market to sell and install the solar systems, andcustomers finance the purchase of solar systems through consumer credit provided by ruralbanks.

Project benefits- About 16,500 systems comprising 8000 solar lanterns and 8500 solar home systems have

been installed.- Several technicians have been trained to install and maintain the systems.- Several small spin-off businesses have resulted from the project.

ChallengesThe project took off slowly at the initial implementations stages as a result of the followingchallenges:

- Lack of adequate well trained solar installers to cater for the increased installation ratesof the participating companies

- Failure of earlier installed systems and projects



- Lack of full time staff with knowledge on solar products at the financial institutions- Solar companies’ delays in responding to system faults and supply requests- Perceived inferiority of solar systems compared to the grid due to usage limitations

ConclusionThe project was successful as it exceeded its target. About 16500 solar systems weredisseminated. This was made possible by project features to address key barriers facing thedissemination of Solar PV systems in Ghana. These features include:

- Well established selection criteria for participating communities;- Consumer credit of up to three years through local rural banks to address the

affordability barrier;- Service contracts that bundle supply, installation, maintenance, and battery

replacement services to ensure project sustainability and loan repayment; and- GEF-funded technical assistance to dealers for developing the market and setting up

presence in deep rural areas.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Technical know-

how and practicaltraining

- Import of equipmentand accessories

- Training of artisans oninstallation andmaintenance ofsystems

- Over 7500 solarlanterns installed

- Over 8000 Solar homesystems installed

- Provided lightingneeds for over 90,000people

Stage 2

Alongside promoting off-grid systems, anumber of grid-connected systems have alsobeen developed, some of which were a resultof direct technology transfer initiatives,especially those associated with universitiesand research centres. The 44 kW systems atKNUST is the foremost project in this regard(Box 2). Table 1 provides a summary of thehigher capacity grid-connected systems in thecountry. Box 4 shows part of the 44 kWp

installation at KNUST.

Other projects that were implemented byKNUST outside of campus were principally

meant as technology transfer initiatives. Oneof such is the African Union funded Potential ofdistributed grid-connected solar Photovoltaic (PV)systems in rural electrification in Africa which issupported by Africa Union with close to amillion Euros. The project seeks todemonstrate the potential of distributed grid-connected solar PV systems in ruralelectrification for improved affordability andsustainable energy access. One of the earlyachievements of this project is the installationof an Automatic Weather Station in Walewale(Northern Region) for monitoring solarradiation and other parameters as well as



preparations for the installation of 30 kWpgrid-connected systems in the same area.17

Under another African Union funded project,KNUST is partnering with institutions fromFrance and Burkina Faso to assess potentialsites and rank them for the development ofConcentrated Solar Power (CSP) in WestAfrica. One of the highlights of the project isthe design and optimization of a turbine for awaterless CSP, a technology transfercomponent in which the West Africaninstitutions would benefit directly from their

French counterpart. The African Union isproviding about 0.8 million Euro for theproject which focuses principally ontechnology development18. It is said thatmarket drives innovation. The growth inGhana’s solar energy market is leading to theassembly of solar panels in Ghana, a situationthat could potentially lead to a manufacture ofthe solar cells themselves, an area that could bethe next centre of attraction for China andGhana with regards to RETT.

Table 1 Main solar grid-connected systems in Ghana19

Institution Name Locality Region Installed Capacity (kW)

BXC Company Ghana Ltd. GomoaOnyadze

Central Region 20,000.00

Volta River Authority (VRA) Navrongo Upper East 2,500.00

Noguchi Mem. Institute, Uni.Of Ghana

Legon, Accra Greater Accra 315.00

Ministry of Energy Accra Greater Accra 50.00

KNUST Kumasi Ashanti 44.00

Wienco Gh Ltd Atempoku Eastern 42.77

Trade Works Company Ltd(Office)

South Dome Greater Accra 10.58

Valley View University Oyibi Greater Accra 8.36

R. Tuffour - Residence Sakumono Greater Accra 7.60

Residence installed by TW West Legon Greater Accra 5.17

Energy Commission Accra Greater Accra 4.25

Box 4 Solar grid-connected system at KNUST

BackgroundThe College of Engineering at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology is oneof the pioneering solar energy capacity building places in the country. For many years, solarresource data has been collected at the college’s solar laboratory.

17 TEC-KNUST. http://energycentre. knust. edu.gh/projects/on-going-projects/au-grid-solar-project

18 TEC-KNUST. http://energycentre.knust.edu.gh/projects/on-going-projects/csp4africa-project19http://ghea.energycom.gov.gh/database/index.php#



Project detailsThe college has installed a 44 kW solar grid-connected system on some of the roofs of its lecturetheatres and office blocks; and has monitoring equipment that takes readings at hourlyintervals. The grid-connected system was carried out in three phases: a first phase of 4kW, asecond phase of 20kW, and a third phase of 20kW.The 24kW total installed in the first two phases were donated by the German state of NorthRhine Westphalia to aid in research into grid-connected solar PV systems. The last 20kWsystem was donated by the World Bank. Different PV technologies were used so that theirperformance could be assessed.The technologies used in the 24kW system are as follows: Amorphous Silicon (6kW);Polycrystalline Silicon (6kW); Monocrystalline Silicon (4kW); Sanyo Hybrid Heterojunctionwith Intrinsic Thin layer (4kW); CIS Thin Film (4kW). Details of some of the systems are shownin the table below.

Part of the 44 kW KNUST grid connected solar PVPhoto: TEC, KNUST

ImpactSince its installation, the college has used the system to train participants of their annual shortcourse programme on solar grid-connected systems. Over 50 participants have so far beentrained in solar PV grid-connected systems.

Poly Mono CIS Amorphous HybridNominal power, kW 4.05 3.99 4.05 4 4Modules total number 18 21 81 40 16Total surface area, m2 30.6 28.1 68.6 58.9 22.6Max DC power, kW 4.04 4.04 4.04 4.04 4.04Max AC-active power, kW 3.80 3.80 3.80 3.80 3.80



Performance ratio approx. (%) 79 81 81 79 87Min PV temp, 0C -10 -10 -10 -10 -10Design temperature, 0C 50 50 50 50 50Max PV temp, 0C 70 70 70 70 70

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Investment- Knowledge

sharing- Technical know-

how and practicaltraining

- Design of solar PV systems- Equipment and accessories- Training on installation and

maintenance- Research on performance

- Training of over20 researchassistants andshort courseparticipants

Stage 2

4.3 Solar thermal systems

Solar thermal systems refer to solar waterheating systems and solar dryers. Solar waterheaters could be a great source of demand sidemanagement tool in especially hotels andguest houses, considering the amount ofenergy that must go into water heating. Anumber of companies already retail and installsolar water heaters in the country, even thoughit is yet to gain wider popularity. Few hotels,including Anita Hotel in Kumasi as well asOak Plaza and African Reagent Hotels inAccra, have installed solar water heaters.Apart from the hotels, some residentialfacilities have also installed solar watersystems but the total installed countrywide is

unknown. Among the prominent installationsis the site of the Bui Power Authority, wherefifty 150-litre evacuated tube water heaters areinstalled for use at their residential facilities onsite.

Solar dryers have also not seen widercommercial application in Ghana. A number ofexperimental systems have been designed onthe various tertiary education and researchfacilities across the country. Commercial scaleversions of solar dryers have been piloted bythe Agricultural Engineering ServicesDirectorate (AESD) of the Ministry of Foodand Agriculture (Box 5).



Box 5 Piloting solar dryers for drying of agricultural produce20

BackgroundDrying of maize by small scale farmers in Ghana is mostly done by spreading the grains onshoulders of roads, bare floor on compounds, used sewed fertilizer bags, polyethylene sheetsand tarpaulins among others. These methods of drying lead to contamination by sand,domestic animal droppings and urine and other foreign matter.

Project detailsTo address the challenge of drying crops, the Ministry of Agriculture sourced and introducedsolar dryers in some farming communities in 2012. The programme, which was implementedby the Ministry’s Engineering Directorate in 2012 in collaboration with GIZ/MOAP, installedand promoted the use of solar dryers in two communities in the Brong Ahafo and one inAshanti regions for first stage drying of maize. Parameters measured were temperature andhumidity in the drying chamber as well as moisture content of the maize. The analysis of themeasured data was to inform necessary modification on the solar dryer to increase its efficiencyfor pre-drying of maize in humid areas and hopefully lead to increased production. A 2-tonnethree tier drying tray solar dryer was installed at the Sekyedumase market for both traders andfarmers. This served as a demonstration activity in the community, as beneficiaries wereencouraged to acquire their own. Farmers and traders were trained on the use and maintenanceof the dryer. In all, about 25 solar dryers were installed nationwide by the Ministry ofAgriculture during the active phase of the project.

ChallengesHowever, acrylic materials used for constructing the dryers are imported and expensive,stalling the solar dryer programme. To sustain such a project and reduce costs, acrylic materialsmeant for solar dryers may have to be imported duty-free or efforts made to manufacture thematerial locally, especially because the market potential is huge in the country.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Technical know

how- Design, construction

and maintenance ofsystem

- Awareness creation onimportance of solardryers

- Training of potentialend users onmaintenance of system

- Two, community baseddemonstration facilitiesinstalled atSekyedumase and Bonsu

- 25 solar dryers installed- 5 carpenters trained on

construction andmaintenance of solardryers

Stage 3

20 Information culled from personal conversation with Mr. Johnson Panni (Agricultural Engineering ServicesDirectorate of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture) as well as project reports provided by him.



Photo: AESD

4.4 Biogas

According to Bensah and Brew-Hammond21,biogas technology began receiving attentionfrom the government of Ghana in the 1980s.Prior to that, most plants that were constructedcollapsed due to immature technology. Acollaboration was therefore sought withChina, in what would become the resurgenceof biogas technology dissemination in Ghana.This began the genesis of biogas technologytransfer from China to Ghana. Years later, theChinese fixed dome biogas plant would

21 Bensah, E. C. and Brew-Hammond, A. (2010). Biogas technology dissemination in Ghana: history, current status,future prospects, and policy significance. IJEE 1(2): 277-294

become the foremost biogas technologypromoted in Ghana.

The preparation for construction of a numberof Chinese fixed dome plants at Appoloniawas supposed to be the beginning of avigorous campaign to promote biogastechnology in Ghana, with the projectcommissioned in 1992. The Appolonia biogasplants were constructed by experts from theEnergy Ministry and the Institute of IndustrialResearch (IIR) of the CSIR, with support from



China. Around that time, a staff of KNUST hadalso been trained in Germany on theconstruction and operation of biogas plants,and had started promoting the technology.Thereafter, the Catholic Secretariat and GTZalso became involved in the dissemination ofbiogas technology in Ghana. The Appoloniaproject faced a number of challenges, whichslowed down government interest in biogastechnology. These challenges were related tosustainable feedstock supply for digestersowing to drudgery involved in collecting dungfrom kraals that were about half to three-quarters of a mile from the plant, maintenance,and uncooperative attitude of some of theinhabitants (Bensah and Brew-Hammond,2010). After a while, the slurry were also beingleft unused due to transport challenges anddrudgery involved. In addition, there weresocio-cultural challenges with the collectionand use of digested faecal material from theplant for agricultural activities. Maintenanceworsened as many households failed to paymonthly fees for caretakers of the communityplant. The plant was completely abandonedwhen grid electricity was extended toAppolonia under the rural electrificationprogramme in the late 2000s. The project isdiscussed in detail in Annex C.

From the year 2000 onwards, biogastechnology dissemination became marketdriven, with the springing up of a number ofprivate companies who had received trainingin Germany and elsewhere. Two technologytypes have dominated the biogas industry inGhana: the Indian floating-drum and theChinese fixed-dome digesters, with the laterbecoming predominant due to ease ofmaintenance (refer to Box 6 for the recent

construction at the Kumasi Institute ofTropical Agriculture).

Generally, biogas technology disseminationhas faced a number of challenges, many ofwhich may have discouraged the widespreaddissemination of the technology. Some of themajor challenges, which should be addressedby the present technology transfer initiative,include:

Poor level of construction; Lack of skilled attendants; and Poor maintenance

Recent activities have sought to introducetechnologies directly constructed by foreigncompanies or with a lot of foreign assistance.Examples include the concrete plant at Adeiso,owned by the fruit processing company HPWFresh and Dry (Annex D) for the production ofbiogas for electricity generation. The plant wasbuilt by a foreign company but is whollyoperated by local workers and maintained byGhanaian biogas experts.

The Ghana Oil Palm DevelopmentCorporation (GOPDC) also commissioned abiogas plant on 19 September 2014 at their millfor extraction of methane from palm oil milleffluent (POME). The system was built toincrease renewable energy utilization throughthe capture and combustion of methane and toavoid the discharge of effluents that do notmeet environmental standards into watercourses. The 2000 m3 plant has an electricitygeneration capacity of 4 MW.

Another plant constructed by foreigncompanies is the Upflow Anaerobic SludgeBlanket plant at Guinness Ghana Ltd. in



Kumasi, a plant that is intended for managingprocess waste.

There is also an ongoing project beingimplemented by UNIDO in coordination withthe Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) ofGhana and The Energy Centre, KwameNkrumah University of Science andTechnology (KNUST), and supported by theMinistry of Trade, Industry and Energy(MOTIE) of Korea22. The project is promotingindustrial-scale biogas technologies forelectricity and thermal applications, and aimto, in the process, build capacity of companiesfor optimal exploitation of biogasopportunities. The technology transfercomponents of the project are to:

Demonstrate technical feasibility andcommercial viability of industrial-scalebiogas technology, and support itsmarket-based replication; and

Promote research on appropriatebiogas technologies and resourcepotential at a national level

The construction of the plant, which iscurrently ongoing, is a direct technologytransfer activity. The plant design anddrawings were provided by Korean engineersand the construction is being undertaken byGhanaian engineers. In the installation phase,a Korean engineer is expected in the country toassist the Ghanaian engineers to installelectrical systems and other importantcomponents. Beyond the construction, the nextphase of the project would involve training forfuture beneficiaries of biogas systems, in themanagement and maintenance of biogassystems, another technology/knowledgetransfer benefit expected from the project.With the assistance of GIZ, KNUST isestablishing a state of the art biogas laboratoryon campus for research and training.

Box 6 Case study of 3.5 kW biogas plant at Kumasi Institute of Tropical Agriculture (KITA)

BackgroundBiogas technology has had a checkered history inGhana with a lot of failed projects that serve asmajor disincentives to end users. The mainreference point for an electric power generatingbiogas plant has been the Appolonia biogas plantwhich failed due to a myriad of problems keyamong them is lack of maintenance due to lack ofownership by the people and the lack offeedstock to feed the plant.

SNV-Ghana keen on reviving the biogas sectorwithout repeating the same mistake thatmilitated against the Appolonia biogas plant rather chose the path of Technology Transfer by:

22 TEC-KNUST. http://energycentre.knust.edu.gh/ projects/on-going-projects/unido-biogas-project

FactsheetSize ofdigester 40 m3

Type ofdigester Fixed dome

Daily gasproduction 10 - 12 m3

Powergeneration 3.5 kW for 4 hours per day

Other usesof the gas Cooking

Feedstockcomposition

Fecal matter, pig dung,kitchen waste



1. developing local capacity to properly design, construct and maintain biogas plantsthrough mentorship from an experienced biogas expert with over 30 years’ experiencein Nepal, Burkina Faso and India;

2. providing a much better reference point for further studies and data collection leadingto informed decision on mass dissemination strategies; and

3. A realistic cost benefit analysis on the entire value chain based on the operation of anexisting plant.

The choice of KITA as a beneficiary institution was based on four main factors:1. Need for both electric power and cooking energy – The erratic power supply in the

country at the time of construction meant that students could not learn during nights ofpower outage. Downtime for administrative staff increased with each day of poweroutage. Also, the primary source of fuel for students was wood fuel, a major contributorto poor health and deforestation.

2. Resource availability – The availability of resource in terms of feedstock to feed the planton a continuous basis was very important. KITA as an Agricultural Institute wasmanaging a sizable piggery which could yield considerable amount of dung daily. Also,the student population of 250 had the potential of providing substantial amount of fecalmatter. In addition, food waste from the kitchen and soft organic matter from the schoolfarms were all adjudged to be quite significant and possible feed material for thedigester.

3. Availability of space and water – availability of space was also a determining factor sincethe construction of the digester and its ancillaries as well as the toilet facility requiredspace. Also, water availability was essential for the smooth operation of the digester.

4. Potential of using effluent for agricultural purposes – since the project was looking atclosing the carbon cycle, the potential to use the effluent for agricultural purposes was avery important determinant. KITA has a number of school farms operated and managedby students as part of their training.

A local consulting body, Centre for Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development wasrecruited to work with an international SNV senior biogas expert in the person of Jan Lam.After a thorough resource assessment, a 40 m3 digester connected to a 10 seat toilet facility withan inlet for animal and kitchen waste was designed and constructed.

Feed compositionKITA has a student population of about 250. This in addition to a pig population of 120, makesavailable a lot of fermentable biomass in the form of human faeces and pig dung. In addition,food waste from student hostels was factored into the resource base. The designers alsoconsidered the availability of soft organic matter in the form of cabbage leaves and carrot leaveswhich were cultivated as part of student projects all year round.



Feedstock composition and potential gas yieldFeedstock Estimated

quantities (kg)Potential gasproductionm3/day)

Faecal matter 56 0.034Kitchen/foodwaste

40 4.8

Piggery waste 70 3.85Farm waste(grass)

10 2.98

Total 176 11.664

Type of plantA fixed dome digester was selected primarily due to therelative ease of maintenance as compared to the floatingdrum. Also the construction process was expected to leadto knowledge and skills transfer in dome constructionand brick laying. Construction began in December 2013and completed in January 2014.

Gas utilizationThe digester produces about 10 - 12 m3 of biogas daily. The gas line is fitted with a dehydratorfor moisture removal and a hydrogen sulphide (H2S) scrubber. The gas is piped to the kitchenwhere students use it as their main source of cooking fuel replacing wood fuel and charcoal.Part of the gas is piped to a biogas generator for the generation of 3.5 kW power for 4 hoursper day. This has contributed significantly to reducing power consumption from the grid andthe downtimes for administrative staff during power outages.

Innovations in the designThe toilet bowls are placed on slabs sitting right on top of a channel that leads straight into thedigester. The use of a channel to evacuate the toilet rather than pipes is a positive deviationfrom most digesters built in Ghana. Choking and cracking of pipes are some of the mainproblems leading to the breakdown of the biogas digesters. Also, the digester was optimizedto retain more of the solid matter and less of water as opposed to conventional systems thatretain more of water and less of organic matter.



Plant layout of biogas plant at KITA

Use of the effluentTo ensure that the effluent generated is devoid of any pathogenic activity, a composting facilitywas designed and built as part of the plant. The composting facility aerobically treats theeffluent by co-composting the liquid effluent from the digester and solid organic matter fromthe school farms and gardens. The mature compost is used directly on the school farm as a soilconditioner to boost productivity.

WASH componentThe facility has a strong sanitation component which ensures that students have a morehygienic place to defecate. Also, wash basins fitted with running water have been provided toenable users of the toilet facilities wash their hands with soap and water.

End users perspectiveAccording to the management of KITA, the biogas facility has been very beneficial to them.Students no longer use charcoal and firewood to prepare food. Energy bills have been reducedby about 10-15%. The compost enables students to practice organic farming and permacultureas well as carry out comparative test on the yield of food crops on soils conditioned withorganic fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer.

ChallengesThe main challenge has been feeding the digester during the times students are on vacation.Management of KITA has been able to find a way around it with their innovative student’svacation programme. The programme ensures that a handful of students stay on campus and



work on the schools farms and piggery. These students are tasked to feed the digester with pigdung on a daily basis to ensure that microbial activity is not depleted.

Perspective of local consulting body (CEESD)According to the Executive Director of CEESD, until the inception of the programme, CEESDexperience of constructing biogas digesters was limited to only floating drum. Thus, the entireprogramme of transferring technology was very useful. Through the programme, staff ofCEESD acquired important skills such as:

1. Correct brick layering;2. Curing of bricks after layering;3. Constructing, closing and ceiling the dome to become airtight; and4. Construction of biogas stoves.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Knowledge


how and practicaltraining in fixeddome digester

- Organizational/best practices

- Design and sizing of digesterand gasholder

- Proper construction andbrick laying techniques

- Gas piping andinstrumentation

- Technical know-how onsystem configuration forpower generation

- Operation and maintenance

- Three engineerstrained on designand constructionof fixed domedigesters

- Five artisanstrained on bricklayering

Stage 3

4.5 Other bioenergy types

Apart from biogas, other bioenergy types havealso been promoted or attempted in Ghana.These include modern solid biofuels: pelletsand briquette, liquid biofuels: biodiesel andbioethanol, and waste-to-electricitytechnologies: combustion, gasification andpyrolysis. Many of these technologies have notmoved into commercialization. Of the solidbiofuels, pellets have had the most impact,using technology developed in India. AbellonCleanEnergy Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary ofAbellon CleanEnergy, has built a pelletproduction mill in Ghana with a productioncapacity of 250 tonnes of pellets per day usingsawdust from the Sokoban Wood Village in

Kumasi. With the exception of the topmanagement, the majority of workers at theplant are Ghanaians, who have been trained tooperate the facility (Box 7). The other modernsolid biofuel, briquette, has not enjoyed thesame success. Attempts were made to producebriquettes in Kumasi but the business wentbankrupt and folded up, due to a poorbusiness model.

With regards to liquid biofuels, efforts weremade but the industry never really took off,suffering from a lack of political will on thepart of government. Whereas developers madeattempts to move beyond feedstock



development into the production of liquidbiofuels, there has been very little commitmentfrom government, leading to a lack ofinfrastructural development and a subsequentcollapse of several of the projects that wereinitiated. Apart from the introduction of a fewagricultural machines for feedstockcultivation, not much has been achieved byway of technology transfer in the liquidbiofuels industry. A biodiesel processingfactory under construction by KimminicGhana Ltd. in the Yeji area stalled due tofinancial constraints. Before its collapse, theprincipal processing equipment had beenimported from China but never completedinstallation (Figure 3).

Figure 3 Kimminic’s ‘uncompleted’ biodieselfactory in the Yeji area

An ethanol production project started byCaltech Ventures in the Volta Region in 2007failed to flourish due to a lack of investment.

In 2014, Kasapreko Company Limited (KCL), aGhanaian beverage producer, entered into apartnership deal with Caltech Ventures toproduce ethanol from cassava for local use andpromote technology transfer in other areas as

23 http://graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/23232-company-secures-deal-to-produce-ethanol.html

well.23 Under the deal, Kasapreko CompanyLimited (KCL) is investing US$7.5 million inthe cassava plantation, aimed at increasingcassava yields for the production of ethanol inthe country. Ethanol production is expected tofinally commence in 2015 with an initial threemillion litres of ethanol a year, to supplementKCL’s imports which are in excess of 25million litres annually. The project would alsoprovide sufficient cassava flour to producestarch adhesive to feed a corrugated cartonplant that Kasapreko is currently putting up inAccra. Ultimately, the project is also aimed atgenerating about 600 megawatts of powerfrom cassava waste using a gasificationtechnology.

Of the waste-to-electricity plants, combustionplants using steam turbines to generateelectricity are a popular concept in the oil palmmilling industry in Ghana, notwithstandingthe fact that only a fraction of the potential hasbeen explored. Combustion plants have beenoperating in Ghana for a number of years nowand are wholly operated by Ghanaianengineers. But after many years of operatingthe technology, very little attempt has beenmade to manufacture the components locally,defeating the technology transfer process.More sophisticated technologies of the secondgeneration, such as gasifiers and pyrolyzersare not commercialized yet but have beenexperimented in academic and researchinstitutions.

Utilising lignocellulosic materials to produceenergy has not also been commerciallyimplemented yet but there has been a lot of



foreign support into training activities,especially on KNUST campus (Box 8).

Box 7 Technology transfer in pellet production

BackgroundAbellon CleanEnergy is an Indian-based company that produces biomass pellets and pelletstoves for households and institutions. The company focusses on using biomass residues suchas sawdust to produce carbon-neutral pellets. The company operates in India, Canada and Italyand has pellets produced from several biomass residues depending on area of location. Abellonestablished its first plant in Africa at the Sokoban wood village in Kumasi in 2011. The 250tonne/day plant however began operation in 2014. It employs about 50 locals in addition toover 100 casual workers. The company exports most of its products to Europe and USA, hasmade strides in introducing pellets and pellets stoves to the industrial and commercial sectorsin Ghana for powering of boilers as well as in stoves for cooking and heating purposes.

Project benefitsThe plant produces pellets from sawdust and wood waste generated from saw mills and otherwood-based activities at the Sokoban wood village in Kumasi. This has contributed to reducedpollution and contributed to environmental sustainability since over 100 tonnes of saw dust isgenerated by the wood village daily with no sustainable option of using the waste24.

ChallengesThe major challenge has been the under-developed pellet market in Ghana and Africa. Thecompany does not enjoy any tax incentive and there appears to be no coordinated nationalprogramme to support the sector. The company has also not yet received Intellectual Protectionof its products after three years of applying to the national body.

(a) Pelletising plant at AbellonPhoto: Abellon CleanEnergy

(b) Packaged pelletsPhoto: Edem Bensah

24 Millennium Cities Initiative, 2013. Sokoban WoodVillage Project in Kumasi, Ghana. MCI working paper

series on investment in the millennium cities, MCIWorking Papers Series, No. 23.



Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Investment- Knowledge

transfer

- Equipment andaccessories

- Local production ofbiomass

- Use of pellet stoves ininstitutions and industries

- Employment of 50locals in plantoperation andmaintenance

- Importation and sale ofindustrial pellet stoves

Stage 1

Box 8 Research into second generation biofuels

BackgroundThe Danish Technical University (DTU) has partnered KNUST and other institutions in Ghanaon developmental research projects in the area of second generation (2G) biofuels, with fundingfrom DANIDA. Three different projects under a total funding of USD 4 million are underimplementation, namely:

Biofuels production from lignocellulosic materials (2gbionrg); Bioelectricity generation using microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology; and Seaweed biorefinery in Ghana (SeaBioGha).

2gbionrg (2011-2017) focuses on investigation and development of technologies for producingbioethanol and biogas from organic waste residues. It will lead to the establishment of amodern biofuel lab at KNUST as well as a pilot plant for ethanol production from residues suchas maize stalks, rice husk, sawdust, as well as biomass such as elephant grass. Under SeaBiogha(2015-2019), seaweed species suitable for polysaccharides (e.g. carrageenan, alginate andfucoidan) and biofuels production will be identified and cultivated using locally constructeddigesters. A pilot biorefinery will be built for scale-up research in seaweed conversion tobiofuels. So far, only few African countries (e.g Tanzania and South Africa) have engaged inseaweed production and are now benefiting from this industry. Ghana has high potential forseaweed production because of its large natural seaweed resources (200 species) and a longshoreline which is suitable for seaweed cultivation. Opportunities exist for seaweed productionand processing in Ghana.

Project benefitsAll three projects have components involving collective research and knowledge sharing,training of PhD and MSc students in Denmark and Ghana. So far, six PhD and nine MScstudents are funded under the programme. The projects support national programmes aimedat encouraging green growth through renewable energy development, waste reduction andrecovery.



Sea weeds at Old Ningo and PrampramPhoto: SeaBioGha, KNUST

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Organizational

practices- Knowledge


how and practicaltraining in biofuelsfrom agriculturalresidues and seaweed; andMicrobial Fuel Cell(MFC)

- Training in biomasscharacterization,pretreatment technologies,hydrolysis and fermentation

- Training in MFC systemdesign and fabrication

- Establishment of biofuellaboratory at KNUST

- Demonstration plantsexpected to be established

- Six PhD students- Ten MSc students- Biofuels

laboratory

Stage 2

4.6 Wind

Ghana has not had success with wind energydevelopment and the country cannot boast ofany commercial wind power project as at 2015.Activities in the wind energy sector have so farbeen limited to resource assessment, whereseveral studies have taken place, led by theEnergy Commission with support fromforeign countries. There have also beenactivities that were solely private-sector led. In2003, a joint venture between NEK

25 Wuddah-Martey, M. (2009). Utilization of Wind Energy Resources in Ghana. A presentation to The Energy Centre,KNUST.

Umweltechnik AG of Switzerland and AtlanticInternational Holding Company Ltd measuredwind speeds at Prampram with the intentionto install a 50 MW plant but implementation isyet to take place.25 A few Poldaw wind pumpswere piloted for water pumping by the AESDbut these were discontinued. Even though theAESD has a facility at Somanya that hascapacity to produce the Poldaw wind pumps,



it appears there has been little motivation tocontinue with production.Some international wind energy companieshave set up businesses in Ghana to harness thewind energy potential in the country. Theseinclude Ghana Wind Power Ltd (GhaWiPo) adeveloper26, and NEK (Ghana)27 who alsoprovide services for other players in theindustry. The presence of these global playersshould serve as a technology transfer sourcefor the many Ghanaian individuals andorganizations that engage with them.

The Volta River Authority (VRA) has alsocommenced activities with support fromforeign wind energy companies to assess sitesfor wind power development.

This again has the tendency to transfertechnology from the foreign partners to thelocal electricity generation company. With theVRA’s vast expertise in hydro, thermal and tosome extent solar power generation, furtherexpertise in wind energy could boost thecompany’s quest to strengthen capacity in thepower generation business.

26 www.ghanawindpower.com/htdocs/main.php

Fabrication of Poldaw wind pumps in GhanaPhoto: AESD-MOFA

4.7 Mini-hydro

Through the several years of operating theAkosombo and Kpong hydropower plants andcurrently the Bui plant, Ghana has developeda lot of expertise in the hydropower industry.This remains, however, at the operation andmaintenance stages only. The recentconstruction of the Bui hydropower dam had alot of input from Ghanaian engineers, withtechnology imported from China.

Like wind, not much has been done in the areaof mini-hydro technology transfer. Here again,a lot of local efforts has gone into assessmentof resource potential with some internationalsupport but no project implementation yet.

27 http://www.nek-ghana.com/



4.8 Improved cookstoves

Traditional, inefficient wood-based cookstoveshave been used extensively in Africa forcooking and heating purposes in homes,institutions and businesses. Improvedcookstoves are being introduced to increasethermal efficiency and reduce smokeemissions, among other objectives. Since theirintroduction, improved cookstoves haveenjoyed a lot of technology transfer initiativesin Ghana (Box 9), perhaps because unlikebiogas, improved cookstoves are a cheaperalternative to promoting efficient fuel use andthereby reduce deforestation arising fromcooking fuel demand.

The very first improved cookstovedocumented in Ghana is the AhibensoImproved Charcoal stove, which wasintroduced on the market in 1989. Initially, thestove was an all-metal type and hence becamehot and easily worn out in a short period ofuse. The Technology Consultancy Centre ofKNUST under the financial support ofUNDP/GEF Small Grants Programme,developed an improved Ahibenso cookstove,which had the inside layer insulated withrefractory linings28. This was the first in a seriesof innovations that have taken place in thepromotion of improved cooskstoves in Ghana.

A lot of other technology transfer relatedactivities have since taken place. In promoting

the wider use of Ahibenso stove, the Ministryof Energy concentrated on providing thenecessary framework for the uptake of thetechnology29. This involved the training oflocal artisans and manufacturers who wereencouraged to produce the stoves. In the earlydays, a total of 40 artisans within Ashanti andthe coastal regions were trained. Thepromotion of the Ahibenso stove lost steamwhen the Ministry’s funding ended. Artisanswho were trained in the manufacture of theimproved stoves could not sustain theirproduction because it required much time andmaterial to fabricate a unit of Ahibensocompared to that required for the fabricationof one traditional coalpot, thereby making theimproved version more expensive.

Much later on, the Gyapa stove wasintroduced in 2002 by Enterprise works.30 TheToyola improved charcoal stove, a similardesign to the Gyapa stove, was also introducedin 2006, as detailed in Box 9. Apart fromhousehold size stoves, efforts have also beenmade to promote improved institutionalcookstoves for schools and other institutions.Many of the institutional stoves have beenbuilt using local expertise, with theTechnology Transfer Centre of KNUSTplaying a major role in this regard. Aprogramme supported by the UNDP and theMinistry of Energy has trained some women inthe use of local materials to constructimproved cookstoves.

28 TCC (2008). The New Insulated Ahibenso CharcoalStove. An Energy Saving Charcoal Stove for theHousehold. Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC),KNUST, Kumasi.

29 Energy Commission, 2006. Strategic National EnergyPlan: Annex I of IV – Energy Demand Sectors of theEconomy30 Enterprise Works/Vita, 2009. Clean Energy forHousehold Cooking in Ghana.



Box 9 Technology transfer in improved cookstoves

BackgroundThe dominance of woodfuel as the main source of cooking fuel in Ghana has come at a greatcost to the environment. Ghana has lost more than 7 million hectares of forest (about the sizeof the Northern Region) in the last decade to felling of wood for timber and domestic fuel. Thedominance of woodfuel was not so much of a problem as compared to the nature of stoves inuse. Until the early 1990s when the Government of Ghana introduced the improved cookstovesprogramme, all the stoves in use were very inefficient to say the least. The introduction of themore efficient Ahibenso cookstove in 1992 saw the rapid penetration of the stoves in the marketin the first year. Close to 12,000 stoves were sold in the first year of introduction. In spite of theinitial success, the stove programme failed due to:

1. High initial cost of the stoves2. unavailability of the stoves on the market3. the complex design of the stoves which was quite different from conventional coal pot

design4. poor quality of the stoves produced by trained artisans which failed to match

aesthetically the ones shown on television31

Aside these, the programme had a very strong government backing with governmentfinancing the entire programme – production, distribution and dissemination. The withdrawalof government financing support brought the entire programme to a halt32. While Ghana wasstruggling to find a solution to the inefficient stoves on the market, Kenya had made greatstrides with the design, fabrication and dissemination of an improved charcoal cookstovecalled ‘Jiko’ stove with the support of EnterpriseWorks/Vita33. The stove has the shape of anhour glass with a ceramic liner to retain heat and a metal cladding. In 2002EnterpriseWorks/Vita a division of Relief International riding on the success of the Kenyanimproved coosktoves programme saw the need to transfer the technology to Ghana byequipping artisans with the skill to locally fabricate the stove.

ApproachUnder their Clean Energy for Household Cooking Programme, two training sessions were heldfor 78 artisans and technologist in Accra and Kumasi on the design and fabrication of theimproved coosktoves.34 The initial goal was to reduce indoor air-pollution in 40,000 urbanhomes and 5,000 rural homes in Ghana35. The training also touched on the how to fabricate theclay liners which is the main distinguishing feature of the improved cookstoves.

31 Energica (2009), Prefeasibility Study for an improved cook stoves project in Northern Ghana.32 Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (2012). Ghana Market Assessment – Sector Mapping.33 http://www.enterpriseworks.org/display. cfm?id=3&sub=15&cont=734 http://www.growinginclusivemarkets.org/ media/cases/Ghana_Toyola_2010.pdf35 http://www.enterpriseworks.org/pubs/ May%2007%20Gyapa%20Summary.pdf



ResultsUntil 2007, EnterpriseWorks/Vita was the only producer of the Gyapa cookstoves until two ofthe members broke away to form Toyola Company Limited and Man and Man CompanyLimited. The two companies produced and marketed Toyola Stoves and Man and Man Stovesrespectively36. All three brands of stoves are similar in design with similar performancecharacteristics which mimics the Jiko stoves. The production processes are also similar. Allthree companies have a large network of artisans who support them with the fabrication of theliners and stove casing separately and the assembling of the stoves. This model ensureddivision of labour leading to the optimization of the production process. The individualcapacities of the three companies to produce stoves have grown tremendously from a fewstoves per week to thousands of stoves per week in response to growing demand for the stoveslocally and in the sub-region. Gyapa Stoves for instance has a network of about 450 stovemanufactures and over 500 retailers of the stoves across the country37.

A – Gyapa Cookstove B- The new Man and Mancookstove

C - Toyola Cookstove

Dissemination modelsThe path to growth has been fuelled primarily by a strong demand for the stoves because of itsfuel saving property and funding from carbon finance which have been used to expandproduction and to increase market access. Since 2007 about 700,00038 stoves have beenproduced and disseminated betweenthese EnterpriseWorks/Vita and Toyolacompanies. Toyola Company sells theirstoves with a money box which end usersuse to keep savings from charcoalconsumption. This has proved to be veryeffective as end users tangibly see thebenefit of using the stoves.

36 See Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (2012)37 http://www.gyapa.com/gyapa-fuel-efficient-cookstove.html, Assessed on 28/10/201538 Authors own estimation based on the reported number of stoves disseminated by the two companies and usingtheir individual production capacities.



Challenges – downsideNotwithstanding the successes chalked in terms of the transfer of skills, adaptation of thetechnology and the dissemination of the stoves, the programme had at least one major flawwhich was the non-involvement of research and academic institutions. Leaving out academicand research institutions has led them to largely play passive roles leading to the following:1. Aside the initial design that the artisans and technologist were introduced to, they have

struggled to come out with innovative designs different from the Jiko model. Apart fromthe stove designs, incorporation of new other locally available insulation materials has beenvery limited;

2. The success of the programme has left in its wake a deficit of ideas on the production offirewood cooktstoves. There is still no locally designed firewood cookstoves commerciallyavailable on the market. The involvement of research and academic institutions would haveled to the development of at least an improved firewood stoves model that is affordableand acceptable to end users.

Consistency of product quality has been another key challenge confronting the cookstovessectors. The involvement of many artisans in the production chain raises a number of qualityconcerns especially when the production process has not been standardized. This coupled withthe absence of a testing facility and standards as reference points have exacerbated thechallenge. This is however about to change with the commissioning of two testing facilities atTechnology Consultancy Centre in KNUST, Kumasi and Institute of Industrial Research of theCouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research, Accra.

Fact sheetStove Brand Gyapa ToyolaCapacity per month 11,000 30,000Total stove distributed/sold 487,434 207,000Potential CO2 offset A total of 696,215 VERs as at 2013, 1,077,601

tCO2 as at 2015390,000 tCO2

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Knowledge sharing- Technical know-how

and practicaltraining in JIKO typeimprovedcookstoves

- design and fabrication- Marking and cutting of

patterns on metal sheets- Assembling of metal sheets- Inserting of ceramic liners

into metal case- Spraying of the stove

- 78 technologists,artisans andcollege graduates

Stage 3



4.9 Renewable energy training activities

A few renewable energy courses are offered ata number of training centres in the country.Wilkins Engineering, one of the pioneeringsolar systems retailers in the country, offerstraining in solar PV installation to the public.The Kwame Nkrumah University of Scienceand Technology (KNUST), first through theMechanical Engineering Department, and laterthrough The Energy Centre, offers annualshort courses in stand-alone solar PV systemsinstallation, solar grid-connected systems,biogas technology and wind energy. KNUSTalso runs a graduate programme leading to theaward of a Master’s Degree in RenewableEnergy Technology. A collaboration betweenThe Energy Centre and a university in Norwayhas won close to one million dollars grant fromthe Norwegian government to strengthen andexpand the Renewable Energy Technologymaster’s programme at KNUST, with teachingand practical support from professors at theNorwegian University. Under the expansion,PhD scholarships are being made available forsolar and bioenergy research.

Other prominent state academic institutions,including University of Energy and NaturalResources (UENR), Kumasi Polytechnic andKoforidua Polytechnic, run degree and HND

programmes in renewable energy technologiesor allied disciplines. The Department ofEnergy Systems Engineering at KoforiduaPolytechnic runs an HND and BTech inRenewable Energy Systems Engineeringaimed at Competency-Based trainingapproach to prepare engineers to design andimplement energy systems for innovativeapplications. Koforidua Polytechnic iscurrently collaborating with ECOWAS Centrefor Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency(ECREEE) to create awareness, build capacity,and develop a database for solar thermalsystems in Ghana (see Box 10). TheDepartment of Energy and EnvironmentalEngineering at UENR runs an undergraduateprogramme in Renewable EnergyEngineering.

The Centre for Renewable Energy and Energyefficiency at Kumasi Polytechnic (CREK)undertakes applied research in areas ofrenewable energy and energy efficiency. TheCentre is establishing four laboratoriesrepresenting each of the focus areas – solar,bioenergy, wind, and energy efficiency. TheCentre will also be equipped with a workshopfor developing and fabricating applications.

Construction of Centre for RE & EE, Kumasi Polytechnic, December 2015Photo: Edem Bensah



Box 10 Technology transfer in solar thermal technology

Under the auspices of the ECOWAS Centrefor Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency(ECREEE), the Department of RenewableEnergy System Engineering of KoforiduaPolytechnic, together with four otheracademic and research institutions in Nigeria,Burkina Faso, Senegal and Cape Verde areimplementing a solar thermal systems project,SOLTRAIN West Africa.

The project is aimed at conducting marketsurveys, undertaking awareness creation,capacity building and database development for solar water heating and solar dryers in thefive countries. The Koforidua Polytechnic is responsible for the Ghana part of the project.Under the market survey module which has already been completed, the project surveyed solarthermal installations in the country, assessed capacity of professionals and technicians in theindustry, surveyed importers and collected data on origin of solar thermal installations in thecountry.

The next phase of the project is a training module that would seek to train stakeholders in theindustry, policy makers and technicians on several aspects of solar thermal systems in order toincrease their capacity to deal with solar thermal systems. The third phase would comprisedemonstration exercises where systems would be installed and piloted in selected governmentinstitutions. Monitoring systems are to be installed to monitor the performance of installedsystems. It is expected that beneficiaries would pay only 20% of the total installation costswhereas the project pays the remaining 80%. This module is expected to showcase thetechnology to a wider number of stakeholders. Technologies to be piloted would be importedfrom a foreign country but a decision has not been taken as to which country that would be.

The last phase of the project is an awareness creation programme that would employ amongother things the use of mobile vans to create awareness among the general public. Theknowledge transfer component of the project has already begun, with the training of fourlecturers from the Koforidua Polytechnic in Cape Verde (ECREEE) on solar thermaltechnologies. The training was conducted by the Institute for Sustainable Technologies, basedin Austria.



Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Knowledge sharing- Technical capacity

building- Pilot and

demonstrationsystems (yet to beundertaken)

- Installations andend-user training(yet to beundertaken)

- Market survey- Capacity building on SWH

and dryer design andengineering

- Construction of 25demonstration facilities

- Setting up of a solar thermaltesting facility in one of theparticipating countries

- Training stakeholders onsolar thermal devices

- Training of fourresearchers atKoforiduaPolytechnic inCape Verde

- Needs andcapacityassessment studyin Ghana

Stage 1

4.10 Future of RETT in Ghana

In the future, Ghana is seeking to become self-sufficient in energy supply and would want todo this using the plethora of resources/technologies at her disposal, includingrenewable energy. Ghana is hoping to generatemore than 5000 MW of power by 2020 andbecome a major power exporter in the Sub-Region. Renewable energy has a role to play inthis regard, as also corroborated by the RE Actand the National Energy Policy.

Technology transfer has a lot to play in howGhana’s energy future shifts towardsrenewables. It has been argued that REalternatives are credible option which couldaddress the shortfall in energy delivery andaccess to vulnerable communities bysupplementing meaningfully other energygeneration sources in the country namelyhydro and thermal power generation sources.Until date, very little has been achieved in REpenetration in the Ghana energy mix.Notwithstanding efforts to promote thesetechnologies, they have not seen muchcommercial success. At best, some of theefforts at disseminating off-grid RETs have

been ad-hoc and some of these may haveoccurred in recent times because of the powercrisis that the country is currently facing.

With regards to technology developmentitself, the achievements in cookstovedevelopment is laudable. Ghanaiantechnicians and trainees have almost masteredthe craft of designing and fabricatingimproved cookstoves. The same cannot be saidof the other technologies though. The recentcommissioning of a solar PV panel assemblyplant in the country is a step in the rightdirection. Beyond assembling of panels,however, a lot remains to be done. Ghanashould be moving beyond just assemblingsolar panels into manufacturing them, as wellas manufacturing balance of systemcomponents. A huge market remains to betapped in the sub-region for solar systemstechnology due to the favourable climatesituation. In the area of biogas technology,there is the need for the development ofmodern skill sets that would enhance thecapacity of local companies to betterunderstand and build more robust biogas



plants, to boost user confidence in thetechnology.RETT would have several advantages forGhana. To the ordinary Ghanaian consumer,cost reduction may be one of the mostanticipated benefits of RETT. But beyond costreduction, the opportunities for localmanufacture can have several positiveimpacts. According to Tse39, solar electricsystems offer better opportunities for savingsthrough local manufacture, mainly because theprocesses for many balance of systemcomponents can be easily adapted to other,non-solar uses. Such a plant could flexiblymanufacture components for other uses whendemand for solar PV is low. For example, anelectrical fabrication plant for manufacturingcontrollers and inverters can also be used toproduce voltage stabilizers and batterychargers for automobiles.

Experts in biogas plant construction couldchannel their knowledge in undergroundsystems to promote and market modernrainwater harvesting systems if the market forbiogas systems fail at some point. Otheradvantages, such as employment generation,calls for special attention to RETT.

The current China-Ghana South-SouthCooperation on Renewable EnergyTechnology Transfer could not have come at abetter time in Ghana’s development, a timewhen a lot is happening in the energy sector.There is perhaps no better developing countrywith technology transfer experience than

China. China belongs to the group ofeconomies that are expanding the most and,more interestingly, it is also a destination forresearch and development (R&D) relatedinvestments by foreign companies andcountries. This has brought a lot of highlysophisticated technology to China, making itone of the largest economies in the worldtoday, and a technology powerhouse. Withinjust a few years, China has moved fromimporting technology, to locallymanufacturing and exporting similartechnology.

China has achieved this feat not only at thelower level of technology, but at the higherlevels as well. It has been reported, forexample, that between 2008 and 2012, Chinaswitched from being an importer of high-speed trains to the world’s largestmanufacturer, largely attributed to the transferof foreign technology to Chinese state-ownedenterprises.

China has also achieved a lot in renewableenergy. According to the 2015 edition of theRenewables Global Status Report, China madethe highest investment or net capacity additioninto hydropower, solar PV, wind power andsolar water heating in 2013. It is now thecountry with the highest total capacity inrenewable energy, with or withouthydropower. In 2013, China invested more inRE than did all of Europe combined, and itinvested more in renewable power capacitythan in fossil fuels.

39 Tse, M., 2000. Commercialization of Renewable EnergyTechnologies in Ghana: Barriers and Opportunities. Paper

presented at the Expert/Stakeholder Workshop on RenewableEnergy in Ghana, 15-17 August.



All these achievements place China on a goodpedestal, with regards to technology transfer.The fact that China is itself on the ascendancydue to the benefits it has derived fromtechnology transfer, rightly positions them beable to assist other developing countries andlead them towards achieving similar feat.Ghana could learn and benefit a lot from atechnology transfer partnership with China.Already, China has assisted Ghana in theconstruction and operation of the Buihydropower dam.

4.11 Conclusion

In many Ghanaian RE projects, the ‘furtherinnovation’ is often missing at the end asprojects fail to proceed to local manufacture,

notwithstanding the numerous capacitybuilding activities. The projects succeed inadapting, deploying and diffusing RE into thecountry but falls short of innovating. Ghana’starget of about 5000 MW of installed electricitygeneration capacity by 2020 means that about500 MW (or 10%) target for RE electricity by2020 could bring TT to the limelight. Ghanamust cease this opportunity to develop localcapacity in the design, manufacture,installation, operation and maintenance of REsystems in the country. Doing this wouldlikely lead to cost reduction and opportunitiesfor local manufacture that can have severalpositive impacts. In this vein, China’s‘superpower’ status in RE infrastructure couldbenefit Ghana immensely under the currentproject.



Improved institutional stoves at Alliance High School, Kenya.Photo: UNDP-Kenya

5. SUCCESS STORIES OF RETT GLOBALLY

5.1 Introduction

This section identifies some successful RETTprogrammes in other developing countrieswhich could provide valuable ideas for RETTfrom China and other countries to Ghana. Thebarriers encountered, strategies and measures

employed to deal with barriers, and lessonslearnt for each case study are highlighted. Thecase studies cover the areas of solar thermal,solar PV and bioenergy.

SUCCESS STORIES OF RETT GLOBALLY


5.2 Solar thermal: case study of solar water heater (SWH) TT programmes

SWH is the largest contributor to solar energyutilization among solar technologies. Globally,the installed operating capacity was estimatedat 172 GW as at 2009.40 The major SWHmarkets are in Europe (especially Austria,Germany, and Greece), Israel and China whileinstallations are rapidly increasing inemerging economies such as India, Brazil andTurkey. Developing countries that haveconcrete SWH targets include China, India,

Morocco, Uganda, and Mozambique. Tunisia(Annex E) and South Africa (Box 11) have thehighest penetration of SWH in Africa owing tothe introduction of favourable policies andregulatory frameworks that have supportedthe sector over the years. Uganda andMozambique are among the countries withconcrete target on SWH. Zimbabwe also has ahistory of technology transfer anddevelopment in SWH (Box 12).

Box 11 South Africa: National SWH programme – Eskom rebate scheme

BackgroundSWH programmes were small and uncoordinated in the years before 2005. Targets were notrealised due to the absence of a policy framework. Between 2005 and 2008, rampant powercuts caused increased in SWH acquisition. However, local capacity to meet demand was onlya third. Initiatives were taken by Cape Town to support SWH which helped to trigger anational programme. Policy interventions in SWH began in 2008, paving the way for steadygrowth of the sector. The key drivers for policy initiatives were high energy consumption fromuse of electric water heaters, possibility to reduce peak power demands, energy poverty andcarbon footprint, and opportunities for job creation.

Key interventionsA national SWH programme was introduced in 2008 under a rebate scheme implemented byEskom, the main utility company, with a target of 5 million SWH by 2020 as well as localmanufacturing capacity of about 200,000 per annum in 2014. Local manufactures and installersreceived training. The financial support features of the programme include rebate scheme(subsidy on capital cost) for consumers and compulsory replacement of electric heaters,resulting in increased penetration among all segments of the population.

OutcomeFrom 2008-2012, over 220,000 and 57,000 low and high-pressure systems, respectively, wereinstalled under Eskom rebate scheme. The figures were however below targets due to severalbarriers encountered.

40 UNEP-RISOE Centre, 2011. Diffusion of RETs: casestudies of enabling frameworks in developing

countries. UNEP technology transfer perspectiveseries.



BarriersThe major obstacles faced included delays in testing SWH equipment for approval (underEskom programme), lack of public trust on hardware including some from China, and faultyinstallations. South Africa also faced bottlenecks as a result of the lack of an entity to managethe SWH programmes. Moreover, high upfront cost, high financing cost due to high interestrates, low tariffs and low cost of electric heaters, lack of awareness on long term benefits, lackof quality control and standards, low R&D, low economies of scale, lack of expertise ininstallation and maintenance, and competition from cheap imports were additionalchallenges.

LessonsThe high interest rates to local suppliers was a major challenge and the involvement of thefinancial sector was found to be a key factor in ensuring success. While energy efficiencybuilding code was introduced to create market for SWH, it was realised that most localcompanies produced few components, mostly tanks, and import the rest or import allcomponents which are cheaper. Thus localisation programmes have aimed to incentivise localproducers to increase local content of their products from about 20 to 80%, after realising thatpast roll-out programmes have favoured foreign imports41.

Though South Africa has a well thought through policy, the impacts of its SWH programmesare lower (compared to Tunisia) and market growth has been low, leading to non-achievementof policy targets42. One important lesson of the rollout SHW programme in SA points to thedelay in including domestic content (protectionist) requirements which resulted in dominationof imports and destruction of the competiveness of locally manufactured products.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Knowledge sharing- Technical training and

know-how acquisition

- Design andmanufacture ofseveral SWHmodels

- Assembly ofcomponents andmaintenance ofsystems

- SWH testing centres

- Capacity building ofseveral localmanufacturers andinstallers

- Over 220,000 lowpressure and 57,000pressure heatersinstalled in fouryears

Stage 3

41 Boyed A, Rennkamp B. Technological capability and transfer for achieving South Africa's development goals.Climate Policy, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2013.83129942 See UNEP-RISOE, 2011.



Box 12 Zimbabwe – Building SWH for local conditions

Technical cooperation with AustriaThe Austrian government, through the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), hasfinanced several TT programmes in SHW in Southern Africa for over a decade, with technicaltraining delivered by Austrian institutions such as Institute for Sustainable Technologies (AEE-INTEC). AEE-INTEC worked with Zimbabwean organisations to develop SWH modelssuitable to local conditions, with adequate provision made for training of local enterprises andthe supply of tools and hardware to selected trainees/companies43. Local enterprisessubsequently constructed and marketed several systems for both household and institutionaluse. In order to provide continuous technical support, the university of Zimbabwe has beenundertaking R&D in addition to running technical courses to support innovations in theindustry. Other SWH TT programmes such as Soltrain (Box 13) have also boosted the technicalcompetence of many manufacturers and installers.

In a move to create market for the sector, Zimbabwe is making plans to introduce regulationsbanning the importation and use of electric water heaters, while mandating all new structuresto incorporate SWH. This initiative if implemented is expected to save between 300-400 MW,freeing power for industry and other productive activities. The roadmap designed for therealisation of this ambitious policy direction involves the building of capacity of localcompanies in the manufacture of SWH and geysers.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Knowledge sharing- Technical training and

know-how- Supply of tools and

hardware

- Design andmanufacture ofseveral SWH models

- Assembly ofcomponents andmaintenance ofsystems

- Capacity of severallocal enterprisesbuild

- Running of coursesby colleges

Stage 3

Box 13 Southern African Solar Thermal Training and Demonstration Initiative (Soltrain)

Southern African institutions have benefited from a TT programme in SWH called Soltrain.Soltrain was aimed at supporting target countries (Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South

43 Hove T, Mubvakure B, Schwarzlmueller A. (2007). Conservation of the business capacity for solar water heatermanufacturing and installation in Zimbabwe: Final report on the survey on demand of solar water heaters in theinstitutional sector.



Africa and Zimbabwe) to switch from the use of electric heaters to SHW by providing technicaltraining to institutions and enterprises. The programme also provided support in formulationof favourable policies and effective administration with the help of experts from Institute forSustainable Technologies (AEE-INTEC) in Austria.Some outcomes from the first phase of the project (2009-2012) include technical capacitybuilding of 400 trainers, training of 600 people in dissemination courses, organisation of policyrelated workshops for 200 actors, and installation of solar demonstration systems in 60 non-profit organisations resulting in energy output of 711 645 kWh per annum. The second phasespanned the period 2012-2015 and the major achievements of the project are shown in the factsheet below. The demonstration plants enabled the application of knowledge acquired in thetraining programmes to actual installation, operation and maintenance of various SWH modelsand system sizes.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes44 Stage of TT- Knowledge sharing- Technical training- Acquisition of know-

how- Pilot and

demonstration systems

- Design andfabrication of solarwater heaters

- Policy formulation- Effective

administration

- 1,600 people trainedin courses

- 100 demonstrationfacilities installed

- Awareness creationon benefit of SWH

Stage 3

5.3 Solar lighting: China-Kenya solidstate solar TT centre

China and Kenya have deepened theirtechnology transfer cooperation in solarenergy through the establishment of a modernfacility for technology development, transferand training, as well as information sharing,focusing on the assembly of solar lightingapplications to serve the Kenyan and EastAfrican Region45. The solid state lightingtechnology centre is expected to lay theplatform for a local assembly plant for solarapplications. The collaboration involves aKenyan company, Sunyale Africa that suppliessolar lighting products to homes and

44 AEE INTECH (2015). Soltrain: Applications, facts, cost, solar yields, environmental effects.45 http://www.pv-magazine.com/news/details/beitrag/china--kenya-establish-solar-technology-transfer-centre_100019259/#axzz3mvr0Jp77

institutions, and a company from Beijing. Thefacility will be used to train technicians on thelatest technologies in the industry. It isobserved that favourable policy andregulatory frameworks in Kenyan have beenthe catalyst for such collaboration.

5.4 Concentrated solar power in India

Background

Solar concentrators uses mirrors and lenses tochannel solar radiation onto a target receiver,raising the temperature of the target. Smallscale concentrated solar power (CSP),classified within 0.1-2 MW, are suitable for



meeting low to medium temperature processheat as well as in institutions such as hotelsand hospitals for heating water or cooking.According to Carbon Trust46, thedissemination of small scale CSP technologiesin industrial heating as well as in rural (off-grid) applications, face barriers such as the lackof proven or optimised technology, lack ofawareness, lack of confidence in the suitabilityof the technology in rural areas and highinvestment costs. However, incorporating CSPin off-grid situations provides benefits owingto the ability to store heat efficiently comparedto solar PV. Heat stored could be used forcooking and heating water in the evening.

India case study

India has installed over 70 small scale CSPs(SCSPs) for industrial applications,representing the largest programme in theworld. India’s Solar Mission recognises SCSPsas having the potential to support both micro-and macroeconomic benefits such as increasedenergy access to rural folks and energysecurity, reduced land degradation and jobcreation, and thus has clear supportframework in place for SCSPs for both on- andoff-grid situations.

The country has also benefited from manyinternational support in its SCSP programmes,from UNDP, UNEP, GIZ and UNIDO. Further,India’s ministry of New and RenewableEnergy supports SCSP technologydevelopment and provides subsidies to end-users. Most systems in India are installed for

46 Carbon Trust, 2013. Small-scale Concentrated SolarPower A review of current activity and potential toaccelerate deployment.47 UNDP. Market development and promotion of solarconcentrator based process heat applications in India.

institutional cooking while a few applicationsare in food processing, dairy sector and metaltreatment. In 2012, UNDP partnered withIndia’s Ministry of New and RenewableEnergy (MNRE) and GEF to introduce a majorprogramme in CSH known as MarketDevelopment and Promotion of SolarConcentrator based Process HeatApplications, with financial support fromGEF.

The programme was aimed at the removal ofbarriers to commercial dissemination of small-scale CSP in the industrial sector. The projectincluded the building of 30 demo plants and 60replication plants, introduction of twotechnologies, standard testing of CSH, andactivities for removing financial barriers,among others47. Out of a total budget of about24 million USD, the GEF contributed 4.4million USD and the Indian governmentsupported with 6 million USD while the rest isborne by industry and financial sector.

Arun dish at Akshardham temple, DelhiSource: MNRE, UNDP, India48

In a typical project, solar dishes (16m2 ×10)were installed for hot water generation for a

48 http://sblf.sustainabilityoutlook.in/file_space/SBLF%20Summit%20Presentations%202013/UNDP_GEF.pdf



paper mill at Ludhiana in India in 2011. Thecompany initially used wood for boiling waterfor its operations but the new solarconcentrator technology (used from 9 a.m – 5p.m) is integrated with the existing biomasssystem.The investment was about USD 45,000, with agrant of about 30% of cost provided by MNRE.The solar system is able to generate steam at 10kg/cm2 at a temperature of 90-98 0C. The millis making savings from wood to the tune of 70kg/h, with an IRR and payback of about 24%and 3 y for the situation with subsidy. Initialchallenge encountered pertained to brokenmirrors which were later replaced.49

Ten 16 m2 Scheffler dishes at B.S. Paper Mill,Ludhiana, India. Source: MNRE, India

5.5 Integrated solar combined-cycle(ISCC) in Algeria

When RET such as solar PV is integrated intoan existing or planned thermal plant (gas-fired, oil-fired or coal-fired power plants), it istermed hybridization of the thermal plant. InAfrica, successful case studies are in Algeriaand Egypt where concentrated solar power

49 MNRE. Concentrated solar heat. Ministry of Newand Renewable Energy, India.50 Gertig C, Alcobert A.D., Lopez C.H., Lopez RR. Algeria: a case study of solarized gas turbine systems.http://www.gl-garradhassan.com/assets/downloads/Algeria_-_A_Case_Study_for_Solarised_Gas_Turbine_Systems.pdf

(CSP) is hydridized with gas-fired powerplants.

In Algeria, an Integrated Solar Combined-Cycle (ISCC) technology, which combinessolar energy with the combined cycle, wassuccessfully established in 2011. The projectwas established under a Public PrivateAgreement (PPA) with a favourable tariffperiod of 25 years. The plant was developedand operated by Abener ensuring thatSonatrach, the owners, receive know-how inits operation over the years.

The Hassi R'mel plant consists of a 150 MWehybrid power plant composed of a combinedcycle and a 20 MWe solar thermal plant. Thetechnology incorporate parabolic troughs withsolar field aperture area of about 180,000 m2.The project cost was approximately 315 millionEuros. It is located directly on the gas field,allowing ready access to gas, power grid, aswell as high direct normal irradiation. Eventhough feed-in-tariffs for purely solar powerprojects are not encouraging under presentsystems in Algeria, highly hydribized solarbased plants (≥ 25% solar) receive significantfinancial incentives that have made suchprojects economical.50

5.6 Improved cookstoves technologytransfer programmes

Traditional, inefficient wood-based cookstoveshave been used extensively in Africa forcooking and heating purposes in homes,



institutions and businesses. The use ofinefficient wood-based cookstoves is known topresent several developmental challenges inthe form of high wood consumption per usedenergy released, large emissions of smokewhich cause indoor pollution, drudgeryinvolved in fuel collection and use, andincreased stress on forest cover, among others.

In Africa, the development and promotion ofimproved or clean woodfuel cookstoves havelagged behind charcoal stoves. While manycountries are yet to introduce concreteprogrammes aimed at whipping up all-roundinterest in clean firewood stoves, othercountries have made considerable efforts in

developing technical capability, encouragingknowledge and technology transfer as well asimproving marketing and distribution,financing arrangements, and policy andregulatory environment. This section takes alook at some initiatives across the continentthat have technology transfer components,highlighting barriers encountered and lessonsthat have led to the success of suchprogrammes.

A case study of institutional cookstoveprogrammes with TT components in Kenya isdiscussed in Box 14. In addition, a SouthernAfrican based cookstove TT programme isshown in Box 15.

Box 14 Kenya: a success story of TT in institutional cookstoves

The dissemination of the Kenya Ceramic Jiko stove is among the most successful improvedcookstove programmes in Africa as over 1.5 million units have been sold. Similarly, Kenya hasachieved some level of success in developing and marketing locally produced wood-basedstoves for the domestic and industrial use. The potential for distribution of efficient stoves toinstitutions in Kenya is high as the country has over 95% of its institutions depending onwoodfuel for cooking and heating water, thus creating pressure on vegetation. In an attemptto promote institutional wood stoves, several technical training programmes have beeninitiated by international organisations such as Bellerive Foundation, Global Village EnergyPartnership and GIZ to build the capacity of local companies and artisans. Kenya also is hometo one of the biggest donor-supported programmes in cookstoves – Market transformation forefficient biomass stoves for institutions and small and medium-scale enterprises which isdiscussed below in addition to other TT programmes.

Market transformation for efficient biomass stoves for institutions and small and medium-scaleenterprises

BackgroundKenya’s Ministry of Energy (MoE) has supported specific programmes to promote institutionalstoves in conjunction with UNDP and other stakeholders. One of such initiatives was a fouryear programme, Market Transformation for Efficient Biomass Stoves for Institutions andSmall and Medium-Scale Enterprises (MTES), under the Global Environment Facility (GEF)



that targeted cookstove dissemination in institutions and small businesses from 2007-2010. Themain aim of the programme was to remove market barriers to the adoption of modern biomassenergy practices and clean cookstoves by institutions and small businesses. The MTES wasdeveloped to build on earlier institutional stove programmes funded by the GEF Small GrantsProgramme (SGP) under a revolving credit fund scheme that grew to USD 200,000 in 2007 andUSD 750,000 in 2010 (Matiru and Schaffler, 2011). GEF contributed USD 1 million while UNDP,MoE, and other bodies provided additional support (cash/kind).

Implementation: activities and strategiesThe MTES was coordinated by UNDP and executed by the MoE through the NGO, RenewableEnergy Technology Assistance Programme (RETAP). A project management unit wasestablished under RETAP for daily coordination of activities while a steering committee, co-chaired by UNDP and the Ministry, provided leadership and direction. Further UNDPprovided logistical support in addition to monitoring projects operations and outputs againstset targets while the MoE performed key roles in advancing the development of favourablepolicy with the involvement of key government ministries and sectors including finance,environment, forestry, health education, industry and agriculture51.

Improved institutional wood stoves were fabricated and supplied mainly by a leadingcompany, Rural Technology Enterprises (RTE) that has supported cookstove initiatives since1984. The programme also had components related to the cultivation of fast-growing energycrops such as some varieties of eucalyptus in woodlots to specifically provide wood forinstitutional kitchens52. Private entrepreneurs and companies were responsible for growing,nurturing and supply of eucalyptus seedlings to schools, with the latter supported to havewoodlots grown to serve as wood supply for improved institutional cookstoves.

Outputs and outcomesAccording to UNDP-Kenya, over 2000 well-engineered and locally manufactured stoves weredistributed to schools, restaurants, hotels and households, yielding over 12,000 tonnes of CO2

emission reduction. As at 2008, about 10-15% of educational institutions were using improvedinstitutional cookstoves in Kenya. Moreover, the project led to the cultivation of over 600thousand trees on about 34 hectares of plantations, sequestering over 10,000 tonnes of CO2.

Barriers and lessonsThe weakest link was the lack of follow-up and monitoring on the establishment of thewoodlots which appeared to be the least successful. Another challenge encountered includeirregular supply of materials such as stainless steel for stove fabrication, high cost of stoves,

51 Matiru V., Schaffler. 2011. Market transformation for highly efficient biomass stoves for institutions and medium-scale enterprises in Kenya: terminal evaluation, UNDP.52 UNDP, Mid-term evaluation report on the market transformation for highly efficient biomass stoves for institutionsand medium-scale enterprises in Kenya, 2008



sustaining funding for the programme and data collection. The programme’s overall successwas attributed to among others: interest due to positive impacts on end-users, involvement ofseveral governmental departments with clear-cut functions, support from the financial sector,judicious use of consultants to work on specific tasks, info dissemination and networking, andformation of associations among informal players. Further it was observed that the operationsof stove manufacturers needed to be brought into the formal sector. It was realized that moreschools could patronize the improved stoves if a loan guarantee scheme is formalized underthe Ministry of Education to take care of upfront costs. The development and implementationof appropriate strategies and policies needed support of all sector departments in order tosustainably grow the industry. Moreover, there was the need to decentralize activities withtime including nursing of seedlings. Increased awareness of end users critical to the success ofthe programme.

The MoE is collaborating with the Educational Ministry to mandate schools to use onlyimproved cookstoves while standards for improved stoves are being developed incollaboration with many partners including GIZ through the Energising Developmentprogramme53.


sharing- Skills-based

training- Acquisition of

know-how

- Fabrication of cookstoves- Training in cultivation and

nurturing of woodlots

- Over 2000 stovesdistributed toinstitutions andhouseholds

- Cultivation of over600,000 trees on 34hectares of land

Stage 3

Bellerive Foundation – TT in institutional cookstoves

The Bellerive Foundation in partnership with UNDP and GIZ has supported the developmentof technical capacity and know-how in institutional cookstove in Kenya since 1983. Designs bythe Foundation have gone through many modifications over the years in consideration ofavailability of raw materials, local manufacture capacities, consumer preference and thermalefficiency. Consequently, well-engineered designs have been developed, manufactured bylocal enterprises and sold in institutions.

Challenges encountered by the Foundation included poor operational and managerialpractices by consumers and ineffective dissemination system centred in the capital; however,follow-up services involving two visits to end users led to considerable improvement in stove

53 GIZ. Energizing Development Kenya Country Programme. https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/21975.html



management and longevity (Davey). According to a recent report by Global Alliance for CleanCookstoves (GACC), the main barrier has been the unavailability of flexible financing systemsto cover for the high upfront costs. Moreover, the quality of stoves has deteriorated in somecases as producers attempt to produce stoves at lower costs with the hope of meeting thefinancial capabilities of end users.Capacity building by GVEP in institutional cookstoves

Under the GACC and with a USD 43,000 funding support from the US charity AdventureProject, the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) has trained about 150 cookstovemanufacturers in Kenya in the design and manufacturing practices of a new improved stovecalled Jiko Smart for both charcoal and firewood, in addition to market promotion drives andprogrammes. The efficiency of the stove has been established based on tests conducted atvarious centres including University of Nairobi, Makerere University and the Kenya IndustrialResearch and Development Institute (KIRDI). According to GVEP, over 2000 models were soldfrom July 2014 to May 2015 owing to its high energy efficiency, improved safety and durabilityrelative to local ones. GVEP is focussing on supporting manufacturers to obtain credit in orderto expand their operations.

Box 15 Programme for Basic Energy and Conservation (ProBEC)

IntroductionSouthern African countries (Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania,Zambia and Zimbabwe) have benefited from technology transfer in improved cookstovedesign, fabrication and installation under a project dubbed Programme for Basic Energy andConservation (ProBEC). ProBEC was initiated by Southern Africa Development Cooperation(SADC) and implemented by GIZ with funding from the German Government. Theprogramme was developed to support the cookstove sector in SADC member countries whoseprogrammes have suffered from challenges such as lack of awareness and sustainablefinancing for stoves, low-level of awareness, inadequate training for end-users and lack ofpolicy support54

Activities and strategiesUnder ProBEC, the Aprovecho Research Centre worked with entrepreneurs and local actors inthe target countries to develop institutional cookstoves for each country, targeting clients suchas schools, prisons and tea-estate kitchens etc.55. Aprovecho further provided research supportas well as project monitoring and evaluation. Participating countries were supported todevelop biomass energy strategies and operational plans for effective dissemination.

54Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, Tanzania market study, 2012.http://cleancookstoves.org/resources_files/tanzania-market-assessment-mapping.pdf55 https://www.ashden.org/files/Aprovecho2006.pdf



Outputs and lessonsFrom 2004-2006, over 700 institutional (50-300 litre pots) stoves were constructed locally andsold to institutions in Malawi. Ken Steel Manufacturing, one of Malawian enterprises thatbenefited from the transfer of technology and know-how in 2004, was able to manufacture andsell over 1500 stoves from 2004-2007.56,57 In Tanzania, many trained artisans of institutionalstoves under ProBEC stopped operation after the end of the programme in 2010 due to lack ofentrepreneurial zeal and sustainable financing.

Woodbased institutional stovemanufacturing in Malawi. Source:http://www.hedon.info/docs/cec/Probec_institutional_stoves.pdf

Institutional stove used in Tanzania(credit: Christa Roth). Source:http://www.hedon.info/docs/BP53-Roth-11.pdf


sharing- Skill-based

training- Acquisition of

know-how

- Design and development ofstoves appropriate to localconditions in participatingcountries

- Technical research support- Project monitoring and

evaluation- Training of private

enterprises and artisans

- Private enterprisesestablished

- Over 700 stovesdisseminated inMalawi in three years

Stage 3

5.7 Pelletisation

56 Hedon. http://www.hedon.info/docs/cec/Probec_institutional_stoves.pdf57 Roth C, Michel A, Messinger C, Getting Technologies to the market – the case of the Rocket Stove in Malawi, 2007,http://www.hedon.info/docs/BP53-Roth-11.pdf



Pelletisation is the process of drying andpressing biomass materials under highpressure to produce cylindrical pieces ofcompressed and extruded material known aspellets. Pellets have a smaller volume and ahigher volumetric energy density and aremore efficient to store, transport and convertinto energy. Pellets can be used for centralheating, small-scale electricity generation andfor household cooking. The demand for pelletsis increasing at about 25-30% per year(Kusumaningrum and Munawar, 2014),creating a strong market opportunity globally.

The process of biomass pelletisation is highlydeveloped and the equipment for pelletisationare widely available from vendors. Operationof pellet plants are simple.

Pellet stoves are available for householdcooking, steam generation in homes andindustries and space heating. They generateless smoke and have high combustionefficiencies. An interesting household –basedprogramme on the use of pellet stoves andpellet fuel is the case of Inyenyeri in Rwanda(Box 16).

Box 16 Rwanda: Inyenyeri micro-gasification pellet stove programme

Inyenyeri is a biomass energy company that provides pellets to households in Rwanda forheating and cooking purposes. The company produces fuel pellets made of twigs and non-woodbiomass such as elephant grass, banana leaves and coffee bean husks. The company’s businessoperations are interspersed with training and job creation activities such as supportingentrepreneurs to supply stoves.

The stoves are leased to customers at a nominal cost of USD 7/year and customers have theoption of paying for stoves by supplying biomass for pellet production, allowing even poorhouseholds to own the stoves. Moreover, the company exchanges pellets, which are less costlythan charcoal, with biomass supplied by individuals. Households or individuals also have theoption of supplying the company with the biochar left in the stove after combustion; thisbecomes one means for verifying the use of the stove, enabling it to receive carbon revenues.This business and market model have enabled the company to market a relatively expensivestove without subsidies or microcredit scheme. Pellets are sold to urban customers for revenuegeneration to the company.

Technology transfer fact sheetForm/type of TT Specific TT components Outputs/outcomes Stage of TT- Investment- Training and

know-how

- Pellet production- Use of pellet stoves

Not available Stage 2

5.8 Biogas technology



Many developing countries have hadexperiences with domestic biogas initiativesand successful countries such as China, Nepaland India have implemented varied strategiesand policy regimes, usually targeting specificgroups or sectors. Biogas programmes inAfrica have lagged behind their Asiancounterparts (see Annex F) even though thelevel of success varies considerably on thecontinent, with countries such as Kenya andTanzania making considerable strides in thesector.

Some success stories of biogas programmeshaving TT components are discussed underthe African biogas partnership programme(Box 17).

Lessons: biogas case studies

Lessons from successful countries such asNepal and China point to the fact that biogasprogrammes cannot be let alone to the privatesector and as such the involvement of otherstakeholders – government, financial sector,developmental partners and NGOs – arecrucial to largescale dissemination. The directinvolvement of parastatal organizations andrelevant regulatory bodies are prerequisite tosuccess. Moreover, successful countries havededicated offices for biogas dissemination atboth national and grassroots levels. Forexample, Kenya has Kenya Domestic BiogasProgramme (KENDRIP) with full technicaland administrative personnel that coordinatesbiogas programmes at the household level.

58 SNV, Building viable domestic biogasprogrammes: success factors in sectordevelopment, 2009.

Many successful countries have had tointroduce some level of financial incentives(interest-free loans, direct subsidies, etc.) toend-users. It is important to note that biogasprogrammes need to be adapted to the specificenvironment of the country. Thus, in Nepal,private companies are the main drivers ofbiogas technology while in Vietnam, theprovinces are the main focal points58.

Factors that have also influenced successeselsewhere are outlined below:

Favourable policies and legal regimes thatparticularly emphasize biogas technology.For example, in Nepal, the Biogas SectorPartnership (BSP-Nepal) works under thelocal authorities and backed by the SocialOrganization Act. Further, a biogascoordinating committee under theAlternative Energy Promotion Centre(AEPC) of Ministry of Science andTechnology is responsible forcoordinating all stakeholders in the biogassector;

The development of comprehensiveprogramme with clear cut actions,measures and interventions for theachievement of targets as pertains underthe ABPP (Box 17) and the biogasprogramme of Nepal (Annex F). In mostcases, such programmes rest on marketassessment of the industry, developmentof standardized digester models,institutional set-up, and implementationmodalities all involving open andparticipatory approach of all stakeholders;



Comprehensive and large scaleprogrammes require effective institutionalcoordination, with separate functions inareas such as marketing, promotion,financing, construction, follow-upservices, training and extension services,research and development, operationsand maintenance, quality control, andmanagement. Development of strategiesthat recognize the contribution of variousstakeholders including grassrootsorganisations are key to successful biogasprogrammes;

Supply-side competition favours the end-user as such monopolies should be

avoided in any well-thought throughprogramme;

The role of government or national entitiesideally should be focused on facilitatingvarious aspects in relation to promotion,regulation, monitoring and arranging forfunding from donors.

The development of standardized plants,standards for construction of plants andquality control systems are veryimportant. A regulatory system thatsanctions companies that deliver poorservices and awards those that performscreditably will improve the image of thetechnology.

Box 17 African biogas partnership programme (ABPP)

BackgroundABPP is a Regional biogas programme that has been running since 2009. The programme isfunded by the Dutch government, governments of target countries (Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia,Uganda and Burkina Faso), and beneficiary households, among others. The programme isaimed at creating a commercial biogas sector at the domestic level in the target countries. UnderABPP, SNV provides technical and advisory services with inputs from experience in Asianprogrammes while HIVOS provides programme management. Each country has developed itsunique programme taking into consideration local conditions and inputs from stakeholders.

ActivitiesExtensive training activities were planned into the programme with the aim of buildingcapacity of local companies and artisans in design, development, construction, and operationof biogas digesters. In addition, the private sector received entrepreneurial capacity building.There was also emphasis on appliance development and bioslurry utilisation.

In Burkina Faso, about 4,000 masons were trained and 5,500 digesters were installed by end of2014. The number of installations was even higher in Ethiopia as nearly 10,000 plants wereconstructed by end of 2014. A major success of the Ethiopian programme has been the use ofthe digested slurry – in raw or composted form in agricultural work, enabling some farmers tosell slurry/compost to local farmers.



In Kenya, over 82 registered companies, 240 registered sole proprietors and two associationswere created under the programme. A major success of the Kenyan programme was theestablishment of credit partnerships with financial institutions, resulting in the financing ofinstallations at low interest rates, with flexible payment arrangements. In addition, morewomen benefited from credit and training and capacity building.59

In Uganda, the programme led to the dissemination of about 5,000 plants from 2009-2013.Research efforts led to the development of a low cost stove for biogas leading to overall costreduction. The Ugandan programme specifically had an expert recruited to advise programmemanagers on gender issues. This resulted in the training of the highest percentage of femalemasons/technicians in the ABPP programme.

In Tanzania, a modified CAMARTEC digester was adopted for dissemination and about 2500digesters for mainly rural cattle households were installed by 2011.60 The success of theprogramme was partly as a result of targeting rural cattle farmers who were able to make fulluse of both slurry and gas.

ChallengesThe high cost of biogas installations has been a major challenge in all the target countries,reducing penetration of systems among rural households. Other challenges include inadequatecredit facilities and weak private sector development especially in Ethiopia. Lack of after salesservices, low-grade appliances and poor workmanship were difficulties encountered inTanzania. However, this challenge has been well dealt with in Uganda where a centralisedcentre for client services was established to ensure standards and accountability to the clientby biogas construction enterprises.

In Burkina Faso, the government provides a subsidy of 30% of the cost of installations. InUganda, the number of installations dropped significantly when subsidies were removed,though sales bounced back following intensive capacity building by biogas service providers.In order to reduce installation cost, the programme is supported by extensive research aimedat reducing digester cost through the development of new models.61

OutcomeThe first phase of the programme (2009-2013) culminated in the construction of over 34,000plants out of a target of 70,000. A major success of the programme was its gender sensitiveinterventions: for example women constituted 54% and 57% of users trained in plantoperation/maintenance and bioslury use, respectively. The achievements of the programmehave caused partners to extend it to 2017. Under Phase II, DGIS is supporting the programme

59 ABPP. Kenya. http://africabiogas.org/kenya/60 See Kileo and Akyoo (2015)61 ABPP. Burkina Fasso. http://africabiogas.org/burkina-faso/



with 20 m Euros out of the total budget of 87.9 m Euros for 100,000 plants, with significantcontributions coming from beneficiary households, host governments, and other donors. Theprogramme is expected to explore new areas with diversification in terms of strategies forparticular regions and population segments such as women. The programme is expected toinclude countries with commitment to biogas technology including Cameroun, Rwanda,Zimbabwe, Zambia and Benin.


sharing- Technical

know-how andpracticaltraining

- Organizational/best practices

- Design and sizing ofdigester and gasholder

- Design andconstruction of bio-latrines

- Operation andmaintenance

- Biogas appliancedesign and fabrication

- Bio-slurry compostingand utilization

- Capacity building inentrepreneurship

- Gender mainstreaming– training of women inplant operation andmaintenance, as well asbio-slurry applicationin agriculture

- Overall – more than 34,000biogas units installationsin four years

Burkina Faso- 400 masons trained- Over 5,500 digesters

installed

Ethiopia- About 10,000 digesters

installed

Kenya- Over 550 masons trained

Uganda- Over 5000 digesters

installed- One expert on gender

issues employed- High number of female

masons trained

Stage 3

5.9 Conclusion

Ghana must accept that some things areachieved the ‘hard way’ as other countrieshave done. Zimbabwe’s plan to ban importedwater heaters (after completion of its localcapacity development in solar water heatersmanufacturing) is a lesson that would trulydrive innovation. Like ‘operation feed

yourself’, it is time to take a stand if Ghana isto succeed in boosting RE technology transfer.

BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA


Solar water still at BongoPhoto: CEESD

6. BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER TO GHANA

6.1 Background

Developing countries face a daunting task ofbridging the energy poverty gap as access toclean and modern energy services continue toelude majority of the citizens. Unlikedeveloped countries, where issues regardingthe climate effects of fossil fuels appears to bethe main driver for promoting RETs, thedriving force for the adoption of RETs indeveloping countries is access to modernenergy services. In Ghana for instance, in spite

62 Energy Commission (2014). National Energy Statistics 2000 – 2013, Accra.

of the relative high access to electricity (76%)there are still a large number of off-gridcommunities. Also, dependency on woodfuelsin the form of charcoal and firewood is stillhigh (42%) in the final energy demand asshown in Figure 462. The remaining 58% istaken up by oil and natural gas (50%) andhydro (8%).



This is an indication that modern fuel sourcesand clean renewable energy options currentlyplay a minimal role in the energy mix of thecountry.

Global indications of the health effect of somehousehold fuels have also given impetus to theadoption of RETs. More than 16,600 mortalitiesas a result of the use of dirty fuels and poor fuelcombustion technologies are recorded inGhana annually63. Currently, the contributionof modern renewable energy to the generationmix of the country is about 0.3%64 (i.e. notcounting woodfuel).

Figure 4 Final energy demand in 2013(Source: EC, 2014)

The situation with transportation fuels is muchworse; Ghana is solely dependent on fossilderived fuels to meet all her transportationneeds. The contribution of gaseous fuels suchas biogas to the energy mix is negligible, giventhe number of biogas installations in thecountry and the high default rate of theexisting installations65. The exploitation ofsolar energy for purposes of drying is in thevery least carried out in its crudest form – open

63 GoG (2012). Sustainable Energy for All Action Plan.Accra: Government of Ghana.

air drying, thus difficult to quantify andproperly integrate into the energy mix of thecountry.

As has already been defined, transfer oftechnology could be technical, wheremachinery, tools and equipment are involvedand non-technical, which involves knowledgeand skills acquisition. Successful transfer oftechnology thus involves the adoption,adaptation and dissemination of thetechnology. The inability of Ghana tosuccessfully adopt, adapt and disseminateRETs may be due to a number of barriers.Many of these barriers have been discussed inseparate reports and meeting transcripts. Thefollowing section discusses specific barriers tothe various RETs.

6.2 Specific barriers

The barriers affecting RETTs have been putinto eight main groups – Economic andFinancial, Market, Technical, Network, Legaland Regulatory Framework, Information andAwareness, Socio-cultural and Human Skillsbarriers. Under each category, specific barriershave been identified and discussed below.

6.2.1 Market barriers

The following are sub barriers under marketbarriers:

Market size

The size of the market for a particularrenewable energy technology is usually a

64 GoG (2014). Scaling up RE - Scoping Mission. Accra:Government of Ghana.

65 See Bensah and (2010).



driving force for the transfer of technology andhence could also become a barrier. The largerthe market size, the more willingentrepreneurs are to exploit the possibility ofacquiring the technology, adapting anddisseminating it. Likewise, the smaller themarket size, the less likelihood thatentrepreneurs will invest in technologytransfer. In the case of Ghana, it is difficult toclassify size of the market as a potential barrierfor some RETs. Some RETs with larger marketsize have not seen massive deployment as isthe case in other places.

Domestic biogas for instance has a marketpotential of about 278,000 units for dung fedsystems66, however, less than 20067 units havebeen constructed nationwide so far. Again, themarket for charcoal is quite high; however,technology transfer in terms of more efficientand environmentally friendly kilns to producethe charcoal has been clearly missing in spiteof the growing demand for the product. OtherRETs like solar PVs and cookstoves need largermarket to increase volumes and reduce cost.

Failed past experience

Generally RETs are perceived to be unreliableby end users even though that may not be thecase. Failed demonstration projects re-enforcesthe perception of an immature technology thatcannot be relied upon68. This is evident in anumber of RET solutions piloted in the past.Again, the biogas technology and some solarlanterns come up readily as an example.

66 Heegde, T. F., Sonder, K. (2007). Domestic biogas inAfrica; a first assesment of the potential and need. NV.67 Authors own assessment based on the reported 100known biogas units in Ghana as of 2009 by Bensah andBrew-Hammond, 2010.

Controlled market in favour ofconventional systems

Until recently (2015), the Government ofGhana was heavily subsidizing transportationfuel on the market completely leaving outmarket forces to determine the true price of thecommodity even when the price of crude oilincreased on the international market.Meanwhile no subsidies have ever beenannounced for bioenergy products.

Producers of liquid biofuels do not even haveany means of selling their products to potentialusers since there are no dispensingmechanisms for fuel derived from RE sources.Also, even though standards for biofuels havebeen developed and adopted, testing andcertification procedures are still underdevelopment.

Lack of successful reference projects

Successful reference projects serve to boostconfidence in the technology leading toacceptability of the technology among endusers. It also serves as a very powerfulmarketing tool for sceptics. The absence ofsuccessful reference projects reinforces theperception of either an immature technologyor a failed technology. Further, projectfinanciers may consider RETs too risky for thelack of visible projects.

68 Mulinda, C., Hu, Q., Pan, K. (2013). Disseminationand problems of African biogas technology. Energy andPower Engineering, 506-512.



Supply chain

An effective supply chain is importantespecially during scaling up or massdissemination of RETs. The lack of high qualityplanting seeds and unavailability of feedstockfor the production of bioenergy have beenidentified as some of the main barriers to massproduction of bioenergy. Similarly, rawmaterials in the form of semi-finished productslike vacuum tubes for the manufacturing ofsolar water heaters are not readily available onthe market.

6.2.2 Economic and financial barriers

The following are specific economic andfinancial sub barriers that affect RETT:

Access to finance and long term capital

The cost of acquiring technology globally isusually high because of patent rights. This isthe case with some RETs like solar PV, windand small hydro turbines but not so much forsome biogas technologies such as fixed domeand floating drum biogas digesters and someimproved cookstove models like the Jiko type.Even though financial mechanisms such asequity finance, venture capital fund, debtfinancing and crowd financing among othersare available to entrepreneurs, some of themare not fully developed in Ghana.

For instance, crowd financing is not fullydeveloped in Ghana and hence inaccessible toentrepreneurs. Equity finance is also not verypopular in Ghana thus the only financial

69 Daniel, U., Pasch , K.-H., Nayina, G. S. (2014). Biogasin Ghana, Sub-sector analysis of potential andframework conditions, GIZ.

mechanism available to Ghanaianentrepreneurs is perhaps debt finance.

Ghana’s financial market is crowded with a lotof commercial banks and other financialinstitutions, which play a critical role in thetransfer of technology by making availablefunds and letters of credit to investors andlocal entrepreneurs to finance projectactivities. Due to lack of staff with knowledgein RETs, these institutions are unable toappraise project proposals, resulting in littlesupport to RE projects.

Also, uncertainty surrounding pricing of RETselevates the risk factor which make banks shyaway from financing RE projects. Access tolong term financing has been identified as oneof the major barriers to the successfulimplementation of Biogas and Landfill gas.69

It is worth noting that Fidelity Bank hasestablished an RE desk70 to support RE projectdevelopment in Ghana.

Cost of finance-high interest rate

Since most entrepreneurs prefer debt financingto other forms of financing, cost of financeplays a very important role in decision makingregarding whether to access support frombanks or otherwise. Currently, the base rates ofmost banks are above 30% making cost ofborrowing very expensive in Ghana.

70 See Daniel et al. (2014).



Lack of consumer financing options

The size of the market alone cannot be used todetermine the penetration rates of a particularRET. The ability of the market to afford theRETT is an equally important barrier. Base ofthe pyramid end-users of solar PV systemsneed financial incentives to enable thempurchase solar PV systems because of the highcosts. Also, the interest rates charged onfinancing schemes are usually high and thusprohibitive to end users71. Similarly, it hasbeen reported that farmers are unable to affordsolar dryers because of the apparent highinitial cost of the product.

GEDAP solar PV and lantern project,implemented by ARP Apex Bank, was highlysuccessful because of flexible financing schemeavailable to middle level income groups toaccess various products (Box 3).

Business climate (currency fluctuations)

A number of factors goes into thedetermination of business climate, however,currency fluctuations has been selected due toits distinctive role in Ghana’s economy. Acontinuously weak currency increases the costof imports.

The local currency, Ghana Cedi, hasdepreciated more than 500% to major tradingcurrencies like the Dollar in the last ten years.This is in sharp contrast to the relatively stableUS dollar and the Chinese Yuan which havedepreciated marginally within the sameperiod. The first quarter business barometer of

71 See Ahiekpor (2013).

the Ghana Association of Industries(comprising all micro, small, medium, largeand giant scale industries) identified afluctuating currency as the second mostimportant factor militating against them inGhana.72

Guaranteed price for energy services(feed-in tariffs)

Hitherto, unavailability of feed-in-tariffs forelectricity generation from RE sources wereidentified as one of the main barriers to theadoption of RETs in Ghana. The Public UtilityRegulatory Commission (PURC) has been ableto set the feed-in-tariffs for Ghana since 2013.

Table 2 FIT in GhanaTechnology FIT, GHp/ kWhSolar 40.21Wind 31.1085Small Hydro ≤ 10 MW 26.5574Medium Hydro > 10MW, ≤ 100 MW

22.7436

Landfill and sewagegas

31.4696

Source: PURC, 2013

Since the publication of the FIT, the localcurrency has depreciated by about 14.5 % tothe dollar in 2014 and by the end of the firstquarter of 2015, the cedi had depreciated byabout 12.01 % already. Although the year hasnot ended, projections are not good. Since theFIT rates were published in Ghana Cedis,cumulatively it would have lost about 25% ofits value already. Local and internationalinvestors extensively use the FITs rates toevaluate their projects and once the rates have

72 AGI. (2015). The AGI business barometer, Associationof Ghana Industries, Accra.



lost value in recent times an upward reviewmay be necessary, otherwise the participationof entrepreneurs leading to technologytransfer may be very limited in the comingyears.

Discussions with the Energy Commission andthe Renewable Energy Directorate of theMinistry of Power however indicate that thedollar rate at the time of the approval of FIT isapplicable. This means that the FIT could behigher than the nominal figures published bythe PURC. In that case, depreciation of the cedidoes not have a negative effect on the FIT.

Meanwhile, the Guarantee period of the PowerPurchase Agreement (PPA) has also been asubject of concern for most project developers.Ghana’s FIT guarantee period of 10 years isseen as a disincentive for project developers.The reason is the high risk of uncertainty afterthe 10 year period. Other countries using theFIT to drive the market have a guaranteeperiod of 15 – 20 years. A shorter guaranteeperiod scares banks away because of the highrisk of uncertainty beyond the 10 yearguarantee period.

Insufficient incentives

Inadequate tax rebates and incentive packageshave been flagged as one of the barriers toRETs penetration in the sub region. Tax rebatesand incentives are necessary because of thehigh cost of RETs and some of the marketbarriers outlined above. In response to theneed for tax rebate and incentives, the

73 IEA. (2012, July 16). polices and implementation.Retrieved September 27, 2015, from IEA/IRENA JointPolicies and Measures Table.

Government of Ghana has put in placecomplete import duty and value added taxexemption for solar PV and wind energygeneration systems73. It is instructive to sayhowever that, other RETs do not enjoy similartax exemptions. For instance somecomponents of biogas systems such as de-sulphurizers, biogas storage balloons, pipesand valves are not exempted from importduties even though most of them are imported.

Similarly, components of solar water heaters,small hydro plants, and large biogas systemsdo not enjoy tax exemptions and rebate. Taxesand incentives are used extensively by centralgovernments including the government of thePeople’s Republic of China to prop-up nascentcompanies to gain market access orcompetitive advantage in a very stiff or highlycontrolled market and in some cases reachscalability. Thus, the extensive review of alltaxes and incentives on offer for theimplementation of RETs to also include othertechnologies will greatly enhance interest inRETs which will lead to successful RETTS.

Operations and maintenance cost

Operation and maintenance (O&M) cost ofRETs could be one of the major barriers to itsmass dissemination and successful adoption.Low maintenance cost will drive the market ina positive direction however high O&M costwill most likely kill the market.



6.2.3 Human skills

The following are sub barriers related tohuman skills:

Technical skills to operate and maintainRET

Technical skills form a key component of RETTworldwide. Many RET projects have failedbecause of the lack of technical skills to operateand maintain the systems. DENG engineeringand The Energy Centre have in the past yearsbeen involved in training of experts in solarPV, solar pump and recently grid connectedsolar PV system design, installation andmaintenance.

The barrier nonetheless exists for other RETS.In the area of solar energy development andutilization for instance, lack of skilledmanpower to design and install solar PVsystems is still a major technical barrier74. Theinability of technicians and engineers in Ghanato design heavy duty solar dryers wasidentified as one of the barriers in thepromotion of solar water heater technology75.

Similarly, the lack of skilled personnel incorrectly designing, fabricating andmaintaining biogas plants were identified asthe main reasons for the mass failure of biogasplants in Ghana. In the case of solid biomassfor instance, the lack of knowledge in plantingand harvesting of trees was identified as one ofthe major barriers to the proper exploitation ofbiomass resources in Ghana.

74 Quansah, D. A., & Ramde, E. (undated). Potentials,Opportunities and Barriers for the Deployment andUsage of Solar Energy Technologies and Services inWest Africa. Praia: ECREEE.

Project development skills

Project management skills are often lowespecially at the local level and this wasreported as one of the key challenges affectingthe mass dissemination of bioenergy products.

Inadequate training centres

Currently there are few training centres in thecountry mainly located in Accra and Kumasi.The attention of all the training centres ismainly focused on solar PV systems design,installation and maintenance. There arecurrently no training centres dedicated totraining in wind energy, solar drying and solarwater heating technologies, mini and smallhydro technologies, etc. The Energy Centre ofKNUST is the only training centre offeringtraining on biogas technology and bio fuelproduction in the country.

Research and Development

The ability to adapt technology to suit aparticular climate and conditions depends ona very strong research and developmentcapacity. Research on RETs in Ghana isscattered in several academic departments ofthe various universities and researchorganizations in the country. The researchcarried out is at best uncoordinated and insome cases fundamental in nature rather thanapplied.

75 UNFCCC. (2003). Ghana's Climate ChangeTechnology Needs Assessment Report.



Applied research usually has the highestpotential of market uptake as opposed tofundamental research in developing countries.A strong R&D capacity led Tanzania todevelop a home grown version of biogasdigesters called CAMARTEC, animprovement on the earlier fixed domedigesters disseminated in Tanzania which wasprone to gas leakages. Unfortunately, eventhough Ghana has made strides in theadoption of clean cookstoves, we are yet toinnovate and come out with different modelsof cookstoves aside the Jiko model that wasadopted from Kenya.

6.2.4 Technical barrier

Poor operations and maintenancefacilities

After sales servicing plays a very importantrole in any successful disseminationprogramme. The unavailability of well-trainedmaintenance and servicing facilities in thecountry capable of supporting end users withafter sales and servicing is a major disincentivefor end users. For instance the maintenance ofsolar dryers, biogas plants, wind mills andsolar water heaters by experienced hands oftenleads to the frequent breakdown of the plantand subsequently lends credence to theassertions that the RET may not be good.

Lack of infrastructure facilities

Location of production facilities depends to alarge extent on the availability ofinfrastructure like roads and electricity.Manufactures of cookstoves, solar dryers, solarwater heaters and industrial biogas systemsdepend on power. Other technologies like

domestic biogas plants may not require theavailability of power but rather good roads toconvey materials to site. The unavailability ofthe infrastructure facilities thus have anegative effect on the manufacturing anddissemination of RETs

Difficulty in getting spare parts andequipment

The unavailability of spare parts like vacuumtubes and appropriate glazing materials on themarket for RETs like solar water heaters andsolar dryers respectively are a barrier to massproduction. Also, the inability of suppliers toreadily replace defunct parts of RETssignificantly affects the confidence end usershave in the system.

6.2.5 Information and awareness

Each country is unique in the way it respondsto technological change. Ghana is noexception. The process of dissemination reliesheavily on the availability of information toend users to make informed choices.Information on cost of acquisition, the benefitsto be derived from using the technology andoperations and maintenance should be readilyavailable to end users (Painuly, 2001).

Gboney (2009), identified lack of awareness onRETs as a major barrier to its dissemination.Similarly, the lack of information on the benefitof solar water heaters has been identified asone of the major barriers to its dissemination(UNFCCC, 2003).



6.2.6 Legal and regulatory barriers

Inadequate standard and codes

The lack of technical codes for themanufacturing, installation and maintenanceof RETs was identified as one of the keybarriers affecting the technology transfer forsolar water heater in the Technology Needsassessment carried out in 2003. The absence oftechnical standards leads to possibility ofconsumers being ripped off as a result ofproduct failure. Gboney (2009) also identifiedthe absence of technical standards as a majorbarrier in his report on international support topromote technology transfer for renewableenergy in Ghana. Since then the EnergyCommission has published a number of codesand standards for Utility scale RE systems:

a. Renewable energy sub-code fortransmission and distribution system;

b. Renewable energy sub-code fordistribution system; and

c. Net metering sub-code for connectingrenewable energy generating system tothe distribution system.

These regulations addresses key concerns ofutility scale RETs in the area of equal access todistribution and transmission lines but of littlesignificance to small scale RETsAside these, the Energy Commission inconjunction with the Ghana StandardsAuthority (GSA) and supported by UNDP isdeveloping a Ghanaian Standard for cleancooking stoves. Also, GSA, has developedstandards and a testing centre for solar panels.

76 http://www.energycom.gov.gh/index.php/register-of-licenses

There are presently no standards for solardryers, solar water heaters, wind mills, smalland mini hydro plants and biofuels such asbiogas and biodiesel systems. This obviouslyreiterates the fact that, this barrier has not beenremoved and continues to affect RETTadversely.

Lack of enforcement

By law, the Energy Commission (EC) is taskedwith the responsibility of enforcing codes andstandards in the renewable energy arena. Theabsence of codes and standards makes itdifficult for the commission to enforce any law.The absence of enforcement leads to a highdefault rate. This inadvertently killsconfidence in RETs. The enforcement body isalso expected to regulate companies andservice providers in the sector to ensureproduct and service quality. Already, amechanism has been put in place by EC toenforce regulations on production andtransportation of charcoal for export and thisshould be extended to importers of REsystems.

Even though companies involved inimportation and installation of RET systemsare required to obtain licence from the EC, acursory observation of the registry of licencedcompanies shows that almost all of them aresolar PV related. Even though the requirementfor licences hold for all RETs, none of the majorbiogas, improved cookstoves manufacturersor importers, or wind service providers wascited in the registry.76

http://www.energycom.gov.gh/index.php/register-of-licenses



This means companies involved in these RETsare operating without any form of regulationand enforcement by the EC and are thus atliberty to import or install RET systems of anyquality.

Unfavourable policies

The push for the adoption of RETs can bedriven fast with the adoption of the rightpolicies and enabling framework. The absenceof the right policies or unfavourable policiescan either slow down the rapid adoption of theRET or completely kill the market. The EC hasdeveloped a number of policy documentsincluding:

a. Renewable Energy Act (Act 832);b. Bioenergy policy document to spur the

development of biofuels in Ghana;c. Strategic National Energy Plan (SNEP)

which captures policies and strategies forthe inclusion of renewable energytechnologies in the national energy mix;and

d. Sustainable Energy for All Action Plan.

Further, the Environmental Protection Agencyis developing a green economy policydocument that seeks to direct Ghana’sdevelopmental growth on a green andsustainable path.

There are still some outstanding issues such as:

a. The preparation of a Renewable EnergyMaster Plan;

b. The setting up of a renewable energyauthority;

c. Operationalization of the renewableenergy fund.

The production of biodiesel from energy cropsfor instance has stalled completely because ofthe absence of an enabling environment.Additional policies might be needed to givethe market the necessary spark. Similarly,biogas, solar water heaters, solar dryers,landfill gas and small and mini hydro mayneed some final details ironed out to spurinterest in those sectors.

Political will

Several policies have been spelt out bysuccessive governments all with the aim ofpromoting RETs. For the policies and actionplans to translate into tangible projects astrong political will to engineer and drive theprocess is required. The extent to which thegovernment is ready to push RETs penetrationremains to be seen.

Political interference

Political interference in RETs projects is one ofthe key barriers to RETs penetration. Instead ofallowing technocrats to lead RETs project,some politicians with no or very littleexperience sometimes interfere unnecessarilywith projects for political expediency. Theresult is either the project fails woefully toachieve its goals or ends as soon as the politicaldispensation of the politician is over.

Land acquisition

Ghana’s complex land tenure system makesacquisition of land very cumbersome and alsoquite expensive for project developers of solarPV farms, wind farms and bioenergy cropscultivation that require large tracks of land.



Challenges with license acquisition

Interestingly, the Energy Commission hasreceived over 300 applications for license fromRE companies to generate power. However,the Regulator is cautious to grant license dueto the financial state of the off-taker –Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG). Thefinancial health of ECG has often been calledinto question a number of times. The utilityprovider is debt ridden. Thus, its ability to paythe RE companies is very much in doubt. Otherservice providers are also unable to findfinancial closure for their projects because ofreluctance of government to provideguarantees in the event of ECG defaulting inpayment, contributing to inability of somecompanies to meet the requirement for licenceacquisition. Also, the net effect of thecontribution of RETs into the pricing ofelectricity is also a major source of worry to theregulator. Small scale RET service providersmay not require license from EC, however, theprocess leading to the acquisition of businessregistration certificate, license to operate fromDistrict and Municipal Assemblies and insome cases environmental permit from theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) maybe cumbersome.

In addition, challenges in acquisition of IPRscould also affect the successful transfer ofTechnology.

Administration hurdles in developingcontracts

There are quite a number of administrativedocumentation required to start an RETproject. The administrative processes are oftentoo cumbersome and sits with several

ministries with different mandate, making itfrustrating to get to develop a project. A solarfarm projects for instance will require an EIAfrom the EPA, a permit from EC, a powerpurchase agreement from PURC and ECG, aDistrict or Municipal Assembly permit, Taxcertificate among others. These agencies areunder four different ministries: Ministry ofPower, Ministry of Environment, Science,Technology and Innovation, Ministry of LocalGovernment, and Ministry of Finance.

Intellectual Property (IP) rights protection

One key law that enhances Technologytransfer is the protecting of property rights.Even though Ghana does not have an explicitIPR law, components of IPR are captured inseparate laws. IPR laws operational in Ghanaare the Patent Act, 2003 (Act 657), theCopyright Act, 2005 (Act 690), IndustrialDesign Act, 2003 (Act 660) and the LayoutDesigns of integrated Circuit Act, 2004 (Act667). Apart from the Copyright RegulationLaw 2010, (LI 1962), Legislative Instruments onthe other laws have either not been developedor passed into law yet.

The ability of the law to protect foreign partiesinterested in TT is very crucial to spur interest.This is usually coupled to a strong legal systemthat guarantees the right of individuals andcorporate bodies. The absence of a strongintellectual property rights protection lawcaptured in the regulation mechanisms leavesroom for potential foreign entities/partners torate high the risk of losing their property rightsand their inability to use the local legal systemto retrieve what is rightfully theirs. Arbitrationin general is costly, however when the locallaws are inefficient to deal with the situation,



resorting to international arbitration escalatesthe cost entirely and that scares would-beinvestors away. Potential TT interest fromChina will be looking critically at the IPprotection laws and regulations in theCountry. Like a two edged sword it has bothadvantages and disadvantages for Chineseinterest, as shown in Box 18.

Box 18 Merits and demerits of weak IP lays

Advantage of weak IP laws in Ghana toforeign companies

Ghana has been at the receiving end of cheapand inferior products from China and othercountries at least in the area of textiles, smartphones, medicine and some solar productsdue to weak standards and enforcement. Thishas resulted in reduced competitiveness ofsome local companies and have caused othersto close down. In addition, Ghana’s porousborders makes it particularly vulnerable toimportation of infringed goods, which hasbeen estimated to cost the country about $200million annually in revenue.77

Disadvantage of weak IP laws in GhanaThe obvious disadvantage of a weakregulation of IP rights in Ghana to Chineseinterest will be high risk factor of losing theirIP rights or frustrations in fighting IP rights incourts. Looking at China’s economic muscle asthe second largest economy in the world anda leading exporter of technology, engaging intechnology trade will become more attractivethan TT especially when the risk of losing IPrights is rated high.

77 Ghana News Agency, (2014), Counterfeiting andpiracy, a drain on Ghanaian Industries.

6.2.7 Socio-cultural barriers

Lack of interest in shifting from conventionalenergy to RE may be due to lack of incentivesto encourage the shift especially when theconventional energy is more reliable andcheaper. A couple of barriers that are socio-cultural in nature are presented below.

Lack of understanding of local needs

Understanding of local needs is important atthe project design stage for RETsdissemination. Often perceived local needsare not the real needs and this leads to totalrejection of the RET intervention. SeveralRETs have failed to attain the desired impactbecause of the mismatch between theperceived needs of the potential beneficiariesand the proposed solution. This is particularlyevident in donor funded projects whereinterventions are designed for the peoplewithout the active participation of thepotential beneficiaries. The effect of theabandonment or the failure of a project hascatastrophic effect on mass dissemination aspeople will be making references to the failedproject.

Other sub barriers include:

a. Consumer preferences and social biases -consumers seeing RETs as temporalsolutions and hence preferringconventional systems to RETs;



b. Lack of confidence in new technology –consumers have little or no confidence inRETs due to failed past experience,knowledge of failed projects or lack ofaccess to information about RETs toinform decision making; and

c. Dispersed/widely distributed settlement– The inability of service providers toreach end users easily as a result of widelydispersed settlement leading to additionalcosts.

Fear of failure

The fear of failure of projects is mostlyassociated with RETs with high default ratesuch as biogas and to some extent solarlanterns. End users are often sceptical becauseof knowledge or experience of failed projectsin the past.

6.2.8 Network barriers

Lack of involvement of stakeholders indecision making

RETTs involves the active participation ofvarious players. The involvement of allstakeholders in decision making ensuresproject ownership and wins the support ofeveryone involved. When a section of thestakeholders feel left out, they are likely toreject the RET intervention which will stall anypossibility of technology transfer.

Strong network among conventionaltechnology developers and favoured bylegislation

Utility companies often form a network toprotect their interest. Even though in Ghanathere is no such association, the Volta RiverAuthority (VRA), Electricity Company ofGhana (ECG) and Ghana Grid CompanyLimited (GridCo) are in some way connectedthrough working partnership and the fact thatthey fall under the same ministry. ECG maycontinue to be the sole distributor of thepower in the southern part of the country fora long time. The same goes for GridCo whichis the sole evacuator/transmitter of power.Utility scale RETs will have to deal with thesecompanies at all cost in one way or the other.

Weak network between foreign institutionsand local ones

For technology transfer to be effective, foreignand local institutions must be connected. Theweaker the network between foreign and localinstitutions the more unlikely technologytransfer will take place. The network must notbe limited only to manufacturing institutionsbut also research and development institutionsand training institutions to support theindustry with technical skills and innovations.

Table 3 shows a summary of the main barriersidentified for specific RETs.



Table 3 Barriers to RETT in specific sectors

Main barriers Sub-barriersSolar PV applications

Financial

High currency depreciation Absence of taxes and rebates on individual components of solar

PV systems because of multiple use of components Lack of consumer financing options for solar PV products Short guaranteed period for FIT High initial capital cost for standalone home systems

Technical

Lack of technical skills to design grid connected systems Lack of maintenance facilities in rural areas Lack of training facilities across the country

Economic (market)

Small market size for solar water pumps, solar PV for vaccinerefrigeration and solar irrigation

Limited understanding of issues of integrating renewables into thegrid within utility companies

Socio-cultural Lack of interest in shifting from conventional energy to solar PVLegal and regulatoryframework

Land acquisition for utility scale solar PVs Inadequate codes and standards

Information andawareness

Inadequate information about cost and benefits of solar PVsystems

Network Barriers Strong network among conventional technology developers andfavoured by legislation

Solar thermal systems

Financial

Unstable currency High capital cost compared with conventional technologies like

immersion heaters (for water heaters) and open air drying (fordryers)

Technical

Low technical skills to design, fabricate and maintain solar thermaldevices like solar water heaters and dryers

Low political will Lack of standardization of designs Absence of codes and standards for design and installation of

systems

Economic (Market) Small market size due to high access to electricity from the grid forsolar water heaters

Socio-Cultural Fear of failure due to failed past experience

Legal and regulatoryframework

Absence of regulations Lack of enforcement of standards due to their absence Absence of a renewable energy pricing framework

Awareness andInformation

Low awareness/knowledge about benefits of using solar dryersand solar water heaters



Main barriers Sub-barriersWind energy systems

Financial Short guaranteed period for FIT Unstable currency High initial capital cost

Technical

Inadequate nationwide wind speed data High end technology Lack of expertise in design, installation and maintenance of wind

power systemsEconomic (market) Lack of successful reference projects in GhanaLegal and regulatoryframework

Absence of regulations, codes and standards Problems in land acquisition for large scale wind farms

Small- and mini-hydro systems

Financial

Access to finance for projects in general is low High capital cost but long payback period High currency depreciation Low guaranteed price for energy services Absence of taxes rebates for system components

Technical Low technical knowledge about availability of resource Inadequate technical expertise to design, construct and maintain

systems

Economic (market)

Lack of reference projects Lack of access to long term finance Highly controlled market for conventional systems Lack of financial resources by end users to pay for RET products Supply chain channel for raw materials and product distribution

Socio-Cultural Low awareness/knowledge about RETs


Absence of standards and codes Lack of enforcement of standards due to their absence Absence of a renewable energy pricing framework Lack of political will to develop identified and appraised projects Ineffective policy coordination among government actors

Improved cookstoves

Financial

Low access to long terms financial instruments High capital cost and lack of consumer financing options High currency depreciation Absence of subsidies on improved cookstoves

Technical

Low research and development activity in the area Low technical expertise to improve on existing designs and

models Lack of training centres for artisans involved in the manufacturing

processEconomic (market) Weak supply chain channel for raw materials and product

distributionSocio-Cultural Low awareness/knowledge about the benefit of clean cookstoves



Main barriers Sub-barriers


Absence of standards and codes Lack of enforcement of standards due to their absence Absence of wood fuel conservation policy to guide the

exploitation of forest resources for domestic fuelLiquid biofuels

Financial

Access to finance for projects in general is low High capital cost Lack of access to long term finance Lack of consumer financing options

Technical

Low technical skills to efficiently produce biofuels Low research and development activities Lack of expertise to purify and blend biodiesel with fossil fuel Lack of capacity to adopt engines to run on vegetable oils

Economic (market) Weak supply channel for product distribution Lack of planting materials Unavailability of abundant feedstock for the production of the fuel

Socio-cultural Multiple use of potential feedstock such as sugarcane Use of food crops unsustainable


Absence of standards and codes Lack of enforcement of standards due to their absence Absence of dedicated testing centres for liquid biofuels Land acquisition Potential conflict with food crops for land

Gaseous biofuels – biogas and landfill gas

Financial

High initial cost Limited financing mechanism for potential end users Absence of tax rebates on imported components of biogas

technologies like storage tanks, H2S scrubber, generator, etc.

Technical Lack of support for research and development into designs, the useof local materials, new feedstock, digestion efficiency, etc.

Economic (Market) Weak supply channel for raw materials Failed past experience

Awareness andInformation

Low awareness/knowledge about biogas and landfill gas

Socio-cultural

Unwillingness to move away from construction of septic tanks tobiogas plants

Lack of successful reference projects Fear of failure due to past experience Inadequate involvement of community members in decision

making Cultural inertia in accepting biogas as cooking fuel


Absence of biogas technology in the building codes of Ghana Institutional arrangement and jurisdictional complexities in

ownership of waste at the District and Municipal level



Main barriers Sub-barriers Land acquisition problems in large scale project or community

based systems Difficulties in siting engineered landfills

6.3 Conclusion

Technology Transfer to Ghana in renewableenergy technologies have been relatively sloweven though the apparent driving force ofenergy access and environmental concerns areevident. This is mainly due to number ofbarriers affecting the successful transfer oftechnology to the country. A total of 48 barrierswere identified through the desk study andgrouped into eight major categoriescomprising:

Economic and financial barriers; Market barriers; Human skills barriers; Technical barriers; Information and awareness creation

barriers; Legal and regulatory barriers; Socio-cultural barriers; and Network barriers.

In all, seven economic and financial barriers,five market barriers, ten legal and regulatorybarriers and two information and awarenesscreation barriers were identified and studied.The rest include five technical barriers, fourhuman skills barriers, five network barriersand ten socio-cultural barriers. Barriersaffecting technology transfer pertaining tospecific RETs such as solar PV systems, solarthermal applications, wind energy systemsand liquid and gaseous biofuels were alsoidentified and discussed.



A failed biotoilet project at GambagaPicture: Edem Bensah

7. SCREENING AND ESTABLISHMENT OF KEY BARRIERSTO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

7.1 Methodology

This activity involved the identification of acomprehensive list of barriers to RETT throughdesk study, and the application of PESTanalysis to consider the Political, Legal,Economic, Social and Technological issuesconfronting RETT. In all 48 different barriers to

78 A list of stakeholders consulted is provided in Appendix A.

RETT were identified as shown in Table 4.These barriers were evaluated and ranked bystakeholders78 to identify the most importantbarriers that need to be removed in the short tomedium term to enhance RETT to Ghana.

SCREENING AND ESTABLISHMENT OF KEY BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGYTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER


The stakeholders with expertise, experienceand involved in different aspects of RE inGhana ranked the barriers as either veryimportant, important, or not important using asemi-structured questionnaire (Annex G).

7.2 Analysis and results

The responses from 50 stakeholders wereanalysed using SPSS version 20. Dimensionreduction methodology was adopted to reducethe number of indicators to the critical numberthat offered reasonable explanations to theunderlying factors that affected barriers totechnology adoption. Specifically, CategoricalPrincipal Component Analysis (CATPCA) wasused because of the categorical nature of thevariables that defined the indicators.

From the analysis, 20 out of the 48 barrierswere identified by the stakeholders asimportant barriers based on a total scorebetween 49 and 98. Table 5 shows theimportant barriers to RETT to Ghana.However, since the objective is to identify themost important barriers to RETT and developactionable and attainable roadmap forremoving these barriers, the factors in Table 2are further screened to identify the mostcritical barriers. This is achieved on the basisthat at least half (50%) of the respondents.considered such barrier as very important ascoded in the questionnaire.

In all nine barriers are identified as critical toRETT to Ghana with economic issues being themajor issue as shown in Table 6.

7.3 Conclusion

In this section, stakeholders in the renewableenergy sector in Ghana were identified andinterviewed, with the aim of identifying thekey barriers to RETT. A semi-structuredquestionnaire was prepared and used for theranking of barriers identified through deskstudies. After engaging with 51 stakeholderscomprising experts in research anddevelopment institutions, international andnon-governmental organizations, policy andregulatory bodies, developmental partnersand companies involved in RET trade,installation and maintenance across the nation,the initial list of 48 barriers were ranked andscreened down to nine key barriers. The keybarriers identified in order of importance are:

i. High initial cost of RET;ii. High interest rate;

iii. High currency fluctuations;iv. Limited access to capital;v. Lack of enforcement;

vi. Political will;vii. Inadequate training facilities;

viii. Lack of skilled personnel formanufacturing and maintenance; and

ix. Inadequate information on cost andbenefits of RETs.

The key barriers are discussed and regroupedunder 4 main themes – political, economic, andsocio-cultural and Technical barriers usingPESTEL analysis.



Table 4 Perceived barriers to RETT

Category BarrierEconomic High initial cost

Insufficient incentivesSubsidies on conventional technologiesLow feed-in-tariff/electricity tariffHigh interest ratesLack of consumer financing optionsOperation/maintenance costsLimited access to capitalUnstable currencyUnder-developed supply channelsSmall market sizeUnstable market situation

Political, legal, andregulatory

Insufficient legal and regulatory frameworkLack of enforcementUnfavourable policiesPolitical willPolitical interferenceProblems in land acquisitionChallenges with license acquisitionAdministrative hurdles (in developing contracts, etc.)CorruptionIntellectual property rightsInadequate RE codes and standards

Technological Difficulty in getting equipment and spare partsImmature technologyPoor operation and maintenance facilitiesNew technology is too complicatedLack of infrastructure facilities ()Weak connections between stakeholders promoting the new technologyStrong networks of conventional technologies favoured by legislationDifficult access to external manufacturers/institutionsLack of skilled personnel for manufacturing and installationLack of skilled personnel for preparing projectsLack of service and maintenance specialistsFailed past experience/project/technologyLack of successful reference projects in the countryInadequate training facilities



Socio-cultural Lack of interest in shifting from conventional energy to RE (sticking tothe status-quo)Consumer preferences and social biasesLack of confidence in new technologiesDispersed/widely distributed settlementsLack of understanding of local needsFear of failurePoor or lack of information about costs and benefits RETsMedia not interested in RET promotionWeak network between foreign institutions and local onesLack of involvement of stakeholders in decision-makingThe RET is not important for our needs

Table 5 Important barriers after screening of stakeholders responses

Category Barrier SignificanceEconomic High initial cost 56

High interest rates 70Unstable currency 73Limited access to capital 75Insufficient incentives 82Lack of consumer financing options 82Under-developed supply channels 86Subsidies on conventional technologies 97

Political, legal,and regulatory

Lack of enforcement 80Political will 80Administrative hurdles (in developing contracts, etc.) 89Political interference 93

Technological Inadequate training facilities 78Lack of skilled personnel for manufacturing and installation 80Weak connections between stakeholders promoting the newtechnology

86

Lack of skilled personnel for preparing projects 91Lack of service and maintenance specialists 97

Socio-cultural Poor or lack of information about costs and benefits RETs 78Lack of interest in shifting from conventional energy to RE 89Consumer preferences and social biases 92



Table 6 Key barriers to RETT to Ghana.

Category Barrier % of very important responseEconomic High initial cost 90%

High interest rates 69%Unstable currency 63%Limited access to capital 63%

Political and legal Lack of enforcement 51%Political will 59%

Technical Inadequate training facilities 53%Lack of skilled personnel formanufacturing and installation

51%

Social-cultural Poor or lack of information aboutcosts and benefits RETs

51%



Institutional cookstoves at Yaa Asantewaa Girls SHSPhoto: Edem Bensah

8. REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGYTECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA

8.1 Introduction

This section discusses mitigation actions andspecific steps proposed for the removal of thenine key barriers to RETT in relation to thefollowing order: political and legal, economic,technical and socio-cultural factors. Thesection also discusses previous and on-going

efforts and interventions by variousstakeholders aimed at addressing the barriers.The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities andthreats (SWOT) for implementing proposedactions are also highlighted.

REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOGHANA


8.2 Political barriers

8.2.1 Previous and current interventions

Institutional structures

The Government of Ghana has shown a greatdeal of commitment in terms of putting inplace the necessary institutional framework forthe RE sector. A directorate for Renewable andAlternative Energy has been established underthe Ministry of Power to initiate, harmonizeand coordinate all RE policies. The EnergyCommission which has the core mandate toadvise the government on Energy has anestablished and well-resourced RE unit.

Policies and laws

The passage and enactment of the RE lawwhich serves as the main guiding documentfor the development of RE resources in thecountry is a major step towards the promotionof RE in the country. Other RE policyframeworks include:

i. The National Energy Policy. This is themain policy document guiding the energysector;

ii. The Draft Bioenergy Policy. Though stillin draft form yet to be finalized, thedocument spells out target and strategiesfor achieving bioenergy inclusion in theenergy mix of Ghana; and

iii. National Environment Policy. This is themain guiding policy document on theenvironment. It spells out national targetsand strategies to achieve the targets.

79 Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions

Progress has also been made with thedevelopment of programmes and action planssuch as:

i. Strategic National Energy Plan (SNEP);ii. Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Action

Plan for Ghana;iii. Feed-in Tariffs set-up by the Public

Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC)for RETs up to 200 kW in 2013. Since thenthere has been updates to reflect currenteconomic trends;

iv. NAMAs79 on Solar PV based lanterns forlighting, PV based power plant forelectricity, improved cookstoves (ICS) andLPG cooking solution, under the auspicesof the Ministry of Environment Science,Technology and Innovation (MESTI) withsupport from UNDP;

v. Standardized baselines on charcoalproduction under the aegis of MESTI withsupport from UNFCCC;

vi. Investment plan for scaling-up REprogramme in Ghana (SREP) under theauspices of Ministry of Power; and

vii. Energy for Poverty Reduction Action Plan(EPRAP).

Codes and standards on RETs

Codes and standards already developed arerelated to:

i. Solar PV and batteries. Ghana StandardsAuthority (GSA) has developed standardsfor the testing of solar PV panels andbatteries;



ii. Cookstoves. Standards for improvedcookstoves are currently underdevelopment under the auspices of GSAwith funding from UNDP and EnergyCommission. A mirror committee whichwas setup to prepare the standards isworking in tandem with ISO TechnicalCommittee TC 185 to draw up appropriatestandards for the Ghanaian market. Adraft standard has been circulated tosolicit comments from stakeholders.

Testing Centres

The government with the support ofdevelopmental partners has setup andcommissioned two improved cookstovestesting centres in Ghana. The testing centre atInstitute of Industrial Research (IIR) of theCSIR80 was funded by Global Alliance forClean Cookstoves while EC secured fundingfrom UNDP for the one at TechnologyConsultancy Centre (TCC), KNUST.

GSA with the support of Government andUNDP has commissioned a state of the art ofsolar PV and batteries testing centre. Thecentre has been in operation since 2014 albeitwith some challenges.

In spite of these measures, stakeholdersidentified lack of political will as a key barrierto RETT. The following are proposedmitigation actions and specific steps to removethis barrier.

80 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

8.2.2 Mitigation actions and measures

1. Expedite development of RE master plan(REMP)

The absence of REMP is seen as a major policydefect in the development of RETs andsubsequently TT. The various policydocuments discussed above apart from settingtargets and proposing strategies to achieve theset target fails to provide concrete plans forachieving the targets. The REMP is expected toencapsulate all the various policy goals andstrategies into a concrete plan with timelinesfor its implementation and will thus serve asthe main guiding document for thedevelopment, deployment and integration ofRETs into the energy mix. The development ofa REMP has been on the table for some timenow. South Africa and Nigeria are some of thecountries in Sub Sahara Africa with a REMP.Under SREP, government is seeking fundsfrom developmental partners to develop theplan.

Given that, this is a very important activitygovernment has an obligation to expedite thedevelopment of the REMP by:

i. Securing funds from any source possibleincluding government revenue sourcesand or donor/multilateral support fundscommitted for the development of theREMP;

ii. Once the funds are secured, a consultantmust be engaged with specific terms ofreference to develop the plan;



iii. The development of the REMP must bestakeholder driven and owned. Allstakeholders in the RE sector must beinvolved in at least the validation of theREMP. This will ensure total cooperationduring its implementation

A major problem with previous plans is thefact that they are often not been aligned to thenational development agenda. Previous andcurrent governments usually draw up theirown development agenda to guide theallocation of resources. For instance from 2001– 2008 Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy(GPRS) I and II were the main policy guidingdocument for the government. Similarly theGhana Shared Growth Development Agenda(GSDA) I and II have been the main policyguiding document for the present governmentsince 2009. Government’s allocation ofresources revolves around these policydocuments hence the need to integrate themaster plan into the development of thesepolicy documents to ensure that funds areallocated for its implementation.

2. Capitalise and operationalise RE Fund

The setting up an RE fund has been given legalbacking under the RE law (ACT 832).Subsequently Government has opened anaccount for the fund but with no seed moneyThe RE fund among other things as spelt out inthe RE law is supposed to support REdevelopment, training and R&D.

Since there are no funds in the RE account, it isdeemed that the fund has not beenoperationalized. The following steps are beingproposed to ensure the operationalisation ofthe RE fund:

i. The absence of clear guidelines for theutilization of the fund may lead to themistrust about the usage of the fundamong stakeholders. Therefore the EnergyCommission which is the main custodianof the RE fund must develop and publishthe guidelines for the utilization of the REfund;

ii. The RE law spells out a number of possiblesources of funding for the fund forpossible exploitation by government.However, the absence of a seed money inthe account does not project the nation asbeing serious with the development of itsRE sector. Government should as a matterof urgency dedicate an appreciableamount of money to the RE fund;

iii. Once government shows commitment byproviding seed money, developmentpartners will most likely be comfortable incontributing to the fund. Government cantherefore begin high level engagementwith donors to support and sustain thefund.

iv. Alternative funding sources as spelt out inunder section 5 of the RE law should beexploited by the EC to ensure that the fundis sustained.

3. Develop national programmes on prioritisedRETs

One of the key policy gaps in the RE sector isthe absence of national programmes onspecific RETs. As has been cited in earliersection of this report, South Africa, Uganda,Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, amongothers had or in some cases continues to havenational programmes for the deployment ofspecific RETs.



Apart from the 200 institutional biogas plantsunder the SE4All action plan, Ghana does nothave any national programme on any of theRETs. A recently announced solar roof topprogramme has not yet seen the light of day.The following steps are proposed:

i. A consultant must be engaged to developa guiding document for such nationalprogrammes. The document will serve asthe blue print for the implementation ofthe programme:

ii. Stakeholders must be engaged to validatethe developed blue print

iii. To ensure that the programme is wellfinanced, part of the RE fund must bededicated for the programme

iv. National coordinating office must besetup to coordinate the smoothimplementation of the programme.

The coordinating office must not be within thefrontline governmental agencies like the EC orMinistry of Power rather parastatalinstitutions like Universities, Polytechnics andother research institutions or Non-governmental Organizations could also bepossible host as pertains in other countries.This will ensure that such programmees arenot given political colours during itsimplementation. It will also ensure continuityof the programme beyond the life of aparticular government.

4. Develop/adopt standards, codes and labels forother RETs

Another key barrier that was identified bystakeholders is the development and

enforcement of standards and codes. Presentlythere are no codes and standards for a lot of theRETs to guide its exploitation. Because thereare no codes and standards, regulationbecomes a major problem. The proposedmitigation measure is to develop/adoptstandards and codes for the following RETs:

Biogas; Solar water heater; Solar dryers; Wind mills; and Small and mini-hydro, among others

GSA is the sole body mandated by law for thedevelopment or adoption of standards ofalmost all products produced or imported intothe country. They also have the sole mandateto test the products even though third partiescan be engaged to also carry out the test.

The following are specific steps are proposed:

i. Build capacity of staff and equip theGhana Standards Authority (GSA)

ii. Engage with organisations withexperience in other countries

iii. Obtain funding from RE fund and fromdonor agencies

iv. Develop and pass LI on standards, codesand labels for RETs

v. Build capacity of staff and equip the ECfor effective monitoring and enforcement

The summary of mitigation actions andspecific steps for addressing the political-related barriers to RETT is outlined in Table 7.The SWOT analysis of proposed mitigationmeasures is shown in Table 8.

REMOVAL OF BARRIERS TO RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA


Table 7 Mitigation measures to address political barriers

Key barrier Previous and currentinterventions

Mitigation actions Steps Responsible bodies

Lack ofpolitical will

1. National EnergyPolicy

2. RE Law 2011 (Act832)

3. Bioenergy policy(draft)

4. SNEP5. EPRAP6. Feed-in Tariffs

(FITs) for RE7. Import duty

exemption on solarPV and windturbines

8. SE4All Action Plan9. National Climate

Change Policy(NCCP)

10.NAMAs81 oncookstoves, solarlanterns, etc.

11.StandardisedBaselines (SBs) oncharcoal

12.Ghana’s INDC82

1. Expeditedevelopment of REmaster plan

a. Secure funding for RE masterplanb. Engage consultants to develop RE

masterplanc. Engage stakeholdersd. Align and integrate masterplan

into GSGDA

Ministry of Power(MoP)

EnergyCommission (EC)

NationalDevelopmentPlanningCommission(NDPC)

2. Capitalise andoperationalise REfund under RE law

a. Develop guidelines for utilisationof RE fund

b. Government should dedicate seedmoney to the RE fund

c. Engage with bilateral andmultilateral donor agencies foradditional funding

d. Identify alternative fundingmechanisms

MoP EC Ministry of

Finance

3. Develop nationalprogrammes onprioritised RETs

a. Engage consultants to developnational programmes onprioritised RETs

b. Engage stakeholdersc. Dedicate financial resources under

RE fund for prioritised RETsd. Set up coordination offices to

coordinate programmes

MoP EC

81 Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions82 Intended Nationally Determined Contribution





Inadequatestandardsand codes

1. Standards exist forsolar PV moduleand batteries, aswell as windenergy systems

2. Standards oncookstoves areunderdevelopment

Develop/adoptstandards, codes andlabels for biogas plants,SWH, solar dryers, windmills and other RETs.

a. Build capacity of staff and equipthe Ghana Standards Authority(GSA)

b. Engage with organisations withexperience in other countries

c. Obtain funding from RE fund andfrom donor agencies

d. Develop and pass LI on standards,codes and labels for RETs

e. Build capacity of staff and equipthe EC for effective monitoringand enforcement

GSA EC Parliament

Table 8 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under political barriers

Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsExpedite development of RE master plana. Commitment of Ministry of

Power, Energy Commissionand other local stakeholders

b. Support of developmentalpartners notably UNDP, GIZ,DANIDA, World Bank, etc.

c. Availability of RE lawd. Availability of national policy

documents – National EnergyPolicy, SNEP, BioenergyPolicy (draft), etc.

e. Availability of FITs for REsector

a. RE Authority notestablished

b. Draft Bioenergy Policy notyet approved

a. High potential of REresources in Ghana

b. RE resources well-known and well-mapped

a. Lack of funds fordevelopment andimplementation

b. Delays in review andapproval of masterplan

c. Interest in integratingmasterplan intonationaldevelopmental plan(GSDGA83)

83 Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) II, 2014-2017



Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threatsf. Availability of local capacity

Operationalise RE fund under RE lawa. RE fund regularised under RE

lawb. RE fund account established

a. Absence of clear-cutinstitutional frameworkfor operationalising thefund

b. Inability of government tocommit funds

a. Efforts to achievingnational RE targets

b. Support from bilateraland multilateral donoragencies (World Bank,DANIDA, GIZ, JICA,DGIS, EuropeanCommission, ChineseGovernment, GEF, etc.)

a. Governmentcommitment to allocatefunds for RE Fund

b. Lack of dedicatedfunds

c. Inadequate support ofexternal donors

Develop national programmes on prioritised RETsa. RE Law supports funding of

RETsb. Availability of local expertisec. Experience in previous

national programmes such asGEDAP, SHEP, etc.

d. Strong institutionalframework and networking

g. Availability of national policydocuments – National EnergyPolicy, SNEP, BioenergyPolicy (draft), etc.

a. RE Authority not yetestablished

b. RE Fund not yetoperationalised

c. Poor record in pursuingRE targets

a. Support from bilateraland multilateral donoragencies (World Bank,DANIDA, GIZ, JICA,DGIS, EuropeanCommission, ChineseGovernment, GEF, etc.)

b. Experience and lessonsfrom other countries inthe South on similarprogrammes

a. Governmentcommitment todevelop specificprogrammes onprioritised RETs

b. Governmentcommitment to allocatefunds for prioritisedprogrammes

c. Possibility of notreceiving externalsupport



8.3 Economic barriers


Four economic factors were identified bystakeholders as key barriers to RETT. Highinitial cost, unstable currency, limited access tocapital and high interest rate. A number ofinterventions have been piloted in the pastsome of which were very successful inaddressing the barriers to some extent. TheGEDAP project for instance sought to addressaccess to finance and high initial cost of theRETs to consumers. The high success chalkedby GEDAP can be attributed to two keyinterventions of reducing the price of the RETsand making consumer financing optionsreadily available to consumers.

On the side of government, import duty taxexemptions on complete solar energy systemscomprising panels, inverters, batteries andcharge controllers and wind energy productshave been helpful in addressing high cost ofsolar PV systems and wind energy systems.Some entrepreneurs on the other hand havebenefited from concessionary loan schemes byfunding bodies like the Acumen fund and theerstwhile E+Co fund. The refrigerator rebatescheme has been largely successful eventhough it was not specifically directed at RETs.

These interventions even though have beenhelpful in the past have failed to completelyremove the barriers hence the need to proposeadditional measures. The following areproposed mitigation measures to remove thekey barriers.


1. Develop and implement tax incentives onprioritised RETS

Tax incentives could take the form of taxholidays for RE companies for a number ofyears, import duty expanded to cover otherRETs or semi-finished products needed for themanufacturing of RETs, tax rebate systems forRE companies, waiver on Value Added Tax forlocally produced RETs, among others. Thiswill reduce the initial cost of setting upbusiness on the side of the entrepreneur whichwill result in reduced price of the commodityfor the consumer. The following are specificsteps:

i. Implement import tax incentives for rawmaterials and intermediate products forlocal fabrication of prioritised RETs;

ii. Initiate tax holidays and incentives forinvestment on prioritised RET.

2. Provide financial support for RET investmentin prioritised sectors

Financial support for RE firms can take theform of grants for indigenous start-upcompanies, demonstration and pilot plants orbuy down the cost of new technology.Financial support scheme could also be used tomitigate the financing and technology risk tomake it more comfortable for banks to support:

i. provide soft loans supporting RETinvestment;

ii. Provide direct financing to RETentrepreneurs;



iii. Seek grants from bilateral and multilateraldonors to set up incentives and soft loanschemes; and

iv. Use part of the RE fund to supportconsumer financing and RET investment.

3. Provide government guarantee for loans

The summary of mitigation actions andspecific steps for addressing the economic-related barriers to RETT is outlined in Table 9.The SWOT analysis of proposed mitigationmeasures is shown in Table 10.



Table 9 Mitigation measures to address economic barriers



High initialcost

1. Consumer financingschemes (eg.GEDAP)

2. Supplier side(import dutyexemptions on solarsystems and windmills)

3. Refrigerator rebatescheme

1. Develop andimplement taxincentives onprioritised RETS

a. Implement import tax incentivesfor raw materials and intermediateproducts for local fabrication ofprioritised RETs

b. Initiate tax holidays and incentivesfor investment on prioritised RET

MoP Ministry of Finance Ghana Investment

Promotion Council(GIPC)

Ghana RevenueAuthority (GRA)

2. Provide financialsupport for RETinvestment inprioritised sectors

a. Provide soft loans supporting RETinvestment

b. Provide direct financing to RETentrepreneurs

c. Seek grants from bilateral andmultilateral donors to set upincentives and soft loan schemes

d. Use part of the RE fund to supportconsumer financing and RETinvestment

MoP Ministry of Finance EC Financial

Institutions

High interestrate

E&CO and AcumenFund supportedprojects





MoP EC Ministry of Finance






Limitedaccess tocapital






MoP EC Ministry of Finance



Table 10 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under economic barriers

Strength Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsDevelop and implement tax incentives on prioritized RETsa. Import duty waiver

on solar and windpower systemsalready exist

b. GIPC Actc. Local experience in

developing taxincentive schemes

a. Ambiguous taxincentives subject tothe interpretation ofthe tax officer

b. Weak institutionalnetwork

a. National targets on REb. Experience and lessons from other

countries in the South on similarprogrammes

c. Support from bilateral andmultilateral donor agencies (WorldBank, DANIDA, GIZ, JICA, DGIS,European Commission, ChineseGovernment, GEF, etc.)

a. Loss of governmentrevenue

b. Abuse of the incentiveschemes

Provide financial support for RET investment in prioritised sectorsa. Ghana Infrastructure

Fundb. Local experience in

setting-up similarfunds (e.g. GEDAP)

a. RE Fund not yetoperationalised

a. Start-up companies in RETs may bebeneficiaries

b. Support from bilateral andmultilateral donor agencies (WorldBank, DANIDA, GIZ, JICA, DGIS,European Commission, ChineseGovernment, GEF, etc.)

a. Ability to pay backloan

b. Misapplication of fund



8.4 Technical barriers


Until recently, DENG engineering used to bethe only institution offering training on solarPV and solar pump installation. Currently anumber of institutions including TEC and TCCall of KNUST, the Energy Systems Departmentof Koforidua Polytechnic, the University ofEnergy and Natural Resources at Sunyani andthe Ghana Technology University College runtraining programmes on some RETs. Inaddition to the training programmes, KNUSTpresently offers master’s degree and PhDprogrammes in RETs.

The government through the SkillsDevelopment Fund (SDF) under the Councilfor Technical and Vocational Education andTraining (COTVET) is also supporting theestablishment of a Centre for RenewableEnergy and Energy Efficiency (CREK) atKumasi Polytechnic purposely to offer skillsbased training in RETs to Small and MediumScale Enterprises (SMEs) and graduates oftechnical and vocational schools and colleges.The identification of inadequate trainingfacilities means there are significant gaps thatneed to be filled.

Apart from TEC-KNUST that offers training awide spectrum of training in RETs, the othersare limited to stand alone solar PVs, gridconnected solar PV and solar water pumpsneglecting the other RETs. To address this gap,the following mitigation measures areproposed.


1. Strengthen existing training facilities

Instead of setting up new centres theaforementioned centres and traininginstitutions should be strengthened to be ableto deliver training on all aspects of RETs. To beable to achieve this the following steps areproposed:

i. Support existing institutions to expandprogrammes to cover priority RETs;

ii. Harmonize and standardize trainingmaterials. All training manuals should beharmonized and standardized toguarantee quality. Already, EC with thesupport of GIZ is seeking to harmonize thesolar energy training manuals. Similaractivities should be embarked on inbiogas, wind mills, SWH and solar dryersand other RETs;

iii. Build capacity of key RE research andtraining institutions in prioritised RETs;

iv. Enhance and encourage coordinationbetween institutions. Training institutionsshould be collaborating on commonthemes. Unhealthy competition mightlead to the stifling of ideas and can slowdown progress in RETT. A platform mustbe created by the EC to foster cooperationamong the institutions;

v. Allocate portion of RE Fund to expandtraining and research facilities; and

vi. Set-up dedicated funds for RETsdeployment and demonstration.



2. Build capacity of researchers and trainers inRETs

There is already existing capacities in thetraining institutions on some RETs like solarPV systems, biogas, biofuels and solar dryers.In areas such as wind mills design andconstruction and small- and mini-hydrosystems, there is limited expertise. Thecapacity of trainers must be built tointernational standards by carrying out thefollowing actions.

i. Promote networking with external centresof excellence. Existing training centres andinstitutions should be linked tointernational partners in China and othercountries where they could go for refreshertraining programmes; and

ii. Dedicate part of RE fund for capacitydevelopment. The RE law is explicit on theutilization of the fund and it makes roomfor capacity development. In this regard,part of the fund should be set aside tosupport capacity building.

3. Setup dedicated centres of excellence in theprioritized RETs

Dedicated centres of excellence in particularRETs can play important roles in TT. Throughresearch and development, they are able toadapt technologies to suit environmental andsocio-cultural conditions and in some casesreplace components with local materials.Dedicated centres will also conductcontinuous research with the view ofimproving the transferred technology. Theactions below should be carried out:

i. Develop modalities for establishingcentres in existing institutions; and

ii. Allocate funds for the establishment of thecentres

4. Conduct capacity building programmes forentrepreneurs and local enterprises

Entrepreneurs and local enterprises needregular refresher training programmes toupdate their knowledge in RETs as well aschanging trends in industry. The following arespecific steps proposed:

i. Undertake capacity needs assessment oflocal enterprises;

ii. Develop skills oriented programmes andtraining manuals in prioritised RETs forindustrial players;

iii. Conduct regular technical training forlocal enterprises in prioritised RETs; and

iv. Build collaborative linkages between localenterprises and their counterparts inChina and other developing countriesadvanced in RETs.

5. Arrange networks and partnerships for localenterprises

Local enterprises can leverage on the skills andadvanced knowledge of foreign partners toexpand their activities. This can be done by:

i. Exploring possibilities for networkingwith foreign companies in China andother advanced developing countries;

ii. Linking local enterprises to counterpartsin China and other developing countries;

iii. Funding trips and visits of local firms toforeign exhibitions and trade shows onprioritised RETs; and



iv. Identifying and funding trainingprogrammes in Ghana with experts fromChina and other developing countries.

Tables 11 and 12 shows mitigation measuresand SWOT analysis for the technical barriers,respectively.



Table 11 Mitigation measures to address technical barriers

Key barrier Previous andcurrentinterventions


Inadequatetrainingfacilities

Established trainingfacilities including:

UENR TEC-KNUST CREK-K’POLY, Energy Systems

Dept. – KeduaPolytechnic

GTUC DENG

1. Strengthenexisting trainingfacilities

a. Support existing institutions toexpand programmes to cover priorityRETs

b. Harmonize and standardize trainingmaterials

c. Build capacity of key REresearch/training institutions inprioritised RETs

d. Enhance and encourage coordinationbetween institutions

e. Allocation portion of RE Fund toexpand training and researchfacilities

f. Set-up dedicated funds for RETsdeployment and demonstration

MoP EC Ministry of

Education COTVET

2. Build capacityof researchersand trainers inRETs

a. Promote networking with externalcentres of excellence

b. Dedicate part of RE fund for capacitydevelopment

MoP EC Ministry of

Education COTVET

3. Set-updedicatedcentres ofexcellence in theprioritised areas

c. Develop modalities for establishedcentres in existing institutions

d. Allocate funds for the establishmentof the centres

MoP EC Ministry of

Education COTVET



Key barrier Previous andcurrentinterventions


Lack of skilledpersonnel formanufacturingandmaintenance

Solar PV moduleassembly plants

Pelletsmanufacturingplant

Cookstovesmanufacturers

Biogas servicecompanies

1. Conductcapacitybuildingprogrammes forentrepreneursand localenterprises

a. Undertake capacity needs assessmentof local enterprises

b. Develop training skills orientedprogrammes/manuals in prioritisedRETs

c. Conduct regular technical trainingfor local enterprises in prioritisedRETs

d. Build collaborative linkages betweenlocal enterprises and theircounterparts in China or otherdeveloping countries advanced inRETs

MoP EC Ministry of

Education

2. Arrangenetworks andpartnerships forlocal enterpriseswithcounterparts inother countries

a. Explore possibilities for networkingb. Link local enterprises to counterparts

in China and other developingcountries

c. Fund trips and visits of local firms toforeign exhibitions and trade showson prioritised RETs

d. Identify and fund trainingprogrammes in Ghana with expertsfrom China and other developingcountries

MoP EC



Table 12 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under technical barriers

Strength Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsStrengthen existing training facilitiesa. Some training facilities already

existb. Availability of local expertisec. Supported by National Energy

Policyd. Emphasized by Renewable

Energy Act under Section32(3)

a. High cost of certainequipment

b. Existing trainingfacilities spread acrossthe southern parts ofthe country

c. Poor maintenanceculture

d. Weak collaborationamong existing trainingcentres

a. Universities/polytechnics/research institutionsspread across countryand could serve asstarting point

b. Support from externaltraining and technologycentres

a. Lack of fundsaccessibility

b. Misuse of facilitiesc. Budget cuts may peg

this lower ongovernment’sdevelopmental agenda

d. Training centresdeviating from theirmandate

Build capacity of researchers and trainers in RETsa. Availability of some research

and training expertiseb. Some training facilities already

existc. Supported by National Energy

Policyd. Emphasized by Renewable

Energy Act under Section32(3)

e. RE training programmes existamong some institutions (e.g.TEC-KNUST)

a. Weak collaborationwith external expertise

b. High cost of externaltraining

a. Lower training costsusing local expertise

b. Existing bilateralagreements betweenGhana and othercountries

c. Universities/polytechnics/research institutionsspread across countryand could serve asstarting point

d. Support from externaltraining and technologycentres

a. Lack of funding(nationally) fortechnologicaladvancement

b. Budget cuts may pegthis lower ongovernment’sdevelopmental agenda



Strength Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsSet-up dedicated centre of excellence in the prioritized RETs

a. Climate Innovation Centreestablished by World Bank

b. Centre for RE and EEestablished at KumasiPolytechnic

c. Established technologytransfer centres by MESTI(e.g. CRTDI of KumasiPolytechnic)

d. Availability of localexpertise

a. High cost of certainequipment

b. Existing trainingfacilities spreadacross the southernparts of the country

c. Poor maintenanceculture

d. Weak collaborationamong existingtraining centres

a. Universities/polytechnics/researchinstitutions spreadacross country andcould serve asstarting point

b. Support fromexternal training andtechnology centres

a. Lack of fundsaccessibility

b. Misuse of facilitiesc. Budget cuts may peg

this lower ongovernment’sdevelopmentalagenda



8.5 Socio-cultural barriers


The Ministry of Power has implementedseveral awareness campaign on RETs underprogrammes such as GEDPA and JICAstandalone solar projects among others. Otherssuch as the Lighting Africa Project had anawareness creation component infused intothe programme. Currently, the Ghana Alliancefor Clean Cookstoves (GhACOO) inpartnership with the Global Alliance for CleanCoostove are embarking on a major awarenesscreation campaign on the benefits of using animproved cookstoves.

Nonetheless, stakeholders identified poor orlack of information about cost and benefit ofusing RETs as a major barrier to TT. Themitigation actions proposed are outlinedbelow.


1. Run sustained cost and benefit campaign on theuse of RE products

All the previous campaigns were tied tospecific project promoting specificinterventions so once the programme comes to

an end, the campaign seizes. This mitigationaction should be run independent ofprogrammes or project and should only seizeor come to an end when the objective ofinforming the citizenry about the cost andbenefit of using RETs is achieved.

2. Include RETs in the technology catalogue

The Energy Commission has published aTechnology catalogue which captures sometechnologies for harnessing energy. Thepresent catalogue though under revision doesnot include all RETs. The absence of RETs inthe Technology catalogue is a hugeknowledge gap that needs to be filled. Inaddition to adding the RETs, basicinformation on cost and benefits of using thetechnologies should be included to serve as aguide to users and to some extent even projectdevelopers. The catalogue must be frequentlyupdated to reflect current trends andinformation about the Technologies.

Table 13 summarises proposed mitigationactions for addressing the socio-culturalbarriers and Table 14 shows the SWO analysisof the measures.



Table 13 Mitigation measures to address socio-cultural barriers


Mitigation actions Steps Responsiblebodies

Lack ofinformationabout costand benefitsof RETs

Awareness creation on: improved

cookstoves (e.g.Ghana Alliance onClean Cookstovesand Global Allianceon CleanCookstoves)

solar PV systems(e.g. Lighting Africaand GEDAP)

1. Run cost benefitcampaign onthe use of REproducts

a. Increase awareness by involving allstakeholders

b. Promote pilot and demonstrationprojects

c. Promote awareness targetingconsumers/end-users in mass media

MoP MESTI EC NGOs, CSOs84,

CBOs85 andWomen Groups

2. Include RETs intechnologycatalogue

a. Include RETs in the next update of thecatalogue

b. Frequently update catalogue with newinfo on RETs

c. Make technology update available onEC website

EC

Table 14 SWOT analysis of mitigation measures under socio-cultural barriers

Strength Weaknesses Opportunities ThreatsRun cost-benefit awareness campaigna. Existing media platforms

and networksb. Similar ongoing campaigns

(cookstoves, etc.)

a. Lack of dedicated fundsb. Lack of successful

demonstration projects

a. National policy toincrease RE penetration ingeneration mix

b. National climate changemitigation targets

a. Illiteracy rateb. Subsidies for

conventional energysources

Include RETs in technology cataloguea. Existing technology

cataloguea. Lack of dedicated funds a. Readily available global

information on RETsa. Inclusion of erroneous

information

84 Civil Society Organisations85 Community-based Organisations



8.6 Conclusion

It has been demonstrated in Ghana and otherdeveloping countries through previousprojects that the transfer of RE technology ispractically achievable if barriers to specifictechnologies are identified and addressed.Domestic biogas digesters and cleancookstoves are well-known success stories oftechnology transfer in Ghana. Although theyhave been several interventions in the past tofacilitate the transfer of RE technologies toGhana, there are still major barriers thathamper successful diffusion of RETs in thecountry.

In this section, the key barriers to RETTidentified in section 7 are further elaboratedand concrete mitigation actions for removingkey barriers are proposed as follows: Technical barriers

o Strengthen existing training facilities;o Build capacity of researchers and

trainers in RETs;o Set-up dedicated centres of excellence

in the prioritised areas;o Conduct capacity building

programmes for entrepreneurs andlocal enterprises; and

o Arrange networks and partnershipsfor local enterprises with counterpartsin other countries.

Political barrierso Develop national programmes on

prioritised RETs;o Capitalise and operationalise RE fund

under RE law;o Expedite development of RE master

plan; and

o Develop/adopt standards, codes andlabels for biogas plants, SWH, solardryers, wind mills and other RETs.

Economic barrierso Develop and implement tax

incentives on prioritised RETS; ando Provide financial support for RET

investment in prioritised sectors. Socio-cultural

o Run cost benefit campaign on the useof RE products; and

o Include RETs in technologycatalogue.

A SWOT analysis is performed to identify theStrengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities andThreats of the proposed mitigation actions.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY


Flat plate solar water heaters at Oak Plaza Hotel, AccraPhoto: Edem Bensah

9. IDENTIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF RENEWABLEENERGY TECHNOLOGIES FOR TRANSFER TO GHANA

9.1 Background

Renewable Energy (RE) generally refers toenergy sources that can be regenerated withina human lifetime, namely direct solar radiationor sunlight; biomass including wood-fuels andplant materials, animal and human waste;wind; geothermal; and hydro. On the otherhand, Energy Efficiency (EE) describestechnologies, applications, actions, measures,and policies that improve energy usage andreduce wastage.

86 IRENA (2015). Synergies between RE and EE. Working paper based on REMAP 2030.

Technologies such as clean and efficientbiomass cookstoves, RE-based heat pumpsand solar PV offer savings in fuel in additionto increased share of RE, indicating overlapsbetween RE and EE technologies.86 This sectionidentifies RETs suitable for mainly off-gridapplications. The technologies are firstscreened to remove those that are unsuitable inthe Ghanaian context or have technical barriersthat are yet to be overcome at the global level.

IDENTIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF RETS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TOGHANA


The selected list is then ranked using the multicriteria decision tool – Analytical HierarchyProcess (AHP) using the set of criteria and sub-criteria, highlighting RETs with high potentialfor TT to Ghana from China and other

countries. The list of technologies identified forranking under AHP is given in Table 15 andthose screened out and thus not included inranking is shown in Table 16.

Table 15 List of RETs for evaluation

Area Initial list of RETsBiomass and bioenergy Biogas

EthanolBiodieselBio-oil (from pyrolyzers) and syn-gas (gasifiers)Solid fuels and clean cookstovesClean charcoal kiln

Solar thermal Solar water stillSolar water heaterSolar dryer

Solar photovoltaic Solar PVSolar lighting Solar lanternHydropower Mini- and micro-hydroWind energy Standalone wind turbine

Table 16 RETs screened out

Area RETs screened out Reason for screening out technologyBiomass andbioenergy

Landfill gas Process of harnessing landfill gascomplicated; lack of well-engineeredlandfill sites; economics unfavourable.

Solar energy Solar ovens/cookers Not too successful in Ghana; appearnot to fit into traditional cooking

Concentrated solarpower/heating

Low direct normal radiation (DNI) inGhana.

Solar fuel Immature technology; underdevelopment



9.2 Evaluation and ranking of RETs

In this section the Analytical Hierarchy Process(AHP) (Saaty, 1980)87 is used to evaluate andscreen appropriate RETs (Table 15). The AHPmodel (Figure 5) has four levels consisting ofthe goal, criteria, sub-criteria and RETs. Theselection of criteria and sub-criteria is based ondesk studies in the previous sections, similaractivities undertaken in other countries (Amerand Daim, 201188; Li-bo and Tao, 201489),barriers to RETT shown in Table 16, andstakeholders’ views from a consultationmeeting that was held on 24-25th November,2015 at Koforidua in the Eastern Region. Thegoal for evaluating and prioritizing RETs asagreed by participants is ‘prioritization of

RETs to identify high impact technologies fornational support.’ The list of criteria and sub-criteria with respect to the goal and based oncollective agreement by stakeholders is shownin the AHP model (Figure 5).

The description and indicators for each sub-criterion are given in Table 17. A questionnairedeveloped for the assessment of thetechnologies under the AHP is shown inAnnex G, based on the allocation of 100 pointsamong criteria in relation to the goal, and sub-criteria with respect to each criterion. Theselected RETs are also evaluated via pairwisecomparison under each of the sub-criteria.

87 Saaty T. L. (1980). The Analytic Hierarchy Process,McGraw Hill International.88 Amer M., Daim T. U. (2011). Selection of renewableenergy technologies for a developing county: A case ofPakistan. Energy for Sustainable Development 15 (2011)420–435

89 Li-bo Z., Tao Y. (2014). The evaluation and selection ofrenewable energy technologies in China Energy, The 6thInternational Conference on Applied Energy –ICAE2014, Procedia 61 ( 2014 ) 2554 – 2557



Figure 5 AHP model for the evaluation and ranking of decentralized RETs in Ghana

Goal: Prioritisation of RETs to identify high impact technologies for national support

Economic Environmental Technical Socio-cultural andpolitical

- Investment cost- Operation and

maintenance cost(ease ofmaintenance)

- Economicviability

- Market potential(scalability andreplicability)

- Emissionreduction

- Adverse impactsof RET

- Land requirementand use

- Resourceavailability

- Proventechnology(technicalmaturity)

- Ease of localmanufacture/assembly, repairand componentsupply

- Jobs creation- Social

acceptability- Gender

involvement/mainstreaming

- Macro-economicbenefits

- Biogas- Solid fuels and cookstoves- Efficient charcoal kilns- Solar dryers- Solar water still- Solar water heater- Solar PV- Solar lanterns- Mini-/micro-hydro- Standalone wind turbines- Ethanol- Biodiesel- Bio-oil and synthetic-gas

IDENTIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF RETS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA


Table 17 List of sub-criteria for prioritizing RETs

Criteria Sub-Criteria Description Key Point

Economic Investment (upfront cost) Total upfront cost of having a RET for a householdor institution.

The lower the investment costto consumers/users, the morefavourable the RET

Operation and maintenancecost (ease of maintenance)

The cost of operating or maintaining RET by a user(household/institution). Include cost of spareparts, cost of paying experts to do maintenance,and frequency of maintenance.

The lower the cost operationand maintenance the better

Economic viability Economic/financial benefits derived by users forpaying for the RET. Include income savings fromreduce expenses as a result of the RET.

The higher the financial(economic) benefits, the better.

Market potential (scalabilityand replicability)

Possibility of building business on RET at existingeconomic conditions. Also includes Ghana’scompetitive advantage in the RET and marketpotential in the Sub-Region.

The higher the market potentialof the RET, the better.

Environmental Emission reduction Potential to contribute to greenhouse gas emissionsreduction based on the conventional fuel displacedor improvement in fuel/energy efficiency as aresult of the RET.

The higher the emissionsreduction potential, the morefavourable the RET

Adverse impacts of RET onenvironment

Waste generated through the process ofmanufacture, use and decommissioning of RETafter life span.

The RET that results in lowerwaste generation (frommanufacturing to end-use) isbetter

Land requirement and use Requirement for land for manufacture, installationor use of the RET. Every RET requires land (orspace) and may affect the landscape

The RET that requires less landarea per unit energy output isbetter

IDENTIFICATION AND PRIORITIZATION OF RETS FOR TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA


Criteria Sub-Criteria Description Key Point

Technical Resource availability Availability of renewable resource for thegeneration of energy. E.g. solar irradiation, windspeed, biomass, hydro-sources, etc.

The higher the resourceavailability for the RET, thebetter.

Technology maturity How well is the technology developed andsuccessfully disseminated in Ghana and otherdeveloping countries

The RET with highertechnology maturity is moredesirable

Ease of localmanufacture/assembly,repair and componentsupply

The potential to set-up localmanufacture/assembly plants of the RET. Potentialfor higher local content in manufacturing,fabrication, installation and repair.

The RET with higher possibilityof local content in fabrication,installation and supply isconsidered better.

Socio-culturaland political

Jobs creation Employment opportunities from design,development, fabrication/manufacture, supply ofcomponents, distribution, installation and repair.

The RET with higher jobcreation potential is preferable.

Social acceptability The adaptability of RET to local use. Acceptable oftechnology by households and institutions.Positivity of public opinion.

Higher social acceptability isbetter.

Genderinvolvement/mainstreaming

Possibility of women involvement in all aspects ofthe RET

The RET that allows higherwomen involvement is better.

Macro-economic benefits Benefits through the use of local resources.Contribution to national energy security;contribution to attainment of nationaldevelopmental goals such as GSGDA90.

The RET that produces moremacro-economic benefits isdeemed better.

90 Ghana Shared Growth Developmental Agenda



9.3 Results of the AHP model

The AHP questionnaire was completed by 33respondents. The consistency ratio (0.10) wasdetermined for each respondent for the criteria(1), sub-criteria (4) and the RETs under eachsub-criteria (14), totalling 19 outputs. In fewcases, the consistency ratio was relaxed whena maximum of five out of a total of 19 fall above0.1 but below 0.2. The data from tenrespondents were rejected as one or more ofthe CR exceeded 0.2. The relative weights ofthe criteria (Table 18) and sub-criteria (Table19) with respect to the goal were built throughpairwise comparisons by stakeholders.Experts ranked the economic criterion as themost important in achieving the goal, followedby technical, environmental and socio-culturaland political.

Among the economic criteria, the investment(upfront) cost of the RET is ranked as the mostimportant. As a developing country withlimited financial resources, the ability to payfor the upfront cost is critical to large scaledissemination. The economic viability, whichranks second, is seen as critical since any largescale RET programme is likely to receive highpatronage if the economic returns derived byusers are significantly measureable.

Under the environmental criterion, theemission reduction potential was found to bethe most important parameter. This is againstthe backdrop that Ghana is fully considering

moving along the path of low-carbondevelopment. Resource availability and easeof local development of the technology areranked as the two most important sub-criteriain the technology criterion, indicating thepositive opinion by stakeholders to RETs thatcan be produced locally and disseminated at alarger scale. Job creation is ranked highestfollowed by macro-economic benefits underthe socio-cultural and political criterion. Thus,stakeholders believe RET disseminationshould also lead to employment opportunitiesfor the large numbers of unemployed youth,contributing to the achievement of nationaldevelopmental targets. In addition, the RETshould be locally owned and produced fromlocal resources, enabling the achievement ofenergy security while reducing dependence onforeign energy resources.

The relative weights of sub-criteria in relationto the goal have been determined by allowingeach criterion to have three sub-criteria. Thus,operation and maintenance cost as well asgender mainstreaming, which are the lowestranked under the economic and socio-cultural& political sub-criteria respectively, wereignored. The ranking of the relativeimportance of the sub-criteria is given in Table20. Not surprisingly, stakeholders agree RETsthat are prioritized for national support musthave favourable indicators as far as theeconomic sub-criteria are concerned.



Table 18 Relative weights of the criteria in relation to the goal

Criteria Relative weight RankEconomic 0.28 1Technical 0.26 2Environmental 0.24 3Socio-cultural and political 0.22 4

Table 19 Relative weights of the sub-criteria in relation to the respective criterion

Criteria Sub-criteria Relative weight withrespect to each criterion

Economic Investment (upfront cost) 0.270Operation and maintenance cost 0.214Economic viability 0.261Market potential 0.255

Environmental Emission reduction 0.344Adverse impact of RET on environment 0.319Land requirement 0.337

Technical Resource availability 0.348Proven technology (technical maturity) 0.323Ease of local manufacture, repair andcomponent supply

0.329

Socio-culturaland political

Jobs creation 0.293Social acceptability 0.235Gender involvement/mainstreaming 0.220Macro-economic benefits 0.253

Table 20 Relative weights of the sub-criteria in relation to the goal

Sub-criteria Relative weight withrespect to the goal

Rank

Investment (upfront cost) 0.09729 1Economic viability 0.09405 2Market potential (scalability and replicability) 0.09174 3Resource availability 0.08966 4Ease of local manufacture, repair andcomponent supply

0.08475 5

Jobs creation 0.08320 6Proven technology (technical maturity) 0.08318 7Emission reduction 0.08185 8Land requirement 0.08017 9Adverse impact of RET on environment 0.07597 10Macro-economic benefits 0.07163 11Social acceptability 0.06651 12



Finally, based on pairwise judgementsbetween alternate RETs with respect to thesub-criteria, the results of the evaluation of theRETs are given in Table 21. Stakeholdersranked solar lanterns as the alternative withthe highest impact in relation to the goal. Solarlanterns have already received considerablenational interest and large programmes suchas GEDAP have prioritised solar lanterns fordissemination especially in areas remote fromgrid power. Solar dryers received favourablejudgements by respondents owing to theirhigh possibility of local deployment atrelatively low costs to end-users. Moreover,the potential contribution of solar dryers toagricultural output at the national level as wellas high market potential and the possibility ofjob creation are attributes that ensured thehigh ranking.

Solar PV and solar water heater are rankedfourth and fifth respectively, and bothtechnologies can be produced locally, creatingjobs for the youth, and improving energysecurity (macro-economic benefits). Moreover,the market potential of both are considerablethough unlike solar PV, SWHs are lesssupported at the national level. The market forSWHs however is booming due to recentpower crises and the hospitality sector isresponsible for the increased demand, with allsystems imported mainly from China andEurope.

The last three ranked RETs – ethanol, biodieseland bio-oil and synthetic-gas – have severallimitations that make their contribution to thegoal low. There is a lack of successful biodieselproduction projects from Jatropha or othercrops and the economics of biodiesel areunfavourable. The use of edible oils for

biodiesel is seen by many as unsustainable;moreover, there is lack of infrastructure forbiodiesel dispensing stations. Ethanol (1stgeneration) requires the use of food materialswhile cellulosic ethanol (2nd generation)production is complicated especially for smallscale applications; moreover, technologies arestill at research/pilot stages. In addition,ethanol is expensive when used as cooking fueland there is a lack of infrastructure when usedas fuel in petrol engines.

Bio-oil, synthetic-gas and derivative fuels frompyrolysers and gasifiers require complextechnologies and are unfit at currentconditions in Ghana.

Table 21 Relative weights of the RETs inrelation to the goal

RET Relativeweight

Rank

Solar lantern 0.0862 1Solar dryer 0.0822 2Solar PV 0.0821 3Solar water heater 0.0818 4Solid fuels 0.0805 5Biogas 0.0792 6Solar water still 0.0788 7Efficient charcoalkilns

0.0765 8

Standalone windturbine

0.0731 9

Mini- and micro-hydro

0.0719 10

Ethanol 0.0707 11Biodiesel 0.0695 12Bio-oil and synthetic-gas

0.0674 13



9.4 Conclusion

In this section, RETs that have high potentialfor technology transfer and diffusion fromChina and other countries to Ghana have beenidentified and assessed. The technologiesselected and evaluated include solar PV, solarthermal technologies (water heaters, waterdistillers, and dryers), solar lanterns, mini- andmicro-hydro, wind turbines and biomassconversion technologies (biogas, ethanol,biodiesel, bio-oil and syn-gas, solid fuels andimproved charcoal kiln). Other technologieswere screened out based on the followingreasons:

Landfill gas - Process of harnessinglandfill gas complicated; lack of well-engineered landfill sites; economicsunfavourable.

Solar ovens/cookers - Not toosuccessful in Ghana; appear not to fitinto traditional cooking;

Concentrated solar power/heating -Low direct normal radiation (DNI) inGhana.

Solar fuel - Immature technology;under development

The selected RETs were evaluated and rankedby stakeholders in the energy sector using themulti-criteria and multi-perspective decisiontool, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Theassessment was based on the potential of atechnology to attainment of the developmentalgoals of country. Solar lantern was ranked asthe alternative RET with the highest impact,followed by the following in a descendingorder: solar dryer, solar PV, solar water heater,solid fuels, biogas, solar water still, efficientcharcoal kilns, standalone wind turbine, mini-and micro-hydro, ethanol, biodiesel, bio-oiland synthetic-gas. Thus, comprehensivenational programmes in RE should focus moreon those that are viewed by stakeholders tohave high impact on national development.



Ekem cookstove liner factory, WinnebaPhoto: Edem Bensah

10. ROADMAP FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGYTRANSFER TO GHANA

10.1 Roadmap for removing barriers to RETT

Section 8 outlines policy tools required aspotential measures to address the identifiedbarriers to RETT and dissemination toGhana. Specific activities needed foreffective and efficient implementation of thepolicy actions are also proposed. However,to transform these actions into specific viablereforms require significant policydevelopment, including consideration oftiming and budget allocation, consultationand balancing of stakeholder interests,distributional impact of costs and benefits,and legal and legislative issues.

It is beyond the scope of this work to addressall of these issues, particularly for such awide range of policy options. However inorder to provide a more concrete outline ofthe policy options and how they might becoordinated, taking into account stakeholderresponsibilities, they have been presentedhere in the form of a proposed policytimeline from 2016 to 2025.



The policy timeline is focused on whatgovernment can do to accelerate RETT toGhana in order to meet the national REtargets by 2025. This is essential in caseswhere proposed actions relate to legislationor use of government funds. However, inmany other cases, there are opportunities forother stakeholders such as developmentpartners, research and tertiary institutions,enterprises and NGOs to facilitate theseactivities, with or without governmentsupport. These stakeholders need to play

different but complementary roles in policydevelopment and implementation from thenational to the local level.

The roadmap for the proposed actions isshown in Table 22. Targets for prioritisedRETs, taken as the eighth highest rankedtechnologies (Table 21), with respect toattainment of the third stage of technologytransfer where full manufacturingcapabilities are mastered, are provided inSection 10.2

.

ROADMAP FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TO GHANA


Table 22 Roadmap for removal of barriers to RETT to Ghana

Mitigation Actions Specific activities

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025 Responsible

bodyWork Package 1 – Increase Government Commitment/ Political Will

I. Expeditedevelopment ofRE master plan

Secure funding for RE master plan EC, MoP,UNDP

Engage consultants to develop RE masterplan EC, UNDP

Engage stakeholders EC, UNDPAlign and integrate master plan intonational development plan (e.g. GSGDAII)

MoP, MoF,NDPC

II. OperationaliseRE fund underRE law

Develop guidelines for utilisation of REfund EC, MoP

Government should dedicate seed moneyto the RE fund MoP, MoF

Engage with bilateral and multilateraldonor agencies for additional funding MoF, MoP

Identify alternative funding mechanism EC, MoP

III. Developnationalprogrammes onprioritised RETs

Engage consultants EC, UNDPEngage stakeholders EC, UNDPDedicate financial resources under REfund for prioritised RETs

MoF

Set up coordination offices to coordinateprogrammes

MoP




2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025 Responsible

bodyWork Package 1 – Increase Government Commitment/ Political Will

IV. Develop/adopt standards,codes and labelsfor biogas plants,SWH, solardryers, windmills and otherRETs.

Build capacity of staff of the GhanaStandards Authority (GSA) and EC

GSA, EC, UNDP

Engage with organisations with experiencein other countries GSA, EC

Obtain funding from RE fund and fromdonor agencies

EC, MoP,UNDP

Equip the Ghana Standards Authority(GSA) EC, MoP, GSA

Develop and pass LI on standards, codesand labels for RETs

GSA, EC,Parliament

Work Package 2 – Reduce investment costI. Develop and

implement taxincentives onprioritised RETS

Implement import tax incentives for rawmaterials and intermediate products forlocal manufacturing of prioritised RETs91 MoP, EC, MoF,

GIPC, GRAInitiate tax holidays and incentives forinvestment on prioritised RET

II. Provide financialsupport for RETinvestment inprioritisedsectors

Provide soft loans supporting RETinvestment MoP, EC, MoF,

FinancialinstitutionsProvide direct financing to RET

entrepreneursSeek grants from bilateral and multilateraldonors to set up incentives and soft loanschemes

EC, MoP,UNDP

Use part of the RE fund to supportconsumer financing and RET investment EC, MoP

91 The tax incentive policy should be reviewed after the first five years of implementation by Government to measure its effectiveness.




2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025 Responsible

bodyWork Package 3 – Enhance technical capacity

I. Strengthenexisting trainingfacilities

Support existing institutions to expandprogrammes to cover prioritised RETs EC, MoP

Harmonize and standardize trainingmaterials

EC, MoE,COTVET

Build capacity of key RE research/traininginstitutions in prioritised RETs

EC, MoP,UNDP, PMU inChina

Enhance and encourage coordinationbetween institutions EC, MoP

Allocate portion of RE Fund to expandtraining and research facilities EC, MoP

Set-up dedicated funds for RETsdeployment and demonstration EC, MoP

II. Build capacity ofresearchers andtrainers in RETs

Promote networking with external centresof excellence

EC, MoP,UNDP, PMU inChina92

Dedicate part of RE fund for capacitydevelopment EC, MoP

III. Set-updedicated centresof excellence in theprioritised areas

Develop modalities for established centresin existing institutions

EC, MoP,Ministry ofEducation(MoE)

Allocate funds for the establishment of thecentres EC, MoP, MoE

92 Programme management unit in China under the China-Ghana SSC project




2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

2024

2025 Responsible

bodyWork Package 3 – Enhance technical capacity

IV. Conductcapacity buildingprogrammes forentrepreneurs andlocal enterprises

Undertake capacity needs assessment oflocal enterprises EC, MoP, NBSSI

Develop training skills orientedprogrammes/manuals in prioritised RETs EC, MoP

Conduct regular technical training forlocal enterprises in prioritised RETs EC, MoP

Build collaborative linkages between localenterprises and their counterparts in Chinaor other developing countries advanced inRETs

EC, UNDP,PMU in China

V. Arrangenetworks andpartnerships forlocal enterpriseswith counterparts inother countries

Explore possibilities for networking MoP, ECLink local enterprises to counterparts inChina and other developing countries

EC, UNDP,PMU in China

Fund trips and visits of local firms toforeign exhibitions and trade shows onprioritised RETs

EC

Identify and fund training programmes inGhana with experts from China and otherdeveloping countries

EC, PMU inChina

Work package 4 – Address information GapRun cost benefitcampaign on the useof RE products

Run cost benefit campaign on the use ofRE products

EC, MoP, CSOs,NGOs, CBOs,Women Groups

Include RETs intechnologycatalogue

Include RETs in technology catalogue EC



10.2 Targets for prioritised RETs

The current stages of TT for prioritised RETsare shown in Table 23. The various stages ofindividual RETs with respect to TT in Ghanaare discussed below.

Table 23 Stages of TT for prioritised RETsin Ghana

Technology Stage1 2 3

Solar lantern Solar dryers Solar PV Solar water heaters Solid fuels andcookstoves

Biogas Solar water stills Efficient charcoal kilns Standalone windturbines

Mini- and micro-hydro(using generalexperience in hydro)

10.2.1 Solar lanterns

Solar lanterns are lanterns that are poweredby solar PV panels and batteries. Oncecharged using the solar PV panel, solarlanterns provide bright lights that can beused for lighting at night. Modern day solarlanterns have mobile phone battery chargingunits that allow the charging of mobilephones. Over the last ten (10) years or so,Ghana has been actively promoting theimportation of solar lanterns for distributionand sale to, especially, rural and remotecommunities.Recap: Types and stages of TT

Recall that there are two types of TT:vertical and horizontal.

Vertical TT occurs when information istransmitted from basic research to appliedresearch, from applied research todevelopment, and from development toproduction. Vertical transfer follows theprogressive stages of invention (basicresearch), innovation (applied research),development and commercialisation.

Horizontal TT occurs when a maturedtechnology is moved from one operationalenvironment to another. It is more commonwhen technology is transferred fromindustrialised to developing countries.There are three stages in horizontal TT:

I. Stage I involves import of capital goodsand equipment. This increases theproduction capacity of the recipient buton its own does not enable the recipientto use the imported facilities efficientlyor to generate technological change incountry;

II. Stage II includes skills and know-howfor operating and maintainingequipment. It places the humanresources of the recipient at thetechnological level required to operatethe imported technology efficiently;

III. Stage III encompasses knowledge andexpertise for generating and managingtechnological change. It creates newtechnological capacity through TT andactive independent learning, creationand innovation of the recipient.



Table 24 Targets for each RET

Technology 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2026 2028 2030

Solar lantern

Solar dryers

Solar PV

Solar water heaters

Solid fuels and cookstoves

Biogas

Solar water stills

Efficient charcoal kilns

Colour KeyStage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3



Other programmes have also been promotedby NGOs as well as bilateral and multilateralagencies. This process adequately coversstage 1 of the TT process. Efforts towardsstage 2 have begun, with recent programmesaiming to include components of adequaterepair skills, including the development oftraining manuals. Going forward, theseefforts would have to be intensified in orderfor stage 2 of the TT process to be reachedfully.

With regards to stage 3, the recent GoGprogramme that is aimed at distributing 2million solar lanterns plans to add localmanufacturing capacity building to theproject. Government is hoping to securefunding from the Climate Investment Fundto implement this project under the Scaling-up Renewable Energy Programme in GhanaProject. This is expected to begin in 2016. Inaddition, under the “a million lives project”,a solar lantern assembly plant is expected tobe established soon. With solar lanterns notbeing so complex, we expect localcomponent manufacture to begin first by2018, paving the way for intensification.More than half of the components should bemanufactured in Ghana by 2020, withdesigns perfected by about 2025.

10.2.2 Solar dryers

Solar dryers are not a complicatedtechnology for local manufacture. They havebeen disseminated in Ghana using thevertical transfer process. They were inventedseveral decades ago and have been used inother countries for so many years. Over thelast few years, applied research anddevelopment has been ongoing in Ghana.Small-scale experimental units have beenbuilt in the country’s universities andresearch institutions for about two decades.

Large scale units have been piloted for closeto a decade now, but this has failed to moveinto wider dissemination. Efforts towardspiloting larger scale community basedsystems have been led by the AgriculturalEngineering Services Directorate (AESD) ofthe Ministry of Food and Agriculture(MOFA). Recently, The Energy Center ofKNUST has also begun piloting thesesystems in maize growing communities.Systems have been designed and fully builtin Ghana, using largely local materials for thestructure. The main challenge has been thehigh cost of the acrylic glazing material,which is still imported.

Following the RET prioritisation process,experts regard solar dryers as a prioritytechnology. As a matter of fact, solar dryersare already a priority RET under Ghana’sSE4ALL Action Plan. About a 1,000 uniteswere expected to established in all tenregions by 2014 but this failed to materialise.

This should be revisited in the REMasterplan and barriers hindering the non-implementation addressed. For this reason,government through the appropriateagencies must pay special attention to issuessurrounding solar dryers. In the short term,joint programmes with the private sector toimport acrylic glazing material for solardryers would have to be considered.Depending on other expected end-uses of theacrylic glazing materials, import dutyreduction should be considered for thosedestined for the solar dryer industry. In themedium to long term, and depending on thescale intended for solar dryer dissemination,manufacturing of acrylic glazing materialswould have to be considered. We expectmanufacturing to begin by 2020 and foreconomy of scale to be fully realised by 2025.



10.2.3 Solar PV

Solar PV stand-alone systems have beenpromoted in Ghana on a larger scale andwould perhaps had performed better were itnot for the high initial cost, especially forrural communities. The promotion of solarPV has gone through different phases ofdevelopment with the active participation ofa number of NGOs, backed by researchsupport from academic & researchinstitutions, as well as other associations,such as AGSI. Its uptake has beenencouraging, leading to the set-up of anumber of retailing and installation units,which are mainly concentrated in the capitalcity, but also in Kumasi and a few other citiesin the country.

Stages 1 and 2 of the horizontal TT processhave been realised. Stage 3 has just begun,with the commencing of the assembly ofsolar PV panels in the country. This wouldhave to be intensified, to move towards localmanufacture of the cells. But beyond thecells, other components should also bestudied for local manufacture. These includebatteries, inverters, and other balance ofsystems. While we do not expectmanufacture of 100% of the components tobe realised soon, we must draw programmesto target specific components that can alsobenefit other areas. Local manufacture ofbatteries for instance, would be more usefulbecause batteries would also be needed forsolar lanterns.

10.2.4 Solid fuels and cookstoves

This is an area where capacity buildingefforts have intensified over the past fewyears with a number of vibrant localmanufacturers of cookstoves. The GhanaAlliance for Clean Cookstoves (GHACCO)

has played a major role in cookstovedissemination with awareness creationcampaigns that target end-users.

With regards to the TT process, Ghana isalready in stage 3 of the process with localmanufacturing of the Gyapa stove and itsvariants. Going forward, we need to developcapacity to come up with improved designsbeyond the Gyapa, most especially stovesthat can burn pellets and other fuel woods.At some point, government should considerbanning the importation of cookstoves toenable the local private sector fully drive theprocess. An outright ban should be in placeby 2020, four years from now.

Manufacturing of pellets have begun inGhana, however, the entire components forthe installation of the plant were imported.Because of the scattered resource base, it isimportant to develop capacity in themanufacture of smaller units that can be usedin areas where feedstock sources are low. Indoing this, government could set a minimumcapacity level for foreign investors in pelletmanufacturing, so that small-scale systemswould be left solely to Ghanaianentrepreneurs. This could be addressed byexisting regulations at the GIPC that aremeant to protect local interest in small-scalebusinesses.

While small-scale (often household units) forbriquette production have been tried, largescale manufacture has still eluded us.Capacity building in the manufacture ofbriquette equipment components should becombined with capacity building for thedesign and manufacturing of pelletisingequipment. Some of the ITTCs such as thoseestablished within Suame Magazine andallied facilities should be transformed intoCentres of Excellence, for the design and



manufacture of these components, withsupport from the technical academic andresearch institutions. Others centres couldalso be set up in locations where feedstockavailability could promote local business.

10.2.5 Biogas

Like clean cookstoves, biogas technology canbe said to have already reached stage 3 in thedesign, construction and maintenance ofhousehold and institutional systems,although modern designs are still led byforeign contractors. It appears thatinstitutions that have installed large-scalebiogas plants in the past have had littleconfidence in Ghanaian entrepreneurs toinstall these systems and have gone in forforeign designs and expertise. In some ofthese installations, the fact that thoserecipient institutions are foreign owned mayhave informed the choice of foreign expertisefor the installations.

Typical examples are the large scale plants atHPW Fresh and Dry (Adeiso) and GuinnessGhana Limited (Kumasi). A plant that iscurrently under construction at the KumasiAbattoir (with facilitation from The EnergyCenter at KNUST) is being supervised byGhanaian engineers, even though thedesigns were brought from Korea, andKorean engineers are expected to supervisethe installation of electrical systems.

Capacity building efforts are needed toupgrade Ghanaian engineers andentrepreneurs so that they are able to designand construct large-scale modern plants.

10.2.6 Solar water stills

Even though small-scale solar water stills arenot a complicated technology, it has failed to

make in-roads into the Ghanaian market. Inthe past, it was not considered a prioritytechnology. However, experts are of the viewthat this should be given priorityconsideration, given its socio-economicimportance to especially rural communitieswhere access to clean water is a hugechallenge. A lot more studies should go intothe implementation of solar water stills,given the low solar radiation levels in Ghana.

10.2.7 Efficient charcoal kilns

Charcoal kilns in Ghana are reported to haveefficiencies of about 15% on weight basis,which implies that only 15% of the wood rawmaterial end up as charcoal. This isunsustainable, and is a potential source ofdeforestation, given the high contribution ofcharcoal to Ghana’s energy mix.

Efficient charcoal kilns have beenexperimented over the past couple ofdecades, with efforts led by the CSIR-IIR, ina more horizontal TT process. Again this isnot a complicated technology and stage 3 ofthe vertical TT process may have beenreached. Its dissemination has, however,been poor. Local manufacturing capacitybuilding shouldn’t take much technologicaleffort, rather a well implementedprogramme targeted at the right audience,which should be in locations where charcoalis produced on large scale.

Admittedly, it is challenging for many localcharcoal producers to adopt ‘constructed’improved kilns. This is due to the nature ofthe business, requiring that carbonisation isdone close to the location of the raw material.Even on the same plot of land, it is oftendifficult moving logs from one end of thefield to the other and may necessitate movingthe kiln. But even if it were easy to manage



movement within the same plot, when thekiln would have to be transported overhundreds of metres, it may pose a hugechallenge to producers.A more vigorous campaign should betargeted at those businesses who producecharcoal for exports. A key policy in thisregard could be that by 2020, all charcoalexported from Ghana should be producedfrom improved kilns of a certain minimumefficiency, using a principle similar to thewoodlot system for sourcing the rawmaterial.

10.3 Institutional support from Chinaand other countries

There are many institutions in China andother developing countries as well asindustrialised nations that are better placedto provide technical and other support toGhana and thus help promote RETT toGhana. A list of potential bodies is shown inTable 25 for various RETs.

Table 25 Institutions capable of supporting RETT to Ghana

RET Research institute CountrySolar PV andlighting

International Solar Energy Centre forTechnology Promotion and Transfer (ISEC)of UNIDO

Beijing Solar Energy Research Institute(BSERI)

China

JRC Institute for Energy and Transport (JRC-IET)

Italy

Centre for Renewable Energy SystemsTechnology (CREST) LoughboroughUniversity

UK

Fraunhofer Institute for Solar EnergySystems

Germany

Solar water heater ISEC - UNIDO BSERI Gansu Natural Energy Research Institute

(GNERI)

China

Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) ofUniversity of Malaysia

Malaysia

Institute for Sustainable Technologies (AEEINTEC)

Austria

University of Zimbabwe ZimbabweSolar water still ISEC – UNIDO China

Florida Solar Energy Centre of the Universityof Central Florida

USA

Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems GermanySolar dryer ISEC – UNIDO China

Solar Energy Research Institute (SERI) ofUniversity of Malaysia

Malaysia

Australian Centre for InternationalAgricultural Research (ACIAR)

Australia



RET Research institute CountrySimple biogasdigesters (fixed-dome, floating-drum, etc.)

Biogas Research and Training Centre (BRTC) China Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and

Rural Technology (CAMARTEC)Tanzania

Industrial biogasdigesters

BRTC China Biogas Institute of the Ministry of

Agriculture (BIOMA)Solid fuels (pelletsand briquettes)

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) India Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and

Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of theChines Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversionof the Chines Academy of Sciences (CAS)

China

Cookstoves Instove Aprovecho Research Centre

USA

Improved charcoalkilns

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) India

Biofuels (Cellulosicethanol, microbialfuel cell, )

QIBEBT of the Chines Academy of Sciences Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion

of the Chines Academy of Sciences (CAS)

China

Technical University of Denmark (DTUChemical Engineering)

Denmark

National Renewable Energy Laboratory(NREL)

USA

The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) India German Biomass Research Center (DBFZ) Germany

Wind energy China Electrical Power Research Institute(CEPRI)

China

Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Denmark NREL USA Renewable Energy National Centre (CENER) Spain Energy Research Center The

Netherlands Institut für Solare Energieversorgung (ISET)

of GermanyGermany

University of Tokyo JapanSmall/mini-hydro International Centre for Small Hydro

Hangzhou Regional Center for Small HydroPower (HRC)

China Institute of Water Resources andHydropower Research

China

Standalone windturbines

ISEC - UNIDO China National Institute of Wind Energy India NREL USA



10.4 Conclusion

For the prioritised RETs, it came to light thatGhana has reached at least stage 2 of thehorizontal technology transfer process, i.e.Ghanaians have the know-how to operateand maintain these technologies fairly,judging from recent activities. Three of thetechnologies: biogas, improved cookstovesand solar dryers have reached stage 3 of thetechnology transfer process. For these three,there is expertise in Ghana for the design,construction, operation and maintenance. Toremove barriers hindering the technologytransfer process, policy actions have beenproposed, and a roadmap developed for theimplementation of these actions.The roadmap proposes specific activitiesneeded for effective and efficientimplementation of the policy actions neededto remove barriers to RETT. The timeline forthe roadmap is from 2016 to 2025 and isfocussed on what government and otherstakeholders could do to accelerate RETT toGhana in order to meet the national REtargets by 2020 and beyond.

The following are some deadlines proposedfor some key mitigation actions: Development of RE master plan – 2017; Finalising national programme for

prioritised RETs – 2018; Setting up dedicated centres of excellence

for the prioritised RETs – 2019; Strengthening existing training facilities –

2020;

Implementing tax incentives onprioritised RETs – 2021; and

Developing and passing LI on standardand codes for RETs – 2021.

The main agencies responsible forundertaking these actions include theMinistry of Power, Energy Commission andGhana Standards Authority, with supportfrom the UNDP and NGOs.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ahiekpor, J. C. (2013). Overview of solar projects in Ghana. A study conducted for SNV-Ghana.

ABPP. Burkina Fasso. African biogas partnership programme. Available:http://africabiogas.org/burkina-faso/, accessed 10 October 2015

ABPP. Kenya. http://africabiogas.org/kenya/, accessed 10 October 2015

ABPP (2013). Case study on biogas entrepreneurship, Kenya.

AGI (2015). The AGI business barometer, Association of Ghana Industries, Accra.

Amer M., Daim T. U. (2011). Selection of renewable energy technologies for a developingcounty: A case of Pakistan. Energy for Sustainable Development 15 (2011) 420–435

Bensah, E. C., Brew-Hammond, A. (2010). Biogas technology dissemination in Ghana: history,current status, future prospects, and policy significance. International Journal of Energy andEnvironment 1(2): 277-294

Boyed A., Rennkamp B. Technological capability and transfer for achieving South Africa'sdevelopment goals. Climate Policy, DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2013.831299

Bozeman, B. (2000). Technology transfer and public policy. A review of research and theory.Research Policy.

Carbon Trust (2013). Small-scale concentrated solar power a review of current activity andpotential to accelerate deployment.

Cohen, W. M., Goto A., Nagata A., Nelson R. R., and Walsh J. (2002). R&D Spillovers, Patentsand the Incentives to Innovate in Japan and the United States’. Research Policy 31(8–9): 1349–67.

Daniel, U., Pasch, K.-H., Nayina, G. S. (2014). Biogas in Ghana, sub-sector analysis of potentialand framework conditions, GIZ.

EC (2006). Strategic national energy plan: Annex I of IV – energy demand sectors of theeconomy, Energy Commission, Accra.

EC (2014). National energy statistics 2000 – 2013, Energy Commission, Accra.

Energica (2009). Prefeasibility study for an improved cook stoves project in Northern Ghana.Available: www.care.org/sites/default/files/documents/CC-2009-GHA-Cookstoves_Ghana.pdf, accessed 9 Nov 2015.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Enterprise Works/Vita (2009). Clean energy for household cooking in Ghana. Available:www.enterpriseworks.org/display.cfm?id=3&sub=15&cont=7, accessed 15 Oct, 2015.

Gertig C., Alcobert A. D., Lopez C. H., Lopez R. R. Algeria: a case study of solarized gas turbinesystems. Available: http://www.gl-garradhassan.com/assets/downloads/Algeria_-_A_Case_Study_for_Solarised_Gas_Turbine_Systems.pdf, accessed 25 Sep 2015.

GACC (2012). Ghana Market Assessment – Sector Mapping. Global Alliance for CleanCookstoves. Available: https://cleancookstoves.org/binary-data/RESOURCE/file/000/000/162-1.pdf, accessed 5 Oct 2015.

GACC (2012). Cookstoves, Tanzania market study, 2012. Available:http://cleancookstoves.org/resources_files/tanzania-market-assessment-mapping.pdf,accessed 6 Nov 2015

GIZ. Energizing development Kenya country programme. Available:https://www.giz.de/en/worldwide/21975.html, accessed 28 Sep 2015.

GoG (2012). Sustainable Energy for All Action Plan, Government of Ghana (GoG), Accra.

GoG (2014). Scaling up renewable energy - scoping mission, Accra.

Gutterman, A. (2009). Regulations of technology transfer arrangements.

Heegde, T. F., Sonder, K. (2007). Domestic biogas in Africa; a first assesment of the potentialand need. NV.

Hedon International. Available: http://www.hedon.info/docs/cec/Probec_institutional_stoves.pdf, accessed 27 Oct 2015.

Hove T., Mubvakure B., Schwarzlmueller A. (2007). Conservation of the business capacity forsolar water heater manufacturing and installation in Zimbabwe: Final report on the survey ondemand of solar water heaters in the institutional sector.

IEA (2012). Polices and implementation. IEA/IRENA joint policies and measures table.Available: www.iea.org/policiesandmeasures/pams/ghana/name-24515-en.php?s=dHlwZT1yZSZzdGF0dXM9T2s,&return=PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0ic3ViTWVudSI-PGRpdiBjbGFzcz0iYnJlYWRjcnVtYnMiPjxhIGhyZWY9Ii8iPkludGVybmF0aW9uYWwgRW5lcmd5IEFnZW5jeSZ6d25qOzwvYT4mbmJzcDsmZ3Q7Jm5ic3A7PGEga, accessed 27 Sep, 2015,

Kileo, J. O., Akyoo A. M. (2015). Technology transfer and farm-based renewable energy sources:the potential of biogas technology for rural development in Tanzania.

Kim, L. (2003). Technology transfer and intellectual property rights: the Korean experience.Geneva: ICTSD.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Li-bo Z., Tao Y. (2014). The evaluation and selection of renewable energy technologies in ChinaEnergy, The 6th International Conference on Applied Energy – ICAE2014, Procedia 61 (2014)2554 – 2557

Marree F., Nijboer M., Kellner C. (2007). Report on the feasibility study for a biogas supportprogramme in the northern zones of Tanzania, SNV publication.

Matiru V., Schaffler, 2011. Market transformation for highly efficient biomass stoves forinstitutions and medium-scale enterprises in Kenya: terminal evaluation, UNDP.

Millennium Cities Initiative (2013). Sokoban wood village project in Kumasi, Ghana. MCIworking paper series on investment in the millennium cities, No. 23. Available: www.mci.ei.columbia.edu/files/2013/08/Pangea-Report-Sokoban-Wood-Village.pdf, accessed 22Oct, 2015.

MNRE. Concentrated solar heat. Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India.Available: http://www.cshindia.in/images/ProcessHeat/B.S.%20Paper%20Mill.pdf, accessed01 Nov 2015.

Mulinda, C., Hu, Q., Pan, K. (2013). Dissemination and problems of African biogas technology,Energy and Power Engineering, 506-512.

Pueyo A., Linares P. (2012). RETT to developing countries: One size does not fit all. IDSWorking Paper, 2012 (412).

Quansah, D. A., Ramde, E. (undated). Potentials, opportunities and barriers for the deploymentand usage of solar energy technologies and services in West Africa, a study undertaken onbehalf of ECREEE, Praia.

Ramanathan, K. (2014). An overview of technology transfer and technology transfer models.Available: www.business- asia.net/Pdf_Pages/Guidebook%20on%20Technology%20Transfer%20Mechanisms/An%20overview%20of%20TT%20and%20TT%20Models.pdf,accessed 23 Sep 2015.

Roth C., Michel A., Messinger C. (2007). Getting technologies to the market – the case of therocket stove in Malawi. Available: ww.hedon.info/docs/BP53-Roth-11.pdf, accessed 01 Nov2015.

Saaty T. L. (1980). The analytic hierarchy process, McGraw Hill International.

Schmitz, T. D., Bos, P., Kellner, C., Monroe, I., et al. (2007). promoting investments forrenewable technology and biogas through carbon financing in China, Biogas Markets Asia,Singapore.

SNV (2009). Building viable domestic biogas programmes: success factors in sectordevelopment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY


Srinivas, K. R. (2009). Climate change, technology transfer and intellectual property rights. RIS-DP 153.

TCC (2008). The new insulated Ahibenso charcoal stove. An energy saving charcoal stove forthe household. Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC), KNUST, Kumasi.

Tse, M. (2000). Commercialization of RETs in Ghana: barriers and opportunities. Paperpresented at the expert/stakeholder workshop on RE in Ghana, 15-17 August.

UNEP Finance Initiative (2012). Financing RE in developing countries: drivers and barriers forprivate finance in sub-Saharan Africa.

UNEP-IETC (2003). Technology transfer: the seven Cs for the successful transfer and uptake ofenvironmentally sound technologies. Osaka, Japan.

UNEP-RISOE Centre (2011). Diffusion of RETs: case studies of enabling frameworks indeveloping countries. UNEP technology transfer perspective series

UNIDO (2002). Innovative technology transfer framework linked to trade for UNIDO Action.

UNCTAD (2011). Powering development with renewable energy technologies.

UNDP. Market development and promotion of solar concentrator based process heatapplications in India. Available: http://www.in.undp.org/content/dam/india/docs/market_development_and_promotion_of_solar_concentrators_based_project_ document.pdf,accessed 14 Oct 2017.

UNDP (2008), Mid-term evaluation report on the market transformation for highly efficientbiomass stoves for institutions and medium-scale enterprises in Kenya.

UNFCCC (2003). Ghana's climate change technology needs assessment report.

Wuddah-Martey, M. (2009). Utilization of wind energy resources in Ghana. A presentation toThe Energy Centre, KNUST.




ABPP African biogas partnershipprogramme

ADC Austrian DevelopmentCooperation

AEE-INTEC

Institute for SustainableTechnologies

AEPC Alternative Energy PromotionCentre

AESD Agricultural Engineering ServicesDirectorate

ALFA Affordable Lighting for AllANME National Agency for Energy

ConservationBSU Biogas Solutions Uganda LtdBTECH Bachelor of TechnologyCAMARTEC

Centre for AgriculturalMechanization and RuralTechnology

CBO Community Based OrganisationCEESD Centre for Energy, Environment

and Sustainable DevelopmentCSIR Centre for Scientific and

Industrial ResearchCSP Concentrated Solar PowerDANIDA Danish International

Development AgencyDGIS Netherlands Directorate-General

for International CooperationDTU Danish Technical UniversityEARE Electricity Access and Renewable

EnergyEC Energy CommissionECG Electricity Company of GhanaECOWAS

Economic Community of WestAfrican States

ECREEE ECOWAS Centre for RenewableEnergy and Energy Efficiency

EE Energy EfficiencyEIA Environmental Impact

Assessment

EPA Environmental ProtectionAgency

ESCOs Energy Service CompaniesEWV Enterprise Works/ VITAFAO Food and Agricultural

OrganisationFIT Feed-in-TariffGACC Global Alliance for Clean

CookstovesGEDAP Ghana Energy Development and

Access ProjectGEF Global Environment FacilityGhaWiPo Ghana Wind Power LtdGIPC Ghana Investment Promotion

CentreGoG Government of GhanaGTZ/GIZ

Deutsche Gesellschaft fürInternationale

GVEP Global Village EnergyPartnership

H2S Hydrogen SulfideHIVOS Humanistisch Instituut voor

OntwikkelingssamenwerkingHND Higher National DiplomaIIR Institute of Industrial ResearchIP Intellectual PropertyISCC Integrated Solar Combined-CycleISSB Interlocking Stabilized Soil BlocksKIRDI Kenya Industrial Research and

Development InstituteKITA Kumasi Institute of Tropical

AgricultureKeduaPoly

Koforidua Polytechnic

KNUST Kwame Nkrumah University ofScience and Technology

K’POLY Kumasi PolytechnicLI Legislative InstrumentMFIs Micro-Finance Institutions



MNRE India’s Ministry of New andRenewable Energy

MOAP Market Oriented AgricultureProgramme

MoTI Ministry of Trade and IndustryMOTIE Ministry of Trade, Industry and

EnergyMTES Institutions and Small and

Medium-Scale EnterprisesNGO Non-Governmental Organisation

PNB-BF National Programme ofBiodigesters of Burkina Faso

PPA Public Private AgreementPPP Public Private PartnershipProBEC Programme for Basic Energy and

ConservationPROSOL Programme SolairePURC Public Utility Regulatory

CommissionPV PhotovoltaicRE Renewable Energy

RET Renewable Energy TechnologyRETT Renewable Energy Technology

TransferRTE Rural Technology EnterprisesSADC Southern Africa Development

CooperationSESA Sustainable Energy Solutions for

AfricaSGP GEF Small Grants ProgrammeSHS Small Home SystemsSNV Netherlands Development

OrganisationSSC South-South CooperationSSD Solid State DigesterSWH Solar Water HeaterTCC Technology Consultancy CentreTDBP Tanzania Domestic Biogas

ProgrammeTEL Toyola Energy LimitedTT Technology TransferUENR University of Energy and Natural

ResourcesUNDP United Nations Development

ProgrammeUNEP United Nations Environment

ProgrammeUNICEF United Nations Children’s FundUNIDO United Nations Industrial

Development OrganisationVRA Volta River Authority



ANNEX


ANNEX A-I List of experts interviewed during field trips

S/N Date Expert Organisation Comment/specific barrier mentioned/issue raisedAcademic and research institutions

1 10/10/15 Dr. Nana SarfoAgyemangDerkyi

Univ of Energyand NaturalResources (UENR)

Regulatory RE frameworks exists but enforcement is lacking. SolarPV has great potential for TT to Ghana.

2 13/10/15 Isaac Yankey KoforiduaPolytechnic,Energy SystemsDept.

Additional barriers to RETT include poor data, gender imbalance inthe sector and inadequate financial instruments for supportinggrowth in the sector. Many gaps in current policies on RE, focussingmainly on import duties.

3 13/10/15 Faustina A.Boakye

GeoFaus Consultand Energy

Awareness creation about RET products and services is poor.Gender mainstreaming into RETT must be prioritised. Inclusion ofwomen and girls in training programmes. Women entrepreneurshipin RET should be encouraged. Raw materials and productsmanufactured in Ghana are taxed but finished products importedenjoy tax incentives. Land disputes affect large RE projectsdevelopment.

4 15/10/15 JosephAkowuah

KNUST No comment

5 15/10/15 Prof. AhmadAddo

The Energy Centre,KNUST

No comment

6 16/10/15 EbenezerNyarko Kumi

UENR No comment

7 16/10/15 Eric Essandoh UENR The project would likely unearth a lot of critical issues that arehindering the transfer of renewable energy technologies

8 18/10/15 Dr Lena DzifaMensah


Asked if project would lead to an outcome that would beimplemented.

9 19/10/15 Divine Atsu KoforiduaPolytechnic

Policies should make it mandatory for hotels to install and producehot water using solar thermal systems

10 19/10/15 EmmanuelOkohAgyemang

KoforiduaPolytechnic

If barriers are surmounted, we can deploy RE technologies in theirnumbers in Ghana. It is about time Ghana developed thesetechnologies to push forward our development agenda and develop



S/N Date Expert Organisation Comment/specific barrier mentioned/issue raisedthe energy sector. Exercise is very useful to assess where we standand the way forward.

11 19/10/15 Frimpong Baa-Poku

KoforiduaPolytechnic

No comment

12 19/10/15 Ampaw Nyarko KoforiduaPolytechnic

With the right technologies, we will be able to harness efficientenergy from our RE resources

13 21/10/15 David AtoQuansah


No comment

14 22/10/15 IshmaelEdjekumhene

KITE Existing laws and regulations are adequate. LI 1547 addressescontemporary issues in TT and is adequate.

15 22/10/15 LawrenceAmaning

Best PerformanceEng. and EnergySolutions

Awareness creation on RETs is very low. Regular stakeholdermeetings for discussions on war forward important. Policyenforcement critical. EPA should play key roles on RETT promotion.

16 02/11/15 Addo KumasiPolytechnic

No comment

17 02/11/15 Araba KumasiPolytechnic

No comment

18 19/10/15 Richard Bayitse CSIR-IIR Biogas for electricity generation is not viable in Ghana presently dueto lack of infrastructure

19 20/10/15 CidonneAkusika Klutse

KITE No comment

Companies and enterprises20 10/10/15 Prof. Fred

AkuffoAeko Solar Ltd. There is credit available in the banks but the high interest rate is the

key barrier. There should be promotion of market growth and focuson technical capacity development as well as development of highquality RETs that are globally competitive.

21 14/10/15 Dr. GeorgeNana AkwasiRockson

Zoomlion GhanaLtd.

Developmental partners and international organisations shouldchannel more support in RET to private sector relative toGovernment institutions. Government organisations are increasingget directly involved in projects execution instead of giving theopportunities to the private sector.



S/N Date Expert Organisation Comment/specific barrier mentioned/issue raised22 15/10/15 Christopher

SchandorfSV Tech Ghana Tax exemptions for imported solar water heaters (SWH) needed to

reduce upfront costs. Support in promotion of solar water heatersneeded to encourage schools, hospitals, etc. to use them. Mediainvolvement in promotion critical but currently absent. Nonetheless,the recent power crisis has led to a boost in the sector in addition toincreased electricity tariffs.

23 15/10/15 RaymondAtegbi Okrofu

Safi Sana Biogas technology has added advantages in waste management, jobcreation and health related benefits so should be promoted

24 17/10/15 PragneshMishra

Abellon CleanEnergy

Investors should be protected with effective Intellectual ProtectionRights. The patent act is strictly not followed and there are unduedelays on patent requests by the national body. Government shouldsupport the growth of RETT and development in Ghana throughincentives such as tax exemptions. There are not support systems forsuch technology development and growth in Ghana thoughconventional fuels/technologies receive tax incentives.

25 19/10/15 Mark KofiKoblah

Fortes Ghana No comment

26 19/10/15 Nana AsanteFrimpong

Solar 4 Ghana Co.Ltd. (Wonoo Ent.Ltd)

Poor consumer protection. Poor identification of households affectability of RE businesses to implement credit schemes. High interestrate is a major barrier.Clear-cut policies in the form of regulations absent. Difficult in doingbusiness outside Accra. Government Ministries must not getinvolved in business.

27 20/10/15 Kwasi Twumand JamesAwuku Kpodo

Apana Solution 1. All state institutions/public places should install biogas facilities andthis should be made a firm policy that runs through EPA, EC,MESTI, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Housing

2. There is a complete lack of policy coordination among variousgovernment agencies

3. Government should take active role in the sensitization of the publicabout biogas

28 20/10/15 Ing. BukariDanladi

VRA/NEDCo Accelerating the pace of technology transfer will enhance REdeployment in Ghana



S/N Date Expert Organisation Comment/specific barrier mentioned/issue raised29 20/10/15 Kofi Frimpong Wilkins

EngineeringLack of stable grid impedes the development of grid-connected solar

30 22/10/15 Erasmus Osei-Essah

Cookclean No comment

31 22/10/15 Victor Tradeworks No comment32 22/10/15 Desmond Tradeworks No comment33 22/10/15 John A. Idan Biogas technology

Africa limited(BTAL)

Biogas has great potential in Ghana. All challenges in RETs areopportunities.

34 22/10/15 KennethCornelius andJens Schmidt

DENG limited High cost of assembling/manufacturing RET products in Ghana.Cheaper to import from China and other countries. Standardsshould be enforced to ensure level playing field for all actors in theRE sector as current conditions favour cheap and inferior products.There are low volumes to create manufacturing plants in solartechnologies as existing regulations do not force developers to gogreen as exist in other countries. There should be fund dedicated tosupport the sector with manageable interest rates.

35 23/10/15 Charles Annan Koajay No comment36 30/10/15 Yaw Agyei Man and Man Ent No comment

International organisation and developmental partners37 14/10/15 George Ortsin UNDP GEF-SGP Current policies need revision by making it cheaper for RETT and

RET acquisition and growth. Prioritized RET sectors should includebiogas and biodiesel. Outcome of this study should be madeavailable to all.

38 15/10/15 Lovans Owusu-Takyi and IanRobinson

SNV, Ghana 1. Funding mechanism for RETs should be explored vigorously forboth consumers and project implementers

2. High import duty on cookstoves are killing the market especially forforeign brands of clean cookstoves

39 20/10/15 EmmanuelKodwo Sackey

Danish Embassy(support to privatesector dev)

Laws and policies are available but there is ambiguity and a lack ofclarity on incentives for RETs. Solar PV and off-grid wind powerhave high potential in Ghana. Objectives of LI 1547 should berevised to reflect changing trends.



S/N Date Expert Organisation Comment/specific barrier mentioned/issue raised40 20/10/15 Seena Kitami Embassy of Japan Ghana should balance its energy supply and so far RE does not seem

to be playing a major role41 23/10/15 Joshua Biliwi

MabeJICA 1. There is a disconnect between policy direction and what is actually

happening on the ground at the policy level2. Not much effort has been put into technology transfer at the policy

levelPolicy and regulatory bodies

42 16/10/15 George Brantuo,CatherineAmegashie andJohnson Panni

Agric EngineeringServicesDirectorate –MOFA

Adherence to good and standard agricultural practices will ensurethe adoption of RETs in the production and processing ofagricultural produce in Ghana

43 16/10/15 Ing. WiliamNimako

GSA 1. Ghana should adopt the Chinese experience in TT – promotevigorously and later regulate

2. Sustainability should be looked critically and must be incorporatedin the building codes of the country so as to punish defaulters

44 22/10/15 Julius Nkansah-Nyarko

EnergyCommission

No comment

45 22/10/15 Ebenezer Ashie EnergyCommission

No comment

46 23/10/15 Kwabena Out-Danquah

EnergyCommission

Initial costs are very critical. Policies are adequate for now but ECcontinues to develop more

47 23/10/15 Dr JosephEssandoh-Yeddu

EnergyCommission

Barriers differ for different technologies and are sometimesdependent on business models

48 23/10/15 Richard Adjei GIPC No comment49 23/10/15 Bridget Osei GIPC No comment50 28/10/15 Daniel Tutu

Benefor and JoyHesse Ankomah

EPA 1. Inter-ministerial ownership of RE framework and TT are disjointedbetween ministries

2. Develop market, work on access to capital, proper regulation andinstallation and maintenance regulations



S/N Date Expert Organisation Comment/specific barrier mentioned/issue raised3. Different Governmental agencies carrying out separate activities in

the same RE sector – e.g. MESTI 200 institutional biogas completelydivulged from SE4All biogas programme

ANNEX


ANNEX A-II List of participants during stakeholder consultation

SN Name Designation Organisation Email Telephone #1 Stephen Kanor-

KudayaRE Advisor GIZ [email protected] 0242570901

2 Ekow AppiahKwofie

Planning Engineer ECG [email protected] 0554215100

3 Dr. M. H. Duku Bioenergy Expert PSD [email protected] 02444496914 Kofi Ampomah-

BenefoResearch Scientist CSIR-IIR [email protected] 0244487648

5 Isaac K. Yankey Lecturer K'dua Poly [email protected] 02060028116 Felix Addo-Yobo Dep. Director NDPC [email protected]

h0505093954

7 Essel Ben Hagan Consultant UNDP/AIT [email protected] 02436061048 Bernard Modey Director Systems

OperationsGRIDCO bernard.modey@gridcog

h.com0244326035

9 Abubakar S.Salifu

PRO BXC [email protected] 0243834096

10 FrancisKemausuor

Lecturer/Fellow TEC [email protected] 0207457532

11 Ing. Seth Mahu Dep. Director MOP [email protected] 024420971012 Albert K. Sunnu Snr. Lecturer KNUST [email protected] 020815513013 Eric Osei

EssandohAsst. Lecturer UENR [email protected] 0208845136

14 Hanania Djibom RelationshipManager

FAB [email protected]

0242146178

15 Kojo Biney Exec. CommitteeMember

GREDA [email protected] k 0242786105

16 Albert Boateng Reg. Coordinator CTI PFAN [email protected] 020899182017 Edem C. Bensah Reseracher K. Poly [email protected] 024645084218 Julius Ahiekpor Snr. Lecturer K. Poly [email protected].

uk0244529589

19 Elkem Doh Project Engineer Wilkins [email protected]

0540113503

20 Frederick Ken.Appiah

PPO, Renewables EC [email protected]

0208326959

21 Kwame B. Fredua PO EPA [email protected] h 020731107022 Charles Kofi

OwusuProject Officer KITE [email protected] 0243234856

23 Raymond Okrofu Country Manager Safi Sana [email protected]

0244852397

24 Johnson Panni Dep. Director MOFA [email protected] 020817211025 Ethel Linda

MensahEIC Manager EC [email protected] 0208828295

26 Edward KofiAhiabor

MD TTF [email protected] 0243207889

27 Dr. Nana S. A.Derkyi

Head of Dept.Energy EN. Eng

UENR [email protected] 0240161157

28 Prosper A.Amuquandoh

Inspector EC [email protected] 0208597742

29 Okine Yamoah Area Engineer NEDCO jyamoah@ymail,com 0206467661

ANNEX A-II List of participants during stakeholder consultation


SN Name Designation Organisation Email Telephone #30 Lovans Owusu-

TakyiAdvisor, RE & TechTransfer F

SNV/ISEES [email protected]/[email protected]

0204208268

31 Dr. Eric OforiAntwi

Lecturer UENR [email protected]

0208812106

32 Dr. Kofi Barimah Research Director GTUC [email protected] 020813219033 Abrokwa Kofi

MichaelAsst. ProgramOfficer

EnergyCommission

[email protected]

0264783342

34 Papa Yaw OwusuObeng

Technical Officer UNDP/EC [email protected] 0279383224

35 Kwabena AgyeiDanso

Technical Officer UNDP/EC [email protected] 0206805115

36 Oforiwa Asare Project Asst. UNDP/EC [email protected] 020229269137 Eric Antwi - Agyei Project Coordinator UNDP/EC [email protected] 024456637138 Ebenezer Ashie Project Advisor SE4ALL/EC [email protected] 023388616539 Seth Adjei-Boye Infrastructure

SpecialistSwiss Embassy [email protected]

n.ch0302225008

40 Erasmus Osei-Essah

General Manager Cookclean Gh.Ltd

[email protected] 0244267978

41 Shirley Enguah Carbon Officer Cookclean Gh.Ltd

[email protected] 0206903449

ANNEX


ANNEX B Summary of projects with RETT components

RE Type Description ofprogramme/project

Sourcecountry

Impact Reason for failure or success Cost Source

Solar PV UNDP / GEFrenewable EnergyProject

Provided 2000 homeswith solar systems

Customer tariff was too low torecover operation andmaintenance cost

WorldBank(2008)93

Solar PV Spanish project Spain Supplied 10 communitieswith solar home system

Customer tariff was too low torecover operation andmaintenance cost

WorldBank(2008)

Solar batteryChargingstations

DANIDA Project Supplied 14 solar batterycharging stations

High interest loans served as adisincentive to consumers; forcustomers who managed toeventually secure the loans,repayment rate was very low

WorldBank(2008)

Improvedcookstoves(Ahibensostove)

Ministry of Mines& Energy

Ghana Provided about 30,000pieces of improvedstoves to residents ofAccra and the otherregional capitals

Programme stalled oncegovernment support ended.Also, artisan version of the stovedid not live up to theindustrialized version promoted,and was not adopted by thepotential consumer.

Off- grid PVRuralElectrification Project

Ministry ofEnergy; IsofotonSA of Spain;WilkinsEngineering ( localPartner)

Spain 1,923 solar home systems(SHS) installed; 14hospitals equipped withvaccine refrigerators andsolar lighting; 200 solarstreet lights; 48 schoolsand community centres

Provided unserved communitieswith access to modern electricenergy services.

US$ 5million50%concessionary loan and50% officialexport credit

93 Avato, P. and Coony, J. (2008). Accelerating Clean Energy Technology Research, Development, and Deployment. World Bank Working Paper No. 138,Washington D.C., USA

ANNEX B-Summary of projects with RETT components



Sourcecountry


electrified with solar PV;etc. Total installedcapacity of 261,600 kWp

fromSpanishGovernment

Gyapacookingstove

Enterprise Works/VITA ( EWV)

Kenya The manufacturing andcommercialization ofconsumer – orienteddesigned stoves thatreduce Indoor AirPollution, use less fuel,last longer and are saferthan traditional stoves

EWV trained local marketsworkers to manufacture theGyapa stoves and then linkedthem with local retail outlets;Local ceramists were also trainedto produce the stove’s ceramicliner; Over 300 jobs alreadycreated under the Gyapa stoveproject

EnterpriseWorks/Vita(2009)94

Toyola Stove Toyola EnergyLimited ( TEL)

Ghana Stove projected to reducecharcoal use, save streesand cut CO2 emissionsby 150,000 tonnes

Has provided about 200 jobs topeople; Reduced deforestationand forest degradation

Edjekumhene andCobson-cobbold(2011) 95

Solar Lanternand SolarHomeSystems

GEDAP SolarProject

Ghana To install 7500 solarlanterns and 7500 smallhome systems

Lack of well-trained installers tocater for the increasedinstallation rates of theparticipating companies; Politicalinterference; Lack of full timestaff with knowledge on solarproducts at the financialinstitutions; Customerstampering with systems;

Total cost ofproject is $4.75 million

Edjekumhene andCobson-cobbold(2011)

94 Enterprise Works/Vita, 2009. Clean Energy for Household Cooking in Ghana. Available fromhttp://www.enterpriseworks.org/display.cfm?id=3&sub=15&cont=795 Edjekumhene, I. and Cobson-cobbold, J. C. (2011). Low-Carbon Africa: Ghana. Available from christianaid.org.uk/low-carbon-africa




Sourcecountry


Companies delay in respondingto system faults and requests

Solar lantern AffordableLighting for All(ALFA ), the firstpilot under theSustainableEnergy Solutionsfor Africa (SESA)

Dutch To develop and testcommercially sustainable(non-exclusive)distribution andmarketing chains forelectric lighting productsand services in off- areas.

Training activities were carriedout for the selected localdistributors, retailers, salesagents (connectors) and creditofficers of some selected micro-finance institutions

Edjekumhene andCobson-cobbold(2011)

Biogas UNIDO BIOGASPROJECT

Korea Supporting greenindustrial developmentin Ghana: Biogastechnology and businessfor sustainable growth

On - going € 1,280,000 TheEnergyCentre,KNUST

Biogas AppoloniaHousehold BiogasProgramme

UNDP,China

A total of 19 fixed-domedigesters, including six15m3 and two 30 m3

Deenbandhu digesters,and eight 10 m3 andthree 15 m3 Chinese-dome models weredisseminated

Absence of maintenance services;Lack of operational knowledge

Bioenergy Brong Ahafo andNorthern Regions

Japan 40 MFPs installed inNorthern and BrongAhafo Regions, 12individual and 11 groupentrepreneurs trained, 15artisans trained and 8tooled, 3 CBOs trained tosupport furtherdeployment of MFPs, etc.

Challenges with continuoussupply of fuel

KITEProjectCatalogue



ANNEX


ANNEX C Appolonia biogas programmes

BackgroundAppolonia96, a cattle-rearing rural community inthe eastern plains of Accra, was chosen for pilotand demonstration programmes in the earlyyears of biogas development in Ghana. Twoprojects were piloted by the Ministry of Energy(MoE)97:– construction of nineteen fixed-dome

digesters for cooking by selected householdsin 1986, and

– construction of ten 50 m3 digester system for electricity generation for 15 streetlights andsmall load appliances for 21 households, five social/community centres and a school in1992. The cost of investment was USD 2,700 and the annual maintenance cost was aboutUSD 2,30098.

96 Appolonia is currently engulfed by real estate development owing to expansion of housing infrastructure fromAccra.97 Bensah, E. C. and A. Brew-Hammond, 2012, “Technical Evaluation and Standardization of Biogas Plants inGhana,” Lambert Academic Publishing, ISBN 978-3-8484-0102-4.98 Boakye F.A 2008. Sustainability of alternative energy resources for Ghanaian women: a case study of theAppolonia biogas project. Master of Professional Studies in International Development, Faculty of the GraduateSchool of Cornell University.

Biogasdigesters

Compostpit

Gas holder

Farms

Humanexcreta

Cow dung

Gen set

Local grid

Researchlab

Socialcentres

School(JSS)

Streetlights

Households

Biogas Electricity



The design and engineering of the digesters were performed by experts from the MoE, CSIR-IIR and other organizations who had benefited from training programmes at the BRTC inChingdu, under a cooperation agreement between Ghana and China. Technicians/caretakerswere trained to manage the facility, with beneficiary households expected to contributemonthly fees to support the Ministry in paying for operational and maintenance costs. Forthe biogas systems, beneficiary households provided huts for the stoves and other accessories.

Project benefitsThe construction of the system was supported by community members who providedunskilled labour in the form of supply of water for women and excavation and otherconstruction activities by the men. The project functioned satisfactorily and delivered energyto the rural folks in the first four years as gas generated from domestic plants was used forcooking food, reducing the work involved in firewood gathering while improving their healththrough reduction in in-door pollution. Power from the community plant provided streetlighting and lighting in the homes and the school while solar PV system integrated into theproject provided power to the plant during the day. The bioslurry was applied to the farmsof some farmers and hygiene improved due to the use of well-engineered latrines for efficientcollection of human waste in the digesters for biogas generation.

ChallengesMany challenges arose with both systems which eventually led to their collapse. Theelectrification project experienced several setbacks related to feedstock for digesters owing todrudgery involved in collecting dung from kraals that were about half to three-quarters of amile from the plant, maintenance, and uncooperative attitude of some of the inhabitants99.Fulani herdsmen prevent women from collecting dung due to the belief that the presence ofmenstruating women affected milk production by the cows. After a while, the slurry werealso being left unused due to transport challenges and drudgery involved. In addition, therewere socio-cultural challenges with the collection and use of digested faecal material from theplant for agricultural activities.

The project faced ownership problems as all costs were borne by government or donors.Occasionally, dung was purchased or obtained by the Ministry from Fulani herdsmen for thedigesters (Boakye, 2008). Maintenance worsened as many households failed to pay monthlyfees for caretakers of the community plant. The feeding challenges necessitated women to getinvolved in dung collection and feeding of the plant, a task that was the responsibility ofmen/caretakers. In some cases, diesel was purchased and used to feed the generators forpower at high costs to government. The plant was completely abandoned when grid

99 Bensah E. C., Brew-Hammond A. (2010). Biogas technology dissemination in Ghana: history, current status,future prospects, and policy implications. International Journal on Energy and Environment, Volume 1, Issue 2; pp.277 – 294.



electricity was extended to Appolonia under the rural electrification programme in the late2000.

ConclusionThough, the project developers ensured effective dialogue with community members andinputs from the people were considered in the project framework, the ownership issue wasnot properly addressed. Moreover, the district assembly and community were not adequatelyinvolved in the implementation. Difficulties in project operation created low morale and lackof enthusiasm and commitment among the members. No communal spirit needed for generalmaintenance was present. Women were also not involved adequately in decision making.

(a) (b)(a) Remains of a 10 m3 fixed dome plant at Appolonia; (b) Remains of a 15 m3 fixed domeplant at Appolonia; Source: Edem Bensah

ANNEX


ANNEX D Anaerobic waste treatment plant at HPW Fresh & Dry Ltd:building know-how the hard way

BackgroundHPW Fresh & Dry Ltd. is a company located at Adeiso (Eastern Region) that produces fruitjuice from mainly mangoes and pineapples. About 20-25 tonnes/day of fruits are processed,generating about 10 ton/day of mango peels and pits as well as pineapple peels, cores andcrowns. In 2011, the company presided over the construction of two anaerobic digestionplants with total capacity of a 900 m3 to treat its waste, with technical support from a Swisstechnician and Biogas Engineering Ltd. in Ghana. The digesters are two stirred tankdigesters of 450 m3 each, heated with waste heat from the process plant and maintained at38 0C. The gas generated, having a 52-53% methane content, falls between 800-1000 m3 perday, is stored in four balloon gasholders, which are connected to a 150 kVA generator.Occasionally, poultry manure is added to improve the digestion process and methanefraction in the gas.

Project benefitsThe gas is able to generate about 50 kW of power or used in process steam generation whichreduces the company’s operational costs. The plant has improved hygienic conditions at theplant and the slurry from the digesters is applied on the company’s farms.

ChallengesInadequate gas volumes, low methane content as well as other factors have led to efficienciesin power generation and the company is planning to use the gas only for process steamgeneration. The company has struggled to find use for large volumes of digested slurrygenerated daily from the digesters. The introduction of the liquid fertilizer to local farmersdid not yield much interest and the company resorted to using it on their own farms.

ConclusionThe company has gained considerable knowledge, skills and know-how by initiating andsupervising the design and construction of its own digesters, as well as operation andmaintenance. This is a success story of industrial anaerobic digestion in Ghana where thecommitment and perseverance led to acquisition of know-how in digester installation andoperation, resulting in considerable reduction in investment cost.

ANNEX C Anaerobic waste treatment plant at HPW Fresh & Dry Ltd: building know-how thehard way


ANNEX


ANNEX E Tunisia: SWH programme – Programme Solaire (PROSOL)

BackgroundIn Tunisia, policies on solar water heater were introduced as far back as the 80s. However, mostprogrammes introduced failed due to quality issues, lack of incentives, poor maintenance andfollow-up services. In 1996, the GEF funded a successful SWH project that helped create anenabling environment for growth in the sector. The project led to an increase in SWHpenetration through awareness creation, capacity building, and introduction of incentives.However, challenges were still encountered in technology reliability, financing challenges, andthe high investment cost.

To consolidate on the achievement of the GEF-funded project, Programme Solaire (PROSOL)was introduced in 2005 by the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Small and Middle SizeEnterprises, the National Agency for Energy Conservation (ANME), and UNEP, withadditional support from the Italian government. International support was mainly used at theinitial stages to build capacity of stakeholders along the value chain – manufactures andsuppliers, financial institutions, consumers, etc.

Key interventionsPROSOL introduced several interventions to tackle the barriers encountered as follows:

Leadership, coordination and management by ANME; Technical training for installers and suppliers as well as quality control involving

certification of products as well as follow-up services and maintenance Provision of 20% subsidy to offset part of the initial cost of installation and interest rate

subsidy for consumers with credit payment spread in five years (2005-2006); Direct lending to end-users with loan guaranteed by the utility company (2007-2012); Targeted and continuous awareness programme for consumers (households), financial

sector, and regulatory/governmental bodies; in the case of banks, concessionary loanswere offered making the technology affordable by reducing upfront costs.

End-users are able to have installations through a credit scheme from the Tunisian electricityfirm, freeing them from the high upfront cost and allowing them to repay through monthlybills.

OutputBy the end of 2010, PROSOL resulted in an increase in the capacity of installations from about7,000 to over 80,000 m2; moreover, the total collector surface area had increased by over 400%,resulting in a market for seven manufacturers, over 40 suppliers, and over 400 active

ANNEX E Tunisia: SWH programme – Programme Solaire (PROSOL)


installers100. New jobs created were estimated at about 3000 and the net financial gain wasfound to be far higher than the investment from government and other partners into theprogramme101.

LessonsThe major drivers for SWH interventions include energy security, reduced demand on gridelectricity and job creation. Incentives were included to create interest in SWH technologiesuntil commercial viability are achieved. Favourable factors about PROSOL included theavailability of 20% subsidy on cost of SWH installations, flexible loans available to residentialcustomers and simple administrative procedures. Financing mechanisms for SWH focused oncredit-based market as opposed to cash-based one for consumers without capital to pay for theupfront cost. The financial arrangement allows the payment of several thousands of loans in amore reliable and efficient manner.

Another important factor for the success of the Tunisian programme involved the participationof developmental partners such as UNEP, which provided advisory support – financial,logistical, managerial, and monitoring and evaluation. Further, manufacturers and installersare well trained and certified which ensure delivery of standard services. This programmesuccess has caused the government to extend it to the end of 2016.

100 IRENA (2015), Africa 2030: Roadmap for a Renewable Energy Future. IRENA, Abu Dhabi101Climate Policy Initiative (2012). San Giorgio Group Case Study: Prosol Tunisia.http://climatepolicyinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Prosol-Tunisia-SGG-Case-Study.pdf

ANNEX


ANNEX F Biogas support programme of Nepal

BackgroundIn Nepal, interest in biogas programmes began around 1975 as a result of direct involvement ofthe government through the provision of interest free loans to end users (Sigwal, 1999). Furthersupport was obtained from Nepal’s Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) which financedtraining and sensitisation initiatives and supported the establishment of Gobar Gas Company(GGC) in 1977 to spearhead technology development and awareness creation (GTZ, 1999a).

Biogas programmes however received its greatest boost when Nepal was selected by theNetherlands Development Organisation (SNV) as one of SNV’s focal countries in 1988, and as aresult received technical, training and other support. Several biogas models were tested in theearly days of Nepal’s programme including Chines fixed dome and floating drum digesters.However, the standardized, concrete-based fixed dome (GGC 2047) has been the main type ofdigester promoted over the years, coming in volumes ranging from 4 to 50 m3 (GGC/BSP, 1994).

In addition, organisations such as FAO, UNICEF supported the biogas industry in training,skills development, information sharing and awareness creation (CES/IOE, 2000). FAOsupported the development of a manual on biogas technology using experts from Nepal, Chinaand other countries. It further trained stakeholders from sectors such as forestry, agriculture,soil conservation, wildlife and banks, as a means to creating awareness and providingbackground information for the promotion and facilitation of biogas extension activities at thedistrict level.

Activities and strategiesIn 2002, the Biogas Support Programme (BSP), a comprehensive and ambitious biogasdissemination project that helped transform the industry was initiated with financial supportfrom Netherlands Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS). Before the BSP,GGC was the only entity providing services in the industry while the ADB was the onlyinstitution supporting biogas farmers with loans. The BSP introduced flexible financialarrangements including subsidy schemes to ensure rural folks are able to afford the cost ofinstallations, leading to the installation of about 25,000 digesters yearly (GTZ, 1999A). Qualitycontrol measures were also introduced. The focus of biogas programmes has been on smalldigesters for rural cattle farmers. By 2004, over 140,000 plants have been installed involving over11,000 workforce (Bajgain and Shakya, 2005). The involvement of SNV was gradually reducedto advisory services and the BSP was transformed into an independent institute called BiogasSector Partnership – Nepal (BSP-N).

ANNEX F Biogas support programme of Nepal


OutputsBy 2008, over 60 biogasconstruction companies, about 15qualified local appliancemanufacturing workshops, andover 120 Micro-Finance Institutions (MFIs) supported biogas farmers with loans, and about 30local and international NGOs provided various services in the biogas sector (SNV, 2009).

ANNEX


Annex G Questionnaire for data collection on barriers to RETT (for private companies)102

Identification of Barriers to RenewableEnergy Technology Transfer to GhanaQuestionnaire For Companies/enterprises

Date

Contact informationName of company

Location of company

Name of respondent

Position/office

Phone number Email:

Renewable Energy Technology Transfer (RETT)

Note: RETT comprises the following: exchange of proprietary knowledge, know-how,organizational practices, technical artefacts, tools, machinery and components in anyaspect of renewable energy (solar, wind, bioenergy, small-hydro, etc.)

1. Has your institution/unit been involved in any RETT or RE dissemination, in-country or cross-country?

☐ Yes ☐ No

If No, please do not continue. Thank you very much for your time!2. In which RE areas has your company received technology transfer support? Also

provide the source of the RETT in the Table below.

RE technology Type of RETT Year acquired Country of origin Outcome/remarksE.g. (solar waterheater)

Fabrication 2012 China Successful

102 Note: Similar questionnaire were also prepared for other groups – Academic and research organisations, policyand regulatory bodies, developmental partners, and financial institutions.

Annex G Questionnaire for data collection on barriers to RETT


Note: Examples of renewable energy (RE) applications/technologies are listed below: Solar energy: solar photovoltaic, solar dryer, solar water heater, solar water pumping, etc. Bioenergy: biogas, biodiesel, bioethanol, briquette, biomass pellets, etc. Wind energy: wind turbine, etc. Energy efficiency: biomass cookstoves, charcoal kilns, etc. Small/mini-hydro: turbines, etc.3. What are the major challenges/problems your company/enterprise is facing?

B. Partnerships with external institutionsDoes your company have any collaboration with any RE-based organisation in/outside Ghana☐ Yes ☐ NoIf yes, kindly complete the table below

Name of organisation Location Specific areas of partnership

Barriers to Technology transfer4. Rank the barriers to RETT in Ghana based on their level of importance:

1 – very important, 2 – important, 3 – not important(Please leave blank if you have no idea of a particular barrier)

Barriers RankEconomic and financial barriers

i. High initial costii. Insufficient incentivesiii. Subsidies on conventional technologies (e.g. subsidy on grid

electricity)iv. Low feed-in-tariff/electricity tariffv. High interest ratesvi. Lack of consumer financing optionsvii. Operation/maintenance costsviii. Limited access to capitalix. Unstable currency

Market barriersx. Under-developed supply channelsxi. Small market sizexii. Unstable market situation



xiii. Failed past experience/project/technologyxiv. Lack of successful reference projects in the countryxv. The RET is not important for our needs

Policy, legal and regulatory barriersxvi. Insufficient legal and regulatory frameworkxvii. Lack of enforcementxviii. Unfavourable policiesxix. Political willxx. Political interferencexxi. Problems in land acquisitionxxii. Challenges with license acquisitionxxiii. Administrative hurdles (in developing RETT contracts, clearances,

licensing, etc.)xxiv. Corruptionxxv. Intellectual property rightsxxvi. Inadequate RE codes and standards

Technical barriersxxvii. Difficulty in getting equipment and spare partsxxviii. Immature technologyxxix. Poor operation and maintenance facilitiesxxx. Inadequate standards, codes and certificationxxxi. New technology is too complicatedxxxii. Lack of infrastructure facilities (please specify)

Network barrierxxxiii. Weak connections between stakeholders promoting the new

technologyxxxiv. Strong networks of conventional technologies favoured by

legislationxxxv. Difficult access to external manufacturers/institutionsxxxvi. Lack of involvement of stakeholders in decision-makingxxxvii. Weak network between foreign institutions and local ones

Human skills barrierxxxviii. Lack of skilled personnel for manufacturing and installationxxxix. Lack of skilled personnel for preparing projects

xl. Lack of service and maintenance specialistsxli. Inadequate training facilities

Socio-cultural barriersxlii. Lack of interest in shifting from conventional energy to RE (sticking

to the status-quo)xliii. Consumer preferences and social biasesxliv. Lack of confidence in new technologiesxlv. Dispersed/widely distributed settlements



xlvi. Lack of understanding of local needsxlvii. Fear of failure

Information and awarenessxlviii. Poor or lack of information about costs and benefits RETsxlix. Media not interested in RET promotion

Other barriers (please specify)l.li.lii.

D. Overall ranking of barriers to RETT5. Please rank the barriers as grouped in the table below based on their importance:

1 – very important, 2 – important – not importantBarrier Rank

Economic and financial barriers

Market barriers

Policy, legal and regulatory barriers

Technical barriers

Network barriers

Human skills barriers

Socio-cultural barriers

Information and awareness

E. Ghana’s Technology Transfer Regulations, 1992 (LI 1547)6. Are existing regulation and laws adequate to promoting RETT in Ghana?

☐ Yes ☐ No7. If No, can you give reasons?

8. Are you aware of Ghana’s Technology Transfer Regulations, 1992 (LI 1547)?☐ Yes ☐ No

9. Does the current policy in technology transfer need revision?☐ Yes ☐ No

10. If yes can you specify which areas need revision?



11. What should be incorporated for it to address contemporary issues on technology transferin Ghana?

F. Please give your final comments, remarks and observations

Identification of barriers to renewable energy technology ... to Renewable Energy Technology... · CONTENTS ii Identification of barriers to renewable energy technology transfer to

Documents