According to Mr Odjobi Kwakye, Project Manager for the Renewable Energy Development and Acceleration Project (REDAP), the worldwide renewable energy industry, which is now valued at over $928 billion, is predicted to surpass $1.5 trillion by 2025.
He said that this created a big potential for the country’s renewable energy industry to capitalize on. He stated that in order for Ghanaian renewable energy enterprises to take advantage of this opportunity, they must cooperate with banking institutions for financial support.
“Generating energy from renewable sources necessitates massive investments, which necessitates financial institutions injecting additional money into the industry,” he explained.
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He argued that simply increasing the capacity of renewable energy companies, developing market links, and raising awareness and demand for renewable energy technology would not be enough to promote the expansion of these businesses.
Rather, he believes that providing money, investing in end-user financing, and developing a collaborative support structure with key players in the renewable energy ecosystem are all critical to the sector’s growth.
Importance of financial institutions
On his part, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Rural Development Fund (RDF), Mr Sampson Asumadu, underlined the importance of financial institutions in partnering renewable energy companies to provide the needed financial support to them.
He said RDF Ghana seeks to continuously promote financial access to the agriculture and renewable energy sectors through product offerings including lines of credit, credit guarantees and technical assistance.
He emphasized the importance of REDAP to the growth of RDF in the renewable energy space, stating that “the lessons learnt from this one-year project would be used to inform our approach as it enhances our understanding of the renewable energy landscape.”
Highlights of project
Presenting some of the key highlights of REDAP, the , Energy Advisor at SNV Ghana, Mr Aaron Nyarkotey said a total of 9,829 households received Improved Cook Stoves (ICS) as part of the project, whilst 333 end-users adopted solar energy systems. He also shared some lessons learnt during the roll-out period of the project in the area of developing and making renewable energy enterprises investment-ready.
He said organizational restructuring, financial reporting and audit services, regulatory compliance and business model development and commercialization were among the key needs to be addressed to make renewable energy enterprises prepared and ready for investments.
REDAP
The Renewable Energy Development and Acceleration Project (REDAP), is a year-long support programme rolled out by SNV Netherlands Development Organization with funding support from the Rural Development Fund (RDF). The project had a primary goal to facilitate the growth of energy businesses and sustainable energy services. In all, 16 micro, small, and medium enterprises in the renewable energy space benefitted from the project.
They include Solar Taxi, Tradeworks, Synergy Recycle, and Northlite Solar Ltd. Others are Comeph & Associates, SETECH, Bidipa, Zuriel Carbon Products, Global Bamboo Products, Gamma Energie, Nassam Brand, Translight Solar, Wen Neon, Pumptech, Nasag Lach, and Beta Construction Engineers, all operating in the renewable energy space.
Among its objectives, the project sought to improve access to efficient and suitable finance for sustainable energy businesses, build a pipeline of viable and sustainable energy MSMEs through business and market development support, and increase demand for sustainable energy services.
In pursuit of the project goal and objectives, the project implementers partnered some selected private financial institutions, as well as national research, regulatory, licensing and certification institutions to train and mentor participating MSMEs in the renewable energy space in effective and sustainable business management practices and national regulatory requirements.
Business matchmaking and market linkages interventions yielded three signed contracts for Northlite Solar Limited: 120kWp PV lease project at a cost of $280,250, 100kWp PV lease project at a cost of $234,000, and 20kWp PV lease project at a cost of GHS316,000 respectively.
