KEY POINTS
- Ghana launched a $182 million energy plan to cut electricity waste in public institutions nationwide.
- The GIZ-backed PF-SEAP initiative targets 1,170 facilities with solar and efficiency technologies.
- The programme is projected to generate over GH¢2.57 billion in retained earnings from electricity savings.
Ghana’s public institutions are among the biggest electricity consumers in the country. The government has decided that needs to change.
A $182 million strategic energy plan was officially launched in Accra last Friday, targeting ministries, departments and agencies that collectively place a significant and often unmanaged burden on the national grid. The plan is called the Public Facility Sustainable Energy Action Plan, known as PF-SEAP, and it is backed by the German Development Cooperation through GIZ.
The numbers are stark. Streetlights alone consume about 350 megawatts of power. Public offices have accumulated electricity arrears that threaten the financial stability of the entire energy sector. The initiative is the government’s clearest attempt yet to bring discipline to that problem.
What the plan actually does
PF-SEAP is not a single project. It is a coordinated roadmap spanning solar photovoltaic installations, LED lighting upgrades, improved cooling systems and energy monitoring across public buildings, water pumping stations and wastewater treatment facilities. The target is 1,170 public facilities equipped with solar energy systems, with support for 2,500 additional facilities to improve how they use power.
When fully implemented, the initiative is projected to generate more than GH¢2.57 billion in retained earnings through electricity savings. That is money that would otherwise leave the public sector through utility bills.
Deputy Minister of Energy and Green Transition Richard Gyan-Mensah said the plan delivers a roadmap for reducing operational energy costs and promoting accountability across government. He added that the migration of public institutions to prepaid metering systems and the disconnection of non-paying offices were already underway as preparatory measures.
Oversight built into the structure
An 18-member Institutional Technical Committee was inaugurated at the launch to oversee implementation. It brings together representatives from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, the Electricity Company of Ghana, the Public Procurement Authority, the Environmental Protection Agency and several other bodies.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission Adwoa Serwaa Bondzie described PF-SEAP as an economic, environmental and fiscal intervention, not just an energy programme. She said reducing wasteful consumption would free up public resources for health, education and infrastructure, and that the plan would run alongside rooftop solar deployment programmes already in progress across the country.
