Gotland University

Project report
Wind Power Planning

The State Of Wind Power In Ghana

By

Gabriel Kofi Nzulu

Accra, Ghana
July 2009

Supervisors
Måns Hagberg, Gunilla Britse
*

Examiner
Gunilla Britse at Gotland University, Sweden
 Executive Summary

Wind energy which is the energy obtained from wind and converted into useful forms such as
electricity by using wind turbine is plentiful, renewable, and clean and reduces greenhouse
emissions.

In Ghana, wind power is being developed to help provide rural communities with electricity.
The effort is led by two non-profit organizations, Enterprise Works Ghana and Rural Energy
and Environment Systems. The project leaders used local expertise and materials and hope to
enhance energy generation and at the same time creating a form of employment for the local
artisans.

The provision of electricity to some villages in Ghana has been a problem since time
memorial and there are a lot of communities in the country that are not connected to the
national electricity grid. Most schools, hospitals, businesses and other institutions depend on
the government for their main source of energy, but the national electrification grid is very far
from such places. The high cost of connecting off-grid communities, coupled with the long
list of villages waiting to be served gives an indication that it will take a pretty long time for
all small villages in Ghana to be connected.

The installation of a locally made wind turbine in very few communities especially in the
Volta region of Ghana has changed the current situation and it is anticipated that about 48%
of rural communities would be connected in Ghana by installing wind turbines there so as to
provide them with the necessary electricity. Currently the installed wind turbines are
providing power to households and farms in nearby communities. The World Bank with a
funded programme called fighting ‘‘Poverty’’ is encouraging a private sector on wind
generated energy to be set up. The sector will work with locally skilled artisans to develop
simple turbines.

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Preface

The completion of this report has been through the effort and support of many people. First of
all I will like to thank my supervisors Gunilla Britse and Måns Hagberg for given me the
opportunity to work on this topic. You were a source of motivation for me and all that I
needed. The online courses here in Gotland are much involving and I really appreciate it as it
involves individual learning and research. I have come to learn a lot of things and I also
appreciate how the whole course is organized and the feedback of teachers on the individual
assignments.
I am indebted to my wife Martha and children Egil and Gabriella for their support in prayer,
love and confidence. I know it has not been very easy for you in the last few months but
thanks to God for the strength.
I am also indebted to my colleagues here at Goteborg University such as Richard Boakye,
Frank and Alfred. To all my colleagues who were part of this course.
To my friends Seth Mahu and Ambeilang Johnson back home in Ghana who gave me all the
necessary information I needed for this report.
I also thank all friends, lecturers and loved ones that I met here during this short period of
studies.
The last and not the least to my entire family back home in Ghana and in Germany. I say a big
thanks to you all. I dedicate this to all and sundry.

Date: 2009-08-19 Place: Accra, Ghana

Name: Gabriel Kofi Nzulu Signature: …………..

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Table of Content

Chapter Page

1. Introduction
1.1 The main concept behind the project 5
1.1.1 Energy Transformation in Ghana 5
1.1.2 Energy and Population Growth 5
1.1.3 The Consideration for Wind Power 6
1.2 Energy from Wind 7
1.3 Wind Resources in Ghana 7
1.4 Climate Description 9
1.5 Site Access 9
1.6 National Wind Policy 10

2. Turbine Construction and Installation

2.1 Description of the wind turbine 10
2.2 Training 10
2.3 Materials and Construction 11
2.4 Mounting the turbine 12

3. Benefits from the project

3.1 Environmental Benefits 13
3.2 Economic Benefits 13
3.3 Social Benefits 14
3.4 Employment Benefits 14

4. Environmental concern 14

5. Conclusion 15

References 16

Appendix 1 17

Appendix 2 18

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
1 Introduction

1.1 The main concept behind the project

1.1.1 Energy Transformation in Ghana

Ghana which is one of the developing countries has about most of its energy coming from
biofuels. This bioenergy which is mostly used for cooking and heating is very commonly used
in the villages and cottage industries. The economic growth of Ghana depends on the
availability and supply of energy. Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is a clean alternative to
wood has now been realized and used by most part of Ghana. LPG which is a byproduct of
crude oil refining and represents compressed hydrocarbon gas such as butane and propane is
very clean, safe and efficient way of generating heat since it does not produce smoke and has
low pollutant emission which dangers the lives of children and women. It is portable as it is
easily liquefied and stored in pressured containers. It also has multiple uses; thus it contributes
to improving community life, health and can generate income at community level. LPG emits
less CO2 when burned than either coal or oil.

Wind energy which is the energy obtained from wind and converted into useful forms such as
electricity by using wind turbine is plentiful, renewable, and clean and reduces greenhouse
emissions. In Ghana, wind power is being developed to help provide rural communities with
electricity. The effort is led by two non-profit organizations, Enterprise Works Ghana and
Rural Energy and Environment Systems. The project leaders used local expertise and
materials and hope to enhance energy generation and at the same time creating a form of
employment for the local artisans [1,2].

1.1.2 Electricity and Population Growth

It is known that about 30% of our energy is from hydropower there are four power stations
with a total installed generation capacity of about 1,778 MW.

Table 1. Total Generation Installed Capacity

Power Station Akosombo Kpone Takoradi Tema Diesel

Hydroelectric Hydroelectric Thermal Power Power Plant
Power Plant Plant
Total generation 1038 160 550 30

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Capacity (MW)

The average electricity customer in Ghana uses about 350kWh annually and this differs
largely from industrial users and residential users as well as between urban and rural users.
Due to the increasing population growth, there is the need to promote industrialization and as
such the energy situation need to increase to meet the demand. Electricity consumption in
Ghana has been growing from 10 to 15% per annum for the last two decades and it expected
to increase by 6% per year and by 2010 electricity consumption is expected to reach 9,300
GWh [1].

Also considering the constitution of the republic of Ghana, it is the duty of the central
government to provide, manage and control the power usage throughout the country (for
domestic and industrial purposes). Sometime ago, this law was changed and it brought about a
lot of problems for law making bodies at the sub regional districts and Zonal to cope. The
government then encouraged the private sector participation in order to meet the demand of
adequate and regular supply of Power to the people of Ghana which must also affordable by
all.

There are four electric utilities in Ghana, namely VRA, ECG, NED and TICO. The Public
Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) and the Energy Commission (EC) are two
government agencies that regulate the utilities for the public use rather than private interests.
The PURC is an independent body with primary responsibility for setting the tariffs that
utilities charge their customers. The EC on the other hand is tasked with licensing and
regulating the technical operations of the utilities. Both regulatory agencies also ensure fair
competition in the power market, enforce standards of performance for the provision of
services to customers and protect both customers and utility interests.

1.1.3 The Consideration for Wind Power

Wind power was not much known in Ghana due to lack of technology. However since the
provision of electricity to all parts of the country became impossible, the need arose for other
technologies to be developed as such Enterprise Works Ghana in collaboration with Rural
Energy and Environment System with funding from the World Bank took up wind power
project[2]. This report will highlight on the Ghana’s consideration for wind power as means
of maintaining sustainability and here we will describe the efforts made in installing small
wind turbines in one of the remote places in the country. This project will give the overview
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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
of the wind resources in Ghana, the climate, and how the Enterprise Works Ghana, an
organization with local craftsmen is working hard to install wind turbines in theses remote
areas. The project will sought to look at the organizations that are encouraging wind power
development in Ghana such as the ministry of Energy, the energy commission, the energy
foundation and Enterprise Works and also look at the plans for wind power in Ghana. The
World Bank with a funded programme called fighting ‘‘Poverty’’ is encouraging private
sectors on wind generated energy to be set up and the aim is to work with locally skilled
artisans to develop simple turbines to help solve the energy crisis in the country. We will also
discuss the factors that have brought about the promotion of windpower in Ghana as well as
the wind atlas of Ghana. We will look at the different types of small wind turbines that have
been installed in some part of the country like the Piggott and Bergey types. We will also
consider some environmental benefits and importance of the wind power development and the
promotion of wind power in Ghana.

1.2 Energy from Wind

Wind energy is clean, plentiful, widely distributed, reduces toxic atmospheric and greenhouse
gas emission and thus can be used to replace fossil fuels. Due mainly to modern technology
the generation and maintenance costs have decreased. It is suitable for the rural areas where
wind is common. Where there is no electric grid, it can be limited to small generator size
which is built with many towers with expensive energy storage. It is climate dependent and
can easily cause damage to equipment during windstorms. It creates noise and the long towers
can easily kills birds when they come in contact [3,4]. One major drawback is its intermittent
availability as it produces only part of the total percentage of its peak capacity when averaged
over a year and as such it requires backup for other windless days. For a large-scale wind,
there is the need to have a good capital in order to both build the wind-powered turbines and
backup facilities.

1.3 Wind Resources in Ghana

There have been seven wind power classifications which are based on ranges of wind power
density for the map of Ghana and these were defined depending on the utility-scale
applications (poor to excellent). Studies show that, locations with an annual average wind

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
resource greater than 400 W/m2 (or about 7.0 m/s) at 50 m above ground are the most suitable
for utility-scale applications.
It is estimated that there are 413 km2 of these areas with good-to-excellent wind resource
potential in Ghana, and these windy areas are known to represent 0.2% of Ghana’s total land
area of 230,940 km2. If it is assumed that there is an average power of 5 MW per km2, then it
is conspicuous to say that this windy area could support more than 2,000 MW of potential
installed wind capacity. By considering other moderate wind resource potential areas, then the
estimated total windy area is calculated to be 1,128 km2 which represent about 0.5% of
Ghana’s total area and is capable of supporting more than 5,600 MW of installed capacity.
The analysis show that the best surface wind measurement data for the Ghana wind
assessment and validation efforts were all from coastal areas of Ghana and this is why the two
airport stations and the 10 EC measurement stations with 12-m anemometer heights were
located in coastal areas [5].

Fig. 1a map of Ghana

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Table 2. Wind Power Classification in Ghana

Wind power class Resource potential Wind power density Wind Speed at 50m
at 50m W/m2 m/s
1 Poor 0 – 200 0 – 6.2
2 Marginal 200 – 300 6.2 – 7.1
3 Moderate 300 – 400 7.1 – 7.8
4 Good 400 – 500 7.8 – 8.4
5 Excellent 500 – 600 8.4 – 9.0
6 600 – 800 9.0 - 9.9
7 >800 >9.9

1.4 Climate Description

Ghana has a tropical climate with the temperature varying with season and elevation. The
country has two rainy seasons; one from April to July and the other from September to
November. The average temperatures range between 20 and 32 degrees Celsius with relative
humidity lying between 50% and 80% while the annual rainfall is between 83cm and 222cm.
The harmattan season which is a dry desert wind, blows from the northeast; begins in
December and ends in March, lowering the humidity and creating hot days and cool nights in
the north. In the southern part of Ghana, the effects of the harmattan are felt in January. In
most part of the country, the highest temperatures occur in March, the lowest in August. Some
part of the country are noted as windy areas especially places along the coastal zones, forest
reserves, mountains (most of the mountainous regions in Ghana are windy) and are therefore
considered as potential sources for wind power generation. This makes most of the
communities around these regions to experience some form of wind [6].

1.5 Site Access

In Ghana, most of the roads leading to villages and some remote areas have not been the best.
There are un-tarred roads, footpaths and small paths for motor and cycles in these
communities and these have caused problems to farmers as well as traders in such places and
these can disrupt the movement of equipments/tools to reach the site. There will be the need

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
to level, widen and realigned the roads to the site in order to facilitate transport of equipment
to and from the site.

1.6 National Wind Policy

In Ghana the government’s main objective is to provide a clean and safe energy system for
the country. The World Bank is engaged in the Ghanaian energy sector in assisting the
Government in achieving its poverty reduction agenda and for energy interventions in various
sectors such as Power sector reform, Petroleum sector reform, cross-border electricity and gas
interconnections as well as the Energy and economic growth in rural areas in Ghana. Wind
power development in Ghana is very new and the government has not yet set up any policy
for that; however the renewable energy policies apply to that of windpower.
The Ministry of Energy is responsible for the broad policy direction of the electricity Industry
whiles the Energy Commission is in charge of indicating national planning, licensing of
electricity and the Energy Foundation which is a nongovernmental organisation works along
in implementing strategies. The ministry has set up rules and regulations which are meant to
govern operations of the sector in terms of unclear tariff setting criteria and random tariff
setting regime; lack of transparency in market access and an unformulated government policy
on measures for assisting/encouraging investors in mitigating the risks posed by the
unfavourable investment climate.

2 Turbine Construction and Installation

2.1 Description of the wind turbine

The wind turbines that have been so far developed in Ghana are of the Piggott and Bergeys
with 18 m guyed towers.
Table 3. Turbine Classification
Model Tower Height Nominal Power
Piggott 18m 800W
Bergey 18m 600 W

2.2 Training

Due mainly to the fact that wind power technology is new in Ghana, some form education is
needed to equip the craftsmen and technicians in the design, construction, installation, and

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
operation of wind energy-generation in order to have a clear understanding about the turbine
by showing video clips about the design. Most of the parts were bought from the local
markets [2, 6].

Fig. 2a. Showing the training course for the local craftsmen

2.3 Materials and Construction

The materials for the development of the turbines are readily available in the local markets
including automotive wheel bearing and axles that can be recycled and adapted to the desired
form and the turbine blades would designed from the Emory timber. The only imported
material would be the high – strength magnets which would be from China. The turbine
blades are carved from a smooth, lightweight, closed-grain timber which is known as Emory
and they were also be given training on how the blades can be assembly [2]. The battery
voltages were displayed by using multi-meters on the push of a button and this technique is
very much cost effective and this can also give accurate readings without exhausting the
battery in the meter. Most of the parts were bought from the local markets in Ghana [2, 6].

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Fig. 2b. Checking the blade assembly of the turbine. Fig. 2c. The controller for the windmill

Fig. 2d. Assembling the blades Fig. 2e. Rectifier housing

The rectifier housing consists of a domestic twin socket-outlet box which is very cost-
effective, but needed to be waterproof using silicon material which is very expensive in
Ghana. A small section of pipe was welded onto the top of the yaw bearing as a cable guide
for the wires down the tower. The wires were wrapped over the guide and tied on with wire
ties.

2.4 Mounting the turbine

After going through all the trainings a test was made and the organizers decided to mount one
turbine to see how the operation will be and this was placed in a town called Kpenu in the

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Volta region of Ghana. The turbine which was developed was then mounted as the organizers
gave the winch the support in lifting it.

Fig. 2f. Mounting of the turbine

3 Benefits from the Project

The benefits that can be derived from this project are as follows:

3.1 Environmental Benefits

It is know that wind power does not consume fuel for its continuing operation and has no
emissions which are directly related to electricity production. The operation does not produce
carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, mercury, particulates and other type of air pollution as it is in
the case of fossil fuel power sources [8].

3.2 Economic Benefits

Enterprise Works/VITA (EWV) for the past 40 years in 100 countries has been working to
combat poverty by helping small producers and other entrepreneurs to build sustainable
businesses that can create jobs and increase productivity, market opportunities and incomes.
EWV achieves this by expanding access to appropriate technologies, technical assistance,
knowledge and finance and this new wind turbine project is not an exceptional so far as
fighting poverty with profit is concern. Since the wind is a natural resource used for wind
energy generation and does not require any fuel to operate it will displace oil which is usually

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
imported for the fossil fired stations and when this generated electricity from wind turbines
are widely distributed to various part of the country, it will generate income which would be
used for other developmental projects. The most important aspect of the project is that buyers
will be able to have them repaired easily by the technicians that created them [1, 8].

3.3 Social Benefits

Wind power used in generating electricity has health benefit since it does not produce air
pollution when compared to other conventional power generation. The manufacturing of
small-scale wind turbines in Ghana will introduce a reliable and affordable source of
electricity to areas and regions/communities where electricity is lacking. The areas will
benefit from increased services, better communication, and an improved social and
commercial environment. Also business innovations would be made possible with the
electricity provided by the wind generators [2, 8].

3.4 Employment Benefits

By extending this project to various part of the country, it will bring about employment during
the construction, operation and maintenance during the installation of the plants. Since the
overall project depends on locally skilled men and by using local materials, the construction
employment will be based on both skilled and unskilled, with some highly skilled design,
engineering and installation work.
Most of the operation and maintenance activities would be done by highly skilled people who
have been subjected to some form of training thus allowing some Ghanaians to acquire the
necessary skills to be used in the future and increasing the number of job prospects in the
country [2, 8].

4 Environmental Concern
Apart from the benefits to be derived from wind power, there are some disadvantages in this
renewable energy source. The Ghanaian community has all its farming activities concentrated
in the villages where the project would be situated or is mostly needed. Most farming
activities include poultry types where domestic birds such as fowls, guinea fowls, ducks and
some pigeons are mostly reared on free range system. The turbines can therefore be dangerous

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
to these birds as the turbine blades can kill birds that come in contact with it. Bats are also
affected by the turbine. Wind farm construction can cause landslide which can cause pollution
to rivers thereby killing the fishes therein. The wind turbine can create noise which is a
nuisance to the inhabitants nearby as such the communities where the projects would be
carried out need to pay much attention on these issues in order to prevent some of these
problems [4, 8].

5 CONCLUSION

Kpenu like 83% of rural communities in Ghana is not connected to the national electricity
grid, and is unlikely to be connected before the vision 2020 due to high costs involved in
connection. Solving this issue has helped in providing electricity to Kpenu and nearby
communities that do not have access to electricity so as to provide power that promotes
health, education and economic benefits. The impact of this project on Kpenu is very
important in that it has brought about possible countless business innovations with electricity
provided by wind generators as well as promoting economic development in the community.
It has provided the school children the opportunity to study and read in the evening with the
aid of energy saving lights and teachers in the community are able to purchase and recharge
their mobile phones to enhance their connectivity. A community centre has been built and
internet is connected so that the entire community can be networked and connected to the
entire world. The interesting part of the project is the fact that renewable energy source is
used and replicating the project to other areas in Ghana where national grid does not reach
would be very easy. There is therefore the need to undertake wind measurements in order to
determine the correct turbine and type of material to use in manufacturing the turbine since
local materials are used for the project. These wind measurements depend on climatic
conditions such as annual average wind speed and turbulence intensity. The fact that wind
power is now being considered to be one of the fastest growing energy sources in terms of
worldwide installation; it’s resource of the future is capable of supplying the needed energy of
the world then expanding this new project to other part of the country will be the principal
goal for the next decade.

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Reference

1. http://www.ghanaef.org/energyinghana/energyinghana.htm
2. http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-08/2006-08-29-
voa33.cfm?CFID=37766121&CFTOKEN=54234552
3. http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_wind.shtml
4. http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/technology/wind-power/
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power
6. http://www.ecowas.info/ghweat.htm
7. http://www.nrel.gov/wind/pdfs/ghana.pdf
8. http://www.scoraigwind.com/ghana/index.htm
9. http://www.enterpriseworks.org/display.cfm?id=3&sub=15&cont=8

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
 Appendix 1

NATIONAL WIND POLICY OF GHANA

Lack of financial
Government support from
Government

Ministry of energy

Energy commission

Land Little of wind

commission Electricity power known
Cooperation Ghana

Generators Distribution Transmission

World Bank

Little installed
wind turbine

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana
Appendix 2

Table 1. Good to excellent wind resource at 50m

Wind Wind class Wind Wind Total area Percentage Total

resource power at speed m/s Km2 windy land capacity
utility 50m W/m2 installed
scale MW
Good 4 400-500 7.0-7.5 268 0.1 1,340
Excellent 5 500-600 7.5-8.0 82 >0.1 410
Excellent 6 600-800 8.0-8.8 63 >0.1 315
Total 413 0.2 2,065

Table 2. Moderate to excellent wind resource at 50m

Wind Wind class Wind Wind Total area Percentage Total

resource power at speed m/s Km2 windy land capacity
2
utility 50m W/m installed
scale MW
Moderate 3 300-400 6.4-7.0 715 0.3 3,575
Good 4 400-500 7.0-7.5 268 0.1 1,340
Excellent 5 500-600 7.5-8.0 82 >0.1 410
Excellent 6 600-800 8.0-8.8 63 >0.1 315
Total 1,128 0.5 5,640
Wind speeds are based on a Weibull k value of 2.0

Total land area of Ghana = 230,940 km2

Table 3. Moderate to Excellent Wind Resource by Province

Province Class 3 Class4 Class5 Class 6 Good to Moderate

(Km2) (Km2) (Km2) (Km2) excellent to
potential excellent
(MW) potential
(MW)
Ashanti 93 11 0 0 55 520
Brong-Ahafo 83 17 16 2 175 590
Central 0 0 0 0 0 0
Eastern 285 26 0 0 130 1,555
Greater 0 0 0 0 0 0
Accra
Northern 73 53 0 0 265 630
Upper East 0 0 0 0 0 0
Upper West 0 0 0 0 0 0
Western 0 0 0 0 0 0
Volta 181 161 66 61 1,440 2,345
Total 715 268 82 63 2,065 5,640
Assumptions
Installed capacity per km2 = 5 MW

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Gabriel Kofi Nzulu The State of Windpower In Ghana