The U.S. government has tipped Ghana to be the hub of Africa's nuclear energy to help the continent achieve energy independence.
In order to find answers and ways for the continent to considerably benefit from renewable energy technology, the Biden administration has so committed to continuing to collaborate closely with African nations.
David Turk, the deputy secretary of energy for the United States, revealed this at a lecture hosted on the campus of the University of Ghana on Friday.
The Deputy Secretary described how the US intended to collaborate closely with Ghana and the African continent to find answers in this area, as many developing countries struggle to satisfy their energy demands.
Since Ghana's independence in 1957, there has been a strong relationship between the two countries in the areas of infrastructure development, security, and energy.
The Deputy Secretary pointed out some crucial milestones the African continent is pursuing to lessen the climate change emergency while speaking on a variety of topics including energy, security, the emergency brought on by climate change, and its ripple consequences.
"We recognize Africa’s efforts to address its energy access, affordability, and security goals – while diversifying its energy mix, building sustainable supply chains, and protecting the continent’s ecosystems and diverse natural resources – and know that these goals are central to the prosperity of Africans as well as helping to tackle the global climate crisis.
"Africa’s share of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per capita is extremely low, yet Africa and the African people stand to suffer from some of the most severe effects of climate change.
"This is why, under the auspices of President Biden’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE), the United States will continue to work closely with African countries to identify solutions and ways that our African nation partners can benefit from additional adaptive capacity as we work collectively to deploy clean energy technologies at scale and develop new solutions."
The US continues to be one of the leading proponents of the Sustainable Development Goals, and Deputy Secretary Turk emphasized how vulnerable communities will be involved and actively participate at every stage of pursuing adaptation policies and also profit from the unprecedented investment made by the Biden administration as part of efforts to help developing countries meet their energy needs.
"The Department of Energy and its 17 national laboratories contribute to PREPARE by collaborating with other U.S. federal agencies to support foreign national and local governments’ efforts to assess and embed climate risks into their budgets, plans, policies, and operations with the ultimate objective of translating priorities into bankable projects.
"This is done with a focus on locally led adaptation that addresses African concerns for ensuring a just energy transition, and which enables vulnerable communities and affected populations to meaningfully participate in and lead adaptation-related decisions."
The United States will "work closely with African countries as they determine how to best meet their energy needs in a secure, affordable, and sustainable manner," according to the Deputy Secretary.
This includes pursuing domestic energy access and economic development goals through the deployment of a wide range of clean energy technologies.
Additionally, Deputy Secretary Turk brought to light the vast renewable energy prospects that the African continent is squandering, opportunities that the region has given little thought to.
He took the opportunity to reveal some astounding findings on the subject, instantly whetting the appetites of the audience's scientists.
"There’s an analysis that I did when I worked at the International Energy Authority and we got all the best offshore wind around the world off the coast all around the world and what we found was just looking at the better resources. The ones that are closer into land…there’s actually 18 times more potential in that offshore wind on daily basis, on hourly basis than what the whole world consumes currently on electricity. So just offshore wind can provide 18 times the electricity the world uses right now, and that’s just offshore wind; let’s not talk about geothermal, let’s not talk about solar, let’s not talk about any other ranges of technology."
Deputy Secretary Turk made this statement to call Ghana's and Africa's attention to a resource that is easily accessible and may be effectively used with a wise investment.
Although it seems that the continent is focusing its energy spending on fossil fuels, Deputy Secretary Turk stated that the region has a wealth of undiscovered energy resources.
"Right now in Africa, every day, looking at the solar resource, sixty per cent (60%) of the world’s best solar asserts, the best solar resources fall on the African continent. So that’s all the solar resources falling in North America, South America, Asia, around the world, sixty per cent of the best asserts is falling on Africa on daily basis."
The problem, though, is that just 1% of all photovoltaic (PV) installations worldwide are in Africa.
Deputy Secretary Turk pleaded with the continent to seize the chance and start focusing their efforts there.
"Huge opportunities base going forward not just in the area of energy access but also multiples of industrial benefits," he said.
In order to consolidate or attain energy independence, he also urged Ghana and the rest of Africa to invest in compact modular reactors and other cutting-edge technology.
"I strongly believe that innovation everywhere drives more cost-effective deployment of clean energy everywhere, and the large investments in small modular reactors and other modern technologies in the U.S. should soon result in safer and more affordable nuclear power everywhere, including for our key African partners such as Ghana."
Deputy Secretary Turk has been in Ghana for a few days and has met with government representatives to discuss how to build on Ghana's achievements in the energy and electricity sectors.