#Energy Justice for Last Mile Communities along the Volta Lake
As of 2020, nearly half of Ghana’s rural population needed electricity access. Profoundly among Ghana’s rural communities without access to electricity are secluded lakefront villages and islands characterized by scattered settlements in the Volta Lake region. These island/lakeside communities, formed due to the construction of the Akosombo Hydropower Dam in 1965, need to be electrified, and the cost of extending the national grid to these scattered settlements is prohibitively expensive.
The Ghana Scaling-Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) Mini grid and Net metering with Solar PV project seeks to add 13.5% of renewable energy to Ghana’s energy mix and accelerate universal access to electricity in the country by deploying 12,000 units of roof-mounted net-metered solar PV systems for public institutions and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in addition to the development of 35 mini-grids in the Volta Lake region. Up to 11,000 standalone solar household systems will also be installed as part of the initiative in communities in Ghana’s lakeshore and island regions.
This campaign aims to defend the rights of rural women and children to access electricity for essential services such as health and education and poverty eradication by pushing the government of Ghana to accelerate the electrification of the Volta Lakefront communities. The campaign also demands incorporating gender and productive use considerations into planning solar mini-grid systems.
Campaign Strategy
| Component | Focus | Tactics | Engagement Plan | Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advocacy and awareness creation | Lack of electricity in the Volta Lake region of Ghana | Media Campaign | 1. Use campaign hashtags and social media platforms to share information and gather support. 2. Monitoring of the Project and its Financial Flows | 1. Government of Ghana: 2. African Development Bank 3. Netizens |
| Policy Advocacy | Engendering of Ghana’s Mini-grid Policy | 1. Lobbying 2. Peaceful Walk 3. Integration of gender and productive use considerations into the planning and deployment of mini-grid systems | 1. Petitions 2. Press Release 3. Monitoring of project implementation | 1. Government Officials 2. Legislators 3. Energy Commission of Ghana 4. ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency |
| Empowering Last mile communities to demand for Energy Justice | Deepening of Energy Democracy | Popular Education on Renewable Energy and the Just Transition | 1. Identify and recruit opinion leaders to become Energy Justice Ambassadors in their communities. 2. Build local support and understanding to push for a Just Transition in the lakefront area.
| 1. Government Officials 2.Affected Communities 3. Mini-grid developers and the Government of Ghana |