Climate Change on Hydropower in Ghanaby Justice Obiri | 27-10-2019 14:00 |
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 Located in Ghana is the biggest artificial lake in the world which is also the home and the main source of electricity to Ghana by the means of Hydropower generation. Recent changes in climate and rainfall has threatened the generation of power from the Hydropower plant (Akosombo Dam) located on the Akosombo Lake. The effects of temperature and rainfall changes on hydropower generation in Ghana from 1960–2011 were examined to understand country-wide trends of climate variability. Moreover, the discharge and the water level trends for the Akosombo reservoir from 1965–2014 were examined using the Mann-Kendall test statistic to assess localised changes. The annual temperature trend was positive while rainfall showed both negative and positive trends in different parts of the country. However, these trends were not statistically significant in the study regions in 1960 to 2011. Rainfall was not evenly distributed throughout the years, with the highest rainfall recorded between 1960 and 1970 and the lowest rainfalls between 2000 and 2011. The Mann-Kendall test shows an upward trend for the discharge of the Akosombo reservoir and a downward trend for the water level. However, the discharge irregularities of the reservoir do not necessarily affect the energy generated from the Akosombo plant, but rather the regular low flow of water into the reservoir affected power generation. This is the major concern for the operations of the Akosombo hydropower plant for energy generation in Ghana. image src: ghananewsagency.com
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