President John Mahama says the government will soon introduce net metering to allow companies generating electricity from solar plants to feed excess power into the national grid and receive payment for it.

He says the government will work with Parliament to pass a net-metering bill that will establish the framework for businesses such as Northshore Apparel, which have invested in solar power generation, to supply surplus electricity to the national grid.

Speaking at the inauguration of Northshore Apparel in Savelugu, President Mahama explained that under the proposed system, companies that generate more electricity than they consume from their solar installations will be able to transfer the excess power to the grid.

“We're going to get Parliament to pass a net metering bill, and that will allow companies like North Shore that have their solar plants to net meter with the electricity company or NEDCO,” he said.

The President said a specialised meter would be installed to track the amount of electricity supplied to and consumed by the company.

“So that if they are producing more than they need from their solar plants, it will be integrated into the national grid. And there'll be a meter that can calculate how much they are owed,” he explained.

Under the proposed arrangement, President Mahama said the electricity company would be required to compensate businesses where they supply more electricity to the grid than they consume.
“And so if they are owed, it means NEDCO has to pay them,” he said.

Conversely, where a company consumes more electricity from the grid than the amount it supplies, the company would be required to pay the difference.

“And if they consume more, then they will have to pay NEDCO the difference between their power,” President Mahama said.