The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) has announced a €250,000 contribution from its Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) to support a detailed climate risk assessment and adaptation measures integration in Ghana.

The early stage design and implementation of renewable energy mini-grids and net metering systems in Ghana will be covered by the adaptation and resilience of renewable energy investment.

The investment is part of GCA’s ongoing efforts to improve the climate resilience of Ghana’s infrastructure systems, which have been identified as vulnerable to climate change and require comprehensive climate risk assessments to determine current and projected climate risks.

The African Development Bank is overseeing the development of 35 mini-grids (standalone solar photovoltaic systems) to be installed in schools, healthcare centers, and community energy service centers throughout the Volta Lake region.

According to a statement on the GCA website, a total of 12,000 units of roof-mounted net-metered solar photovoltaic systems will also be deployed in public institutions, small and medium-sized businesses, and selected households.

The Ghana Mini-Grid and Solar Photovoltaic Net Metering system is expected to produce 111,361MWh of renewable energy per year, corresponding to an installed capacity of 67.5MW.

The project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 0.7795 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year and create up to 2,865 construction jobs, 30% of which will go to women and youth.

The project also received $28.49 million from the Climate Investment Fund’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program and $13.30 million from the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.

GCA is an international organization that acts as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions from the international to the local levels, in collaboration with the public and private sectors, to ensure members learn from one another and work together to ensure a climate resilient future.

GCA was founded in 2018 and is hosted by the Netherlands, with its headquarters in Rotterdam and a knowledge and research hub in Groningen.

GCA has regional offices throughout the world, including Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Beijing, China. The organization engages in high-level policy activities, new research contributions, communications, and technical assistance to governments and the private sector through its evolving network of offices and global and regional GCA teams.