Purpose

Ghana has set an objective of achieving 10% of its energy requirements through renewable sources, by 2020. However, to date, the renewable energy (RE) sector has attracted only marginal investor interest. This paper aims to identify the challenges faced in financing RE in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

A comprehensive review of literature in renewable energy finance was conducted and 12 financing challenges were identified. From this list, a questionnaire was developed asking to rank barriers. This was distributed to experts within financial institutions and 32 were returned. A factor analysis and severity index analysis were performed to identify a ranking of challenges impeding RE project financing in Ghana.

Findings

The challenges to RE financing fall into the three broad categories, namely, “economic, commercial and regulatory” challenges. Within these broad constraints, “long payback periods,” “limited track record” and “high upfront cost” are the most severe impediments to obtaining financing for RE.

Practical implications

Identifying the specific conditions that make an investment in RE unattractive, give policymakers set on achieving the 10% RE goal, a way forward in developing a targeted policy that would mitigate identified investor disincentives.

Originality/value

The broad range of potential barriers to investment are known. However, this study combines a specific governmental ambition – encouraging the financing of RE – with a specific set of identified barriers inhibiting that ambition. In this regard, this study identifies exactly where the government needs to act if it is to facilitate investment in RE, as is required for Ghana to reach its 10% RE target.

中文翻译：

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撒哈拉以南非洲可再生能源项目融资的机制和挑战：加纳视角

目的

加纳设定了到 2020 年通过可再生能源实现 10% 能源需求的目标。然而，迄今为止，可再生能源 (RE) 部门仅吸引了边际投资者的兴趣。本文旨在确定加纳可再生能源融资面临的挑战。

设计/方法/方法

对可再生能源融资方面的文献进行了全面审查，并确定了 12 项融资挑战。从这个列表中，开发了一个问卷，要求对障碍进行排名。这已分发给金融机构的专家，并退回了 32 份。进行了因素分析和严重性指数分析，以确定阻碍加纳可再生能源项目融资的挑战排名。

发现

可再生能源融资的挑战分为三大类，即“经济、商业和监管”挑战。在这些广泛的限制中，“投资回收期长”、“业绩记录有限”和“前期成本高”是获得可再生能源融资的最严重障碍。

实际影响

确定使可再生能源投资没有吸引力的具体条件，让政策制定者致力于实现 10% 的可再生能源目标，这是制定有针对性的政策以减轻已确定的投资者不利因素的一种前进方式。

原创性/价值

广泛的潜在投资障碍是众所周知的。然而，这项研究结合了特定的政府雄心——鼓励对可再生能源的融资——与一系列特定的阻碍该雄心的障碍。在这方面，本研究准确确定了政府如果要促进对可再生能源的投资，就需要在哪些方面采取行动，这是加纳实现其 10% 可再生能源目标所必需的。