Impact of COVID-19 on household energy use in Ghana

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Different Governments’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have varying effects on different sectors of the economy including the energy sector. It is unknown how the pandemic and the different government response and control measures impacted on the clean energy landscape in Ghana. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on household access to and sustained use of clean energy for cooking in Ghana and also on the implementation of the government’s Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM). METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study that employed a mixed-methods approach to data collection. The data collection was conducted in the Kintampo and Obuasi Municipalities of Ghana involving key players in the clean energy sector including households, LPG purveyors, and relevant policymakers and implementers. We adopted the Exploration, Preparation, Implementation and Sustainment (EPIS) implementation framework RESULTS:Although the pandemic did not halt the implementation of the LPG CRM, it stalled the process in some ways. For instance, the building of large-scale bottling plants was stalled due to challenge with finding private capital to fund the project. Demand for LPG initially increased due to panic buying by households in anticipation of a lockdown. Supply did not change drastically because of measures put in place to allow personnel in the energy sector including LPG to continue to work even during the lockdown. Changes in household’s income and expenditure during the pandemic were found to be associated with the choice of current cooking fuels and the use of LPG. CONCLUSIONS:The findings of the study highlight the mitigating factors in the household energy sector during the pandemic, provide lessons that can improve the resilience of the sector to ensure sustained use of clean fuels and inform the implementation of clean energy programs during pandemics. KEYWORDS: COVID 19, household clean energy, Cylinder Recirculation Model, Ghana