Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has projected that conventional fuel stations could soon transition into battery swap hubs for electric vehicles (EVs).
Speaking at the Future of Energy Conference, he noted that rapid innovation is making EV batteries smaller and more efficient, paving the way for a model where drivers can replace depleted batteries within minutes instead of waiting to charge.
“The batteries for these EV vehicles are getting smaller. What I see is that in the future, these petrol, diesel or fossil fuel stations will become EV battery stations and people will no longer have to park their cars to charge their vehicles over minutes or hours. We should be able to drive through these same filling stations and just replace your battery and keep driving on. Through innovation, I am very confident that we can make use of these products or some of these filling stations,” John Jinapor remarked.
Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Ben Boakye, speaking on the sidelines of the Future of Energy Conference, urged private investors in filling stations to begin exploring how to transition their facilities to support electric mobility.
He noted that energy investors and fuel retailers must start adapting their infrastructure to align with the shift in future mobility demand.
“A lot of EVs are coming into the system. It is up to the private people who have invested in filling stations to now begin to look at how to make that shift and be aggressive at it. Try to reengineer their business model to incorporate renewables and then also electric vehicle charging points so that they are not left stranded,” he said.
Additionally, Jinapor proposed a discussion with Nigeria to establish a barter arrangement under which electricity will be exported in exchange for gas.
He noted that such a framework could strengthen regional energy security and deepen integration across West Africa.
“The Ghana Nuclear Power Program for nuclear energy as a reliable base is also on the table. Regional power integration to deepen our participation in the West Africa Power pool to strengthen resilience and cost effectiveness is also witnessing significant milestones. So far, we supply power to Togo, we supply power to Burkina, we supply power to Cote D’Ivoire, and we intend extending to other neighboring countries. We also supply power to Benin.
“In the spirit of that cooperation we believe that we can work together, and we take gas from Nigeria. What Ghana does is that we take the gas from Nigeria, we generate power and re-export, and we are in discussions with Nigeria to see if we can have a barter where we take their gas, convert it to power and export the power to Nigeria in the spirit of West Africa cooperation,” he said.
FEC is ACEP’s annual flagship event that creates the platform for key stakeholders and industry experts from government, multilateral and development institutions, the private sector, academia, and civil societies across the continent to discuss pertinent governance policies, innovations, and actions required to bridge Africa’s energy access gap and drive economic growth.
This year’s theme, “Financing Africa’s Energy Future: Unlocking Investments for Energy Access and Economic Transformation,” spurred discussions on mobilizing investments to finance Africa’s energy transition to address the pervasive energy poverty and accelerate economic transformation across the continent.
