Statistical Analysis of Electricity Generation and Consumption in Ghana

Ghana is now experiencing power shortages and regular interruptions in supply as a result of increase in electricity consumption and rapid growth of cities and population, much of which is driven by rural-urban migration. Regular power interruptions are of great concern and have serious effects on economic growth and productivity. The limited amount of electrical power in Ghana suggests that prevention strategies based on power control should be a central feature of the countrys electricity control programs. The power shortages has led many people, organizations, companies and factories in the Ghana to rely on very costly generating plants as immediate remedy to the prevailing crisis. This situation requires among other things proper and urgent attention. Surprisingly, the frequency of occurrence of the problem of power shortages and regular interruptions of supply has not been well attended to by the Governments and other stake holders in Ghana. This paper discusses the association between the electricity consumed, the electricity generated and the population of Ghana and suggests a new concept on the nature and direction of reforms in the electricity generation using statistical analyses. The technique is very important as it will assists Governments and other stake holders in Ghana to be more aware of the consumers energy usage patterns in real time, and provides directions that will help to achieve some increment in the average energy generation. The GDP Data from 2001 to 2012 obtained from World Bank National Account website was subjected to statistical analyses. The statistical techniques employed include regression, hypothesis test, ANOVA test, kdensity test, normality test, linktest, ovtest and acprt plot test. The electricity generated, the electricity consumed and the population were statistically tested for significance using ANOVA test. The results revealed that the electricity generated is better associated with the electricity consumed than the population of the country.