World Bank didn’t provide guarantees on IPPs

The World Bank has said it did not provide any financing or guarantees to the independent power producers (IPPs) that signed power purchase agreements with the Government of Ghana (GoG) or the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) during the country’s energy crisis.

The clarification was in response to a recent social media report that suggests that the World Bank provided financing or guarantees to IPPs that signed power purchase agreements with the GoG between 2014 and 2016.

A press release issued by the bank on February 25 in Accra, stated that to secure Ghana’s energy future, it supported the Energy Sector Recovery Plan (ESRP) of GoG for affordable and reliable electricity supply and enhanced accountability in the energy sector.

New power generation

The ESRP mandates the rationalisation of gas and power purchase cost in line with the demand and approves the procurement of energy supply and service contracts in a competitive manner.

The implementation of this policy will be essential to ensure that new power generation capacity is procured competitively and transparently based on the most cost-effective basis.

This will prevent a recurrence of over-supply of generation capacity in future.

The release further explained that the World Bank Group provided financing and a guarantee to the Sankofa Gas Project, which since 2019 had increased the availability of natural gas for power generation by leveraging private capital investment and promoting a cleaner energy mix.

“The World Bank is committed to supporting Ghana in its efforts to sustain economic growth, accelerate poverty reduction, and enhance shared prosperity in a sustainable manner,” it said.