Blackout not return to dumsor — Jinapor

The Deputy Minister of Power, Mr John Jinapor, has allayed the fears among power consumers that the recent power outages are a sign for load shedding, otherwise known as ‘dumsor’.

He said the long hours of blackout over the weekend were as a result of a problem with a plant at the Aboadze enclave in Takoradi which caused a shortfall of about 150 megawatts (MW).

In an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Jinapor said part of the problem was rectified yesterday morning.

However, he said some plants were still down causing blackouts in certain communities. 

Mr Jinapor explained that the blackout in those communities would be resolved in a few days, saying that it was not a long-term challenge.

Accra faces blackouts 

Some parts of Accra experienced about 12 hours of blackout over the weekend. The areas affected included Achimota, Mile Seven, Abeka Lapaz, Adenta, Madina, East Legon, Ablekuma, Nima, Kanda, Accra New Town, among other suburbs.

Mr Jinapor debunked assertions that the inability of Nigeria to supply crude oil to Ghana to power some of the plants had triggered a load-shedding exercise.

The bane of Ghana’s power sector has been inadequate fuel to power the plants and the low level of water in the Akosombo Dam. 

The problem of fuel 

Currently, Ghana is receiving less than the contractual amount of 120 million standard cubic feet (mmscf) of gas a day from Nigeria to run the thermal plants at the Tema enclave following the destruction of a number of gas pipelines in the Niger Delta in Nigeria by militants.

Ghana Gas is also receiving about half of the contracted supply of gas to power the thermal plants at the Aboadze enclave in the Western Region due to challenges with the turret of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.

The Volta River Authority (VRA) usually switches its dual plants to run on crude oil. 

According to Mr Jinapor, claims that the recent blackouts were partly due to the inability of Nigeria to supply light crude were not true.

He admitted that there were challenges which had led to the inadequate supply of gas from Nigeria, but there were arrangements to get light crude oil from a company also in Nigeria.

That arrangement, he said, had also delayed but that did not have an impact on the power sector.

Light crude oil delays

Checks at Sahara Energy Petroleum, which is contracted to supply the light crude oil, indicated that there was an arrangement with the VRA to supply 950,000 barrels of light crude oil to Ghana.

A source at the company, however, indicated that there had been a delay in the delivery of the crude oil due to the destruction of some pipelines in Nigeria.

Although the source declined to give details of the contract as to when the shipment was supposed to arrive, he said the situation had not only affected production but also delayed the loading schedule.

“We are working around the clock to see if we can deliver as quickly as possible. We have been consistent but this is a situation beyond our control,” it added.

“Delay doesn’t have any impact”

Nonetheless, Mr Jinapor said the delay in the delivery of the crude oil had not impacted the country’s power sector yet, because “we are depending on our reserves and so we are not having the full effect of their inability to supply the fuel”.

 “It is true that the company has not been able to supply the crude oil; it is true that it has the potential of affecting the power sector, but we have reserves that we are relying on,” he said.

He pointed out that as part of the measures to ensure that the country was not plunged into darkness, other alternatives were being considered.

Apart from working closely with the company to ensure that it delivered as soon as possible, he said, there were also plans to ensure that emergency crude oil supply was arranged in the event that the Nigerian company could not deliver.