Energy Minister outlines interventions to stabilise power supply in A/R
The Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, has outlined critical interventions being undertaken aimed at stabilising power supply in the Ashanti Region.
To tackle the situation, he said about seven different interventions were being employed simultaneously, including the upgrading of transformers with bigger ones at the Ridge Bulk Supply Point (BSP) by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) to improve power supply.
Additionally, a number of transmission lines were being worked on, including the lines within the Airport area. Work is also ongoing on the Cenit thermal power plant to produce 110 megawatts of power, as well as AKSA’s combined cycle to bring the steam unit on.
Also, he disclosed that the ministry was intervening with about 300 transformers immediately, after which the transformers would be upscaled to 700 in the second phase of the intervention.
Working visit
Dr Jinapor announced these last Friday during a day’s working tour of critical power infrastructure projects in Kumasi.
The tour included inspections of the transformer upgrade and replacement programme at the Ridge substation.
Others were the Anwomaso-Boadi-Kaase and Anwomaso-Airport transmission line projects, as well as AKSA and Cenit facilities.
The projects form part of the government’s ongoing efforts to strengthen the electricity supply and improve energy delivery across the country for the benefit of all.
He said GRIDCO, in July, would undertake a major upgrade of their lines to ensure that there is system reliability and improvement in service delivery, saying, “This is intended to ensure the efficient delivery of power to Ghanaians, irrespective of their geographical location in the country”.
Energy hub
He announced that very soon, 1,000 megawatts of power would be situated in Kumasi, since the town was becoming not just a commercial hub but also an energy industrial hub in the country.
“Already, we are witnessing the presence of AKSA. Cenit is coming on board and plants of the Volta River Authority (VRA) are also here. We are working with Avensis to bring another 380 megawatts of power as well,” he stated.
Control centre
He announced the operationalisation of a full command and control centre, which had been set up through a collaboration between the ministry, the energy commission and the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
He said a dedicated number would be linked to the newly developed system to enable people to report problems for prompt action, saying, “The centre is not just for outages but for general management as well”.
While indicating that every District Manager would be provided with a dedicated mobile phone, he said, “If there is a problem in your district, we will send the manager a message, a code and additionally follow up with a call”.
Generate more power
Mr Jinapor stated that, based on what the current government inherited in the energy sector, there was a need for more work to be done to generate more power to meet the growing energy demand.
He said with the rate at which the economy was growing, the country was now at 4,500 megawatts peak, emphasising that “we are virtually taking all the power and consuming it. So, we are working to add more capacity”.
The acting Managing Director, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Julius Kwame Kpekpena, during an engagement with district managers, said they were on course to finalise works which were expected to have been completed within three to six months.
“The team has already completed the replacement of transformers at the Ridge BSP, although it was planned for the end of May.
So, we have completed it ahead of schedule, with the support of the sector minister,” he said.
For his part, the Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr Frank Amoakohene, said since the region was growing, coupled with the extension of electricity to more rural communities, it had become necessary for the generation capacity to be increased to meet demand.
He commended the ministry for the many energy investments aimed at improving power supply in the region, saying, “The region is industrialising at a faster rate, requiring more power supply for industrial use”.
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