Akufo-Addo committed to improving electricity supply

The government has released enough funds to ensure that the country generates enough electricity to sustain demand.

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Dormaa East, Mr Paul Apraku Twum Barimah, said the government released $130 million in November last year to support the power sector.

Speaking with journalists on a number of issues, the MP, who is also a member of the Foreign Affairs, Special Budget and Poverty Reduction Strategy committees, said the move demonstrated the commitment of the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo-led government to the power sector.

Load shedding

Mr Twum Barimah assured the public that the government had no intention to embark on a nationwide load shedding programme.

He said the transmission companies were only carrying out key projects to enhance the reliability of power supply in some parts of the country.

He insisted that there was a concerted effort by all stakeholders, led by the Energy Ministry, to ensure consistent, accessible and reliable power supply throughout the year.

“There is adequate power-generating capacity to meet electricity demand in the country. All stakeholders in the power sector value chain are working together to ensure consistent supply of power to the people of Ghana and beyond,” the Dormaa East NPP lawmaker said.

Demand, generation

Mr Twum Barimah said Ghana's peak demand of power increased from 2,957 megawatts (MW) in March 2020 to over 3,200MW in February 2021.

“At this rate, most of our distribution and transmission lines have to be expanded and old ones upgraded to stop the overloading," he explained.

The MP expressed the belief that the completion of the 161kV Dankwa-Anyanfuri-Asawinso and the 161kV Aboadze-Prestea-Dunkwa transmission corridors would help improve power delivery across the country.

Background

The country’s energy generation, according to statistics from the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), placed hydro at 31 per cent, thermal energy at 68 per cent and renewable energy at one per cent, with a national installed capacity of about 5,650MW.

The Volta River Authority (VRA) and Independent Power Producers (IPPs) last week gave an assurance that they had increased their power generation ability from the western power enclave alone to about 1,200 MW after extensive work on the plants, almost double the capacity it was generating from the enclave about four years.

The VRA has, therefore, assured the nation of reliable power generation to meet the national peak demand projection.