John Peter Amewu
The Energy Ministry has stated that Ghana will not return to the era of load-shedding, also known as ‘Dumsor,’ which was experienced under the Mahama administration for over three years.
It, however, said there would be intermittent power outages as a result of localised faults, which the government would work hard to resolve.
Addressing a press conference attended by heads of ECG, VRA and GRIDCO on Monday, Energy Minister John Peter Amewu said the days of ‘dum kwraa’ (total darkness) under the previous Maham administration would no longer be experienced by Ghanaians.
However, he admitted that there would be some “dumsor” in some areas which government would address.
Some parts of the country have been experiencing intermittent power outages over the past few weeks.
The minister attributed the recent power outages in the country to gas supply challenges at Karpower.
As a result, he said over 800 megawatts of power was lost during peak periods which resulted in the power outages.
Mr. Amewu, however, said Nigeria Gas, which could not supply gas due to some technical challenges, would begin to supply 30 mega cubic feet which would be increased to 80 by close of the week.
In the wake of the recent power outages, the opposition NDC has accused the government of failing to pay debts owed the power producers.
Debt
He admitted that there were debts to be paid to power producers but debunked claims that it was the cause of the recent power outages.
According to him, the NPP government inherited a debt of $2.8 billion in the energy sector and had retired over $500,000.
Most parts of Accra and Kumasi have over the past few weeks experienced intermittent power outages.
The minister said: “When you put off the lights, we say dumsor, isn’t it? In the past three years, it was ‘dum kuraa’ [completely off].
“We’re not in an era of ‘dum kuraa.’ The lights may go off as we are witnessing, but I can assure you that that long period that our opponents think that they want to capitalize on will never come because we’re managing the system. We have people here to manage the system, and we can give assurance to Ghanaians that the situation now is very much under control,” he said.
Negotiation
The minister indicated that negotiations for lifting of gas from the Western Region to Tema by the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) had almost been concluded.
He said while WAPCo expects $3.2 per MMBtu as tariff, the government was willing to pay $1 per MMBtu.
He explained that the West African Gas Pipeline Authority (WAGPA), the regulator for the company, issued a new tariff of $1.7 per MMBTu, which the government finds more favourable and was awaiting approval by the committee of ministers.
“Our major challenge has been the incomplete reverse flow project to flow gas from the West to the East. We had to fast-track it through a by-pass which has been completed, but not connected to the West African Gas Pipeline yet. This is because WAGPA has not come out with the tariff for the reverse flow, and WAPCO will not sign the Gas Transportation Agreement (GTA) without a tariff.
According to the Energy Minister, Ghana has enough gas in the Western Region, and it has completed the project to get the gas to Tema to fuel the country’s gas-powered plants, but cannot connect it to the West African Gas Pipeline until the necessary financials are completed with the West African Gas Pipeline Authority.
“The new amount will now be approved by the Committee of Ministers of WAGP on 30th November, 2018, that is coming Friday to pave the way for the signing of the GTA to allow for the connection of the by-pass.”
“This will ensure 60mmscfd can flow from the West to the East until the reverse flow project is completed.”
A DAILY GUIDE Report