Staff of ECG and some of the journalists during the tour
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is poised to enhance power distribution efficiency in the Amenfi area of the Western Region.
To this end, ECG has stepped up efforts to resolve overloading at the Bogoso Bulk Station Point (BSP) which serves the area.
The company is currently constructing a line from Prestea BSP to link and offload some of the load at Bogoso BSP, to resolve transmission challenges in areas like Asankrangwa and other communities in Amenfi.
The General Manager for Western Region, ECG, Ing. Emmanuel J. Ofori, disclosed this when he led a media tour to the Ketan BSP in Takoradi.
It was part of plans for journalists to have a practical experience of the upstream activities and other related issues on power generation in the Western Region.
“One major challenge ECG faces in the region include overloading at Bogoso BSP which supplies Bogoso township, Asankrangwa, part of Enchi – thereby affecting customers at Amenfi East, Amenfi West and other areas.
“We have given our contractors working on the line a maximum of one month to complete the work, and we hope to get it commissioned, to resolve the overloading and bring relief to our customers in Asankrangwa and surrounding areas,” he stressed.
Ing. Ofori also revealed that efforts were underway to clear vegetation cover which poses serious challenges to ECG operations in forest zones.
He explained that thick vegetation cover was a major cause of recent power outages recorded in the forest zones, particularly when rain falls.
“During heavy rains, winds blow the trees, particularly the bamboos, which fall onto the lines, and cause them to trip off.
“It is very serious in difficult terrains. Some of these terrains have a lot of vegetation growth which comes into contact with the lines.
“Because of safety purposes, the lines are designed in such a way that once those vegetation touches the lines, the system have to go off,” he explained.
He said, every year, ECG deploys contractors who tour the corridors in the forest zones and difficult terrains to remove trees and bamboos, as well as prevent heavy winds and storms from tripping off lines to cause outages.
He told the journalists that ECG receives power from Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) at the Ketan BSP and feeds it into various primary sub-stations, then to distribution sub-stations, where power is transmitted to homes.
The Acting Regional Engineer, Kow Ampah, noted that the safety of ECG workers is also critical in the efforts to stabilise power systems.
He then indicated that effective collaboration with chiefs, landowners and communities was critical for smooth operations.
The Foreman at the Control Room Operations and System Monitoring, ECG, Benjamin Owusu Ansah, also stressed the need for a centralised control system to manage the electrical grid effectively, using the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi