John Peter Amewu
John Peter Amewu, the Energy Minister, has ruled out the possibility of Ghana returning to the era of load-shedding also known as ‘Dumsor.’
He attributed the recent power outages in the country to technical problems.
On Tuesday evening, there were power outages in several parts of Accra. Although some areas later received power, others were without electricity for almost 12 hours.
The situation has sparked fears the power crisis recorded in the country in the past has resurfaced.
Speaking to a section of the media during a tour of the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) last Wednesday, Mr Amewu said load-shedding has not resurfaced as being speculated by a section of the public.
He said “the power issue we had has been resolved. We had a tripped off from the Jubilee Field and at the same time, there was a slight problem with Karpower.
“So you will realize that Karpower yesterday was doing very low almost about 50 megawatts but we have now done almost about 950 megawatts. Dumsor cannot be back but technical issues will once in while come and not dumsor.”
No Cause For Alarm
The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), in a statement, said the interruption in power supply was not due to inadequate generation.
“GRIDC wishes to inform the general public of power supply challenges experienced yesterday November 19, 2018 during the peak period between 7pm and 9pm.
“This was as a result of sudden drop in gas pressure at Aboadze which caused a reduction in power generation from the West. GRIDCo had to call on other thermal plants in Tema to restore full power supply.
“GRIDCo assures the general public that there is enough generation to meet power demand. We are working with all power generators to ensure continuous supply to all customers and will keep the public informed of further developments,” the statement said.
From Vincent Kubi, Tema