Despite the government’s assurances of a steady supply of energy, recent power outages in Ghana remain a major source of worry for most Ghanaians.
For them, the present scenario does not portray the positive image that the government portrays.
They are highly worried that the feared unstable power supply known as “dumsor” has returned.
At the start of 2021, parts of the country have been consistently sunk into darkness, sometimes without warning.
The situation has an effect on Ghanaians’ daily lives, especially those who depend on electricity to operate their businesses. They also expressed their dissatisfaction with the situation’s effect on trading practices.
On social media, in particular, there has been a lot of discussion about the concerning pattern, with some concerned about an impending power outage urging officials to issue a timetable if necessary.
However, the power transmission provider, Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), has stated that the condition is due to continuing maintenance and repair work on a variety of its facilities and plants, rather than generation problems.
Under the former John Dramani Mahama administration, Ghana’s national power outages peaked in 2014 and 2015.
Fast forward to 2021, and the situation seems to have resurfaced, despite the government and numerous power authorities consistently dismissing those fears.
IES prediction
It all started in February 2021, when the Institute of Energy Security (IES) expected a full power outage in Ghana due to the government’s lack of readiness to take over the Ameri Power contract.
According to the Institute, notwithstanding Ameri Energy’s letter to the Ghanaian government in September 2020 informing it of its intention to hand over the plant by the contract’s deadline, the Ghanaian government has yet to take the appropriate measures to ensure a smooth handover.
The first incident occurred on February 10, 2021, when the Ghanaian Electricity Company (ECG) declared power outages in areas of Accra the next day, February 11.
This was done to allow a contractor to begin excavation work on the Pokuase Bulk Supply Point (BSP) to Kanda and Airport substations to interconnect load.
From February 11 to March 5, power outages occurred daily between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Roman Ridge, parts of the Airport Residential Area, Air Site Hotel, Primrose Place and its environs, ECG Roman Ridge District Office, Accra Girls, Maamobi, Kotobabi Polyclinic, Ghana Institute of Engineers, Ebony, Abavana Down, Kotobabi Down, Modex filling station, Alajo, Tobinco, and Parts of Tesano were among the places impacted.
Following power outages, GRIDCo blamed them on disruptions in the power delivery infrastructure a few weeks back.
It said, for example, that the blackout on Saturday, February 27, 2021 was caused by gas supply problems from offshore fields.
Ghanaians in Accra and other parts of the country have been struggling with erratic power supply since then.
Others witnessed power-line flicker when others saw low current. Others say there is a complete power failure.
Black-outs and explanations from GRIDCo
GRIDCo has issued announcements explaining six different power outages since the beginning of the year.
The Ghanaian Electricity Corporation (ECG) has published a statement in this regard.
March 3: The closing of an emergency valve at the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) was blamed by GRIDCo for power outages in sections of Ghana that day. According to the firm, the action culminated in a decrease of gas supply to some of the country’s generation plants.”
March 7: A malfunction with GRIDCo’s electricity infrastructure forced the whole system to shut down, culminating in a national power failure. Power was shut off in all parts of the country as a consequence of this.
March 8: According to GRIDCo, the complete power system shutdown that day was triggered by a technical fault on one of the main transmission lines between Prestea and Obuasi. In light of the difficulties, the Ghana Highway Authority has declared that traffic movement on parts of the N1, N2, and N4 highways will be disrupted to enable GRIDco to string transmission line conductors across the N1, N2, and N4 highways.
March 16: Portions of Ghana’s capital, Accra, were without electricity the day before (March 15). ECG, on the other hand, blamed the disruption on a technical issue with GRIDCo. “The disruption being faced in sections of Accra and other ECG operating areas is attributed to a technological problem from GRIDCo,” ECG said in a statement.
March 17: Due to GRIDCo’s comprehensive maintenance work in the city, power supply to sections of the Volta Region was disrupted for five days. Affected areas included portions of Hohoe, Ho, Sogakope, Akatsi, Kpando, and Tsito.
March 24: The power transmission company said that the blackout in sections of Accra East, Winneba, Techiman, and Sunyani was caused by a technical fault upstream. The power blackout was announced by the Ghana Gas Firm, which said a compressor failure upstream triggered a loss of 750 megawatts of power at about 1 a.m., according to GRIDCo.
April 4th: The most recent power outage occurred. It was due to a technical issue by GRIDCo. The blackout was triggered by a conductor on the Tema-Accra East transmission line breaking at Trasacco, according to the company.
Analysts assume that if the current pattern persists, industries and enterprises will suffer as corporations will be forced to pay enormous amounts of money to fuel their power plants.
‘Dumsor not back’ assurances
GRIDCo promised that it has sufficient generation capacity to satisfy demand in Ghana, despite concerns that the country will resort to load shedding.
The first was an open letter written by its Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Amoako-Baah, in which he claimed that dumsor was not returning and that such erratic power cuts were unlikely to return.
He said that none of the key players in the power value chain were sitting on their laurels in their efforts to ensure the power supply was stable, accessible, consistent, and reliable at all times.
In subsequent media appearances, he largely blamed the occasional power outages on a grid update, rather than a routine load-shedding exercise, as many people appear to believe.
Later, GRIDCo stated that the country will suffer occasional power outages in the coming days, and that a timetable would be drawn up and made public as soon as possible to allow for numerous maintenance and repair activities to be carried out throughout the country’s power transmission and distribution chain.
Ebenezer Amankwah, GRIDCo’s Corporate Communications Manager, said the firm was working with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to figure out the best way to handle the outages in order to minimize the effect on Ghanaians.
GRIDCo, on the other hand, released a statement on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, calling for peace and stating that it had no intention of publishing a power rationing schedule.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the Electricity Minister, has also dismissed reports of a return to ‘dumsor.’
Read Also: Resolve staff unrest at Ghana Airport Business – Otumfuo to Transport Minister
Stakeholders’ take
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has vowed to look into recent power outages in the country and fix them.
While the GRDCo, ECG, and NEDCo are examining the issue, PURC has announced that it would conduct its own investigation and sanction non-compliant service providers.
The Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors, and Bulk Consumers (CIPDiB) has also called for a thorough inquiry into the problems with GRIDCo’s power infrastructure that resulted in a national power failure.
According to the Chamber, grid operators are required to examine the cause of the power outage, how the grid was stabilized, and make the results public, as well as take effective steps to prevent further outages.
Former Power Minister Dr. Kwabena Donkor argues that the problems facing the country’s power sector are financial rather than technological, as GRIDCo claims.
Meanwhile, Adam Mutawakilu, a former ranking member of Parliament’s special committee on Mines and Energy, claims that the mass power outages are the result of GRIDCo’s failure to adapt its infrastructure in reaction to power supply challenges.
Mr. Mutawakilu stressed the importance of a complex infrastructure to efficiently adapt to certain problems, as well as a continuous supply of fuel to emergency plants to allow them to provide power at such periods.
Furthermore, Wonder Madilo, a member of the opposition National Democratic Congress’s (NDC) National Communication Team, is skeptical of GRIDCo’s explanation for the country’s latest power outages.
The reason, he thinks, is a cock-and-bull story.
Due to the repeated blackouts, Ghanaians have continued to criticize the administration.
However, as strain increases on companies in Ghana’s power delivery chain as a result of recent sporadic power outages, Ghanaians have only been advised to handle the situation as efforts are made to address the country’s recent power problems.
SOURCE: ATLFMONLINE
