The ongoing upgrading of the Kasoa and Pokuase substations, according to Minister of Energy Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, will result in intermittent power supply in May.
The Minister said his organization is currently engaging the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to strategize ahead of the planned outages at a forum in Accra on Thursday, April 8, 2021.
“Just two days ago, I received a letter from MiDA [Millennium Development Authority] who are helping upgrade the Pokuase and Kasoa substations. They informed me that the progress of the substation is such that in the month of May, there will be systematic power outages, so we have invited both ECG and GRIDCo and in the light of that, let us sit and plan and communicate with the people who will be affected way before it happens.”
The government is also finalizing the updating of the National Energy Policy, according to Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
“The final stages of consultation for a new Energy Policy are underway. It will be made open to all at the proper time of approval,” Dr. Prempeh added.
Ghanaians have been suffering sporadic power outages for the past few months, raising concerns that the nation will revert to the days of unreliable power supply known as “dumsor.”
GRIDCo, Ghana’s power transmission company, has insisted in numerous forums that the problems are technological and that the country will not suffer “dumsor.”
According to GRIDCo, some of the transmission lines are unreliable, and some regions may need to get their electricity disconnected in order for planned repair work to be completed.
In a statement released on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, the power transmission corporation also urged calm, stating that it has no plans to publish a power rationing schedule.
The government’s “populist decisions” are causing power struggles. Donkor, Kwabena
Meanwhile, former Minister of State, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, claims that the country’s current power struggles are the result of the Akufo-Addo government’s “populist” decisions made years earlier.
He said that decisions by the government, such as the decrease in electricity tariffs in 2018, deprive power sector managers of funds, causing them to delay much-needed maintenance work.
“They are not routine maintenance… GRIDCo had to suspend projects. When you suspend projects including critical maintenance, the situation becomes compounded and creates a bigger mess than you would have if you have gone by planned capital expansion and planned critical maintenance… GRIDCo had to suspend a number of projects because of poor cash flow,” the Pru East legislator said in a Citi News interview.
Source: ATLFMNEWSROOM
