The intermittent power outages that have rocked the country recently are the results of hitches that may drag till the end of the year, as the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) is forced to explain the situation.
In what has sent uncomfortable jitters down the spine of electricity consumers nationwide, the GRIDCo claims the planned power rationing is a result of maintenance of some power infrastructure in the country.
“For the first time, this year, we have crossed 3000 megawatts in terms of demand,” said, Director for Systems Operations at GRIDCo, Ing. Mark Awuah Baah, who addressed a press conference recently.
Further, Ing. Awuah Baah said the Bui Hydroelectric Power plant which is the only power plant in the central part of the country, has been shut down due to the low water level in the dam.
Among a number of projects that the government is rolling out in response to the exigencies are the construction of two power substations at Pokuase and Kasoa.
“In view of this, every power that the country requires has to come from the coast upwards towards the North. In order to address these challenges, we are putting together a number of projects. So currently, we are constructing the Pokuase substation and the Kasoa substation,” the GRIDCo spokesperson said.
According to him, the Pokuase substation is going to be a hub where the power that is being evacuated from Aboadze on the 330kV will come to before being sent to Tema.
Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh has been quick to take political insurance from developments, saying the intermittent power outages is by no means a pointer that the dreaded spells of blackouts in the past, “dumsor” has returned.
“What is happening is not as a result of a generational problem or fuel shortage.” Rather, it is as a result of some technical difficulties encountered at some power supply stations”.