[ 2014-09-18 ]

Power system faces imminent collapse if... - GRIDco CEO fears
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Grid
Company (GRIDco), William Amuna, says the
country's power system may collapse entirely if
the current power rationing is not managed
properly.

GRIDco, the power transmitter, has announced it
will shut down all thermal plants by close of day
(Thursday) due to unavailability of gas supply
from Nigeria. The thermal plants -Asogli plant,
Mines Reserve Plant, Finesse plant all in Tema and
T3 in Aboadze- produce a total of 300 megawatts of
electricity.

They solely depend on gas to generate power but an
industrial action in Nigeria means Ghana will not
have the gas to power its plants.

Compelled by the development, the Electricity
Company of Ghana, the distributor announced
Wednesday, it will shed about 500 megawatts of
electricity supplied to consumers until things
normalise. A detailed schedule for the load
shedding which is deemed unprecedented, is
expected to be published Friday.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show, Mr. Amuna
said the power crisis could get worse if the ECG
fails to properly manage the exercise.

“What is going to happen is that if ECG is not
able to do that, we could collapse the power
system,” the GRIDco Chief dreaded.

He however, said the situation could improve if
the labour unrest in the exporting country is
resolved in the shortest possible time for the
supply to be restored.

“We are also hoping that this [shortage] will be
a short-lived problem from Nigeria and if they are
able to restore the gas supply then things will
improve significantly,” he stated.

Mr. Amuna has requested the public to “practice
proper demand side management” to save more
power. “If we do this we could save between
60-100 megawatts through demand side
management”.

The Executive Director of Africa Centre for Energy
Policy (ACEP), Mohammed Amin Adams, says the
country's energy problems have become persistent
“because most of the plants are undergoing
maintenance and repairs”.

But he believes the challenge could be minimized
significantly if the Atuabo Gas Plant fully comes
on stream.

"If we have the Atuabo gas, it will not solve the
problem completely but it will reduce the hardship
significantly,” Mr. Amin Adams said.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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