<<Print>>The Power Ministry has scheduled an emergency meeting between the power providers – Volta River Authority (VRA), Gridco and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) over what has been described as probable worsening of the power crisis.
Just when government started getting plaudits for the marginal improvement and stability in the power situation, there are reports that a total of almost 600 megawatts is likely to be shed in the coming days. Between the 10th and 16th October about 300 megawatts was shed, gradually shifting the country back into the extensive load shedding era.
Information gathered by tv3network.com indicates that currently an amount of 210 megawatts is being shed in Greater Accra, 120 megawatts in the Ashanti region, 100 megawatts for Tema, 16 megawatts for the Western region, 14 megawatts for Central region and 12 megawatts for the Eastern region.
From these reports, the most affected regions would be Greater Accra and Ashanti regions if the rumours are implemented. Our sources within the sector have also said the recent rains have damaged some cables and equipment within the power supply chain.
To Pay or Not to Pay
There has been a raging debate amongst consumers as to whether or not to pay "realistic" tariffs for 'regular' or 'consistent' supply of the utilities - Water and Electricity.
President John Mahama has in his recent comments on the power situation charged Ghanaians to be prepared to pay more for power if they want reliable supply. This he says would help the utilities clear their debt, fix broken down equipment, change obsolete ones etc, all in a bid to supply power consistently.
Ghana’s debt to N-Gas
Nigeria Gas (N-Gas), the main gas producer for Ghana and other West African countries through the West African Gas Pipeline threatened to cut gas supply to Ghana following the country’s indebtednesses to them to the tune of over $170 million.
A few days after the threat, N-Gas eased the fears of many by stating that Ghana had paid $10 million and agreed on a payment plan to be completed by February 2016 so there was no need to cut the supply.
But information gathered by tv3network.com has it that one of the fuses controlling the gas flow on one of the pipelines is faulty and this has led to a drop in the gas supply to Ghana. About 100 standard cubic feet of gas has stopped flowing into Ghana since Saturday due to this problem.