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| First Set Of Generators In Operation |
4/10/2007 |
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The first set of emergency power generators has started working in Tema, producing an additional 30 megawatts of power to augment national energy supplies.
It forms part of a total of 136 megawatts of power expected from the generating plants imported by the government to ease the energy crisis in the short term.
The Minister of Energy, Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, who announced this at a news conference in Accra last Thursday, said the government was tackling the problem from a well-thought out approach which was designed to address short-term, as well as medium to long-term, needs.
He said a sod-cutting ceremony to kick-start the actual construction work on the Bui Dam project would be held in the middle of June this year to add about 400 megawatts of power to the national electricity grid.
Mr Adda said a team from the Ministry of Energy was presently in China to finalise the contract for construction work on the $600 million project to begin.
On the relocation of the Osagyefo Barge from Efaso in the Western Region, he said a number of firms had expressed interest to operate the barge where it was now under a lease arrangement.
Mr Adda said should that become successful, “we will expect power from it from wherever the company can best operate it, since the objective is to get power”.
The government had intended to relocate the barge from its present location to Tema but the cost involved was considered to be too huge, hence the decision to give it out on lease.
Mr Adda allayed the fears of Ghanaians, saying that measures had been put in place to ensure that the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) supplied enough diesel for the plants on a sustainable basis.
He, therefore, appealed to the consuming public to bear with the Volta River Authority (VRA) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in these trying times as they managed the power situation.
The two companies have resorted to a power rationing exercise to save the Akosombo Dam from collapse as a result of the low level of water in the Volta Lake.
In spite of a schedule drawn by the VRA/ECG, there seems to be an outcry from the consuming public that the two companies are not going by their own schedule.
Mr Adda said engineers were working around the clock to be able to manage the situation, in spite of the many constraints which they were facing.
He recounted the serious injuries sustained by four workers of the ECG last week while on duty at one of the main sub-stations of the company in Tema and said “they are not resting on their laurels but are doing all they can to ensure that they keep to the schedule”.
Mr Adda said no one was interested in putting off the power against the prescribed schedule and indicated that there was the need for the public to exercise maximum patience to enable the two companies to have the concentration to do their work.
Reacting to concerns about the President’s alleged promise to get the energy crisis resolved within two weeks from the day he presented his State of the Nation Address in Parliament, Mr Adda said, "The fact of the matter is that the President has, indeed, discussed the matter with his colleagues from two countries and the understanding was reached," adding that "the 200 megawatts consisted of a supply of 120 megawatts from Cote d''Ivoire and 80 megawatts savings to be made from Nigerian supplies to Togo and Benin".
He said while Nigeria succeeded in delivering the 80 megawatts to Togo and Benin with difficulty, it could not give anything over and above that to Ghana, while Cote d''Ivoire was unable to keep to its promise, as it had also resorted to power rationing as a result of some challenges.
Source:
Daily Graphic
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