Two energy experts have predicted that the ongoing load-shedding will extend beyond this year.
Kwame Jantuah and Kwadwo Poku say a lack of planning and misplaced priorities by managers of the energy sector have translated into the current crisis, fearing that the worse is yet to come.
“We are leaving the problems to meet us before we plan for them. Dumsor, dumsor is not going to end by end of this year, it’s impossible,” said Kwame Jantuah.
Kwadwo Poku’s forecast is more specific: “We are going to have maybe six hours of light-off in a day. Dumsor as we know it is going to take a long time”.
Kwame Juantuah and Kwadwo Poku made these predictions on PM Express Thursday on Joy News channel (Multi TV).
It emerged Thursday that new technical problems at the power producer, Volta River Authority (VRA), will cripple the company’s ability to generate power, triggering fears that the power supply situation could grow from bad to worse.
The VRA plants in the Western region are currently only able to generate 150 megawatts out of a maximum of about 600megawatts because of technical faults.
Due to the faults, the VRA is unable to process the optimum volume of gas which the Ghana Gas Company is ready to supply.
VRA is hoping to resolve the problem before Friday so it can take more gas from Ghana Gas in Atuabo in the Western Region.
Mr Poku said because Ghana produces gas directly from source to usage without any storage, “immediately there is a valve problem or there is a hitch at where the gas is coming from obviously there is not stop gap, which is what the problem is now”.
Kwadwo Poku believes the challenges in the power sector are deep-rooted compounded by the fact that majority of Ghana’s current generation mix is thermal and unstable gas supplies from Nigeria.
He said government’s priorities are also misplaced, spending money where it should not.
“Some residential areas where the roads are not even spoilt, they are putting asphalt. Where there are walkways, there are putting new walkways,” he said.
He has recommended for a long term solution to Ghana’s power challenge. He had earlier called for a special committee to be set up to deal with the power challenges in the long term.
Source: myjoyonline.com
