The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, Adam Mutawakilu, has bemoaned the surge in erratic power supply also known as dumsor in recent times.
According to him, power cuts reveal the deep-seated challenges in the energy sector that ought to be tackled.
Addressing the media, the Damango MP called for the release of a load shedding timetable.
“No gatherings mean that those who mostly go out for prayers at churches and mosques will now stay home. We expected that you as a concerned President will ensure that we will not experience dumsor but dumsor is at its peak for no apparent reason. Because we have enough installed capacity. He [the President] complains of excess capacity. This is the time we need excess capacity to come to play. Excess capacity is for situations like this where people stay more at home. If demand is increasing, you should be able to meet it. But the dumsor that we are facing is more of a disaster.”
He further accused the National Petroleum Authority of colluding with the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to deprive Ghanaians of a proper reduction in fuel prices at the pumps.
“In the first window of the international market price in January, it was US$606 per metric tonne and by the second window in March, it dropped to US$337 per metric tonne. Relating to the local market, it only reduced by 4.7%. This is a clear cheat and we will not sit down for NPA to collude with the OMCs to cheat Ghanaians. And they must come clear and ensure that they reduce it to a minimum of 20% for Ghanaians to benefit from it. We deserve it,” he said.
Background
The country has been experiencing widespread power outage for weeks now.
The lights went off a few minutes after 9 pm on Saturday, March 14, 2020, in parts of the country including Greater Accra, Central, Northern, Eastern, Upper East, Upper West, Volta and Oti Regions.
The same incident happened on Sunday and Monday, leaving areas such as Adabraka, Lapaz, Avenor and North Kaneshie in Accra in total darkness.
GRIDCo blames blackouts on performance test at Tema gas metering station
The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), had said the prolonged power outages experienced in parts of the country is due to a performance test on a new regulating and metering gas station in Tema.
GRIDCo added that some plants in Aboadze experienced gas flow challenges, hence the inability to generate power.
GRIDCo in a statement saids the challenges have been resolved with power restored to all affected bulk supply points today [Tuesday].
“The Ghana Grid Company wishes to inform the general public that on Monday, March 16, 2020, the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGPCo) undertook a scheduled performance test on a new regulating and metering gas station in Tema. This led to limited gas supply to power plants in the Tema enclave. Additionally, some plants in the Aboadze enclave also experienced gas flow challenges; making them unable to generate power. These two incidents led to disruptions in available generation, resulting in prolonged power outages in parts of the country yesterday.”
