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About $90 million is urgently required by the Ghana Grid Company to deal with a potential power crisis caused by a shortage of fuel for thermal units.
The funds are required to buy liquid fuel, like as light crude oil, to power Tema’s thermal facilities and meet the growing demand for energy, according to the incoming government’s GRIDCo assessment.
The West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCO) conducted a pigging operation that temporarily interrupted the transport of natural gas, resulting in a shortage of producing capacity and the ensuing crisis.
WAGP was originally scheduled to perform maintenance on the gas pipelines from Nigeria to Ghana in October 2024, according to a statement released by the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo). The previous administration, however, delayed the maintenance until January 2025.
As the power producers lack enough liquid fuel to produce more energy, GRIDCo claims that if WAGP moves forward with the maintenance, the nation will experience a serious power crisis that will lead to frequent power outages, also known as dumsor.
“There is a deficit in generation capacity during the period of the WAPCO pigging exercise. Therefore, it is necessary to procure liquid fuel to operate thermal plants in Tema to meet demand,” GRIDCo stated.
GRIDCo emphasized that in order to stop the impending dumsor, the government will require “a total of US$ 89.90 million to purchase liquid fuel for running thermal plants and meet demand during the maintenance period.”
Felix Ofosu Kwakye, the acting presidential spokesperson, told Ghanaians that the government is acting decisively to address the problem, which has been made worse by a lack of fuel for thermal plants.
“Government has been briefed. It’s pretty urgent,” Ofosu Kwakye said during an engagement with the press.
“In order to address the situation, a technical committee has been set up with representatives from all the key players in the management of Ghana’s energy sector. They have up until the close of day today to put before government the roadmap on what exactly needs to be done and how it can be done. So you can be rest assured that government is taking the matter seriously and will do what has to be done in order to avert any difficulty for the people of Ghana.”
Source: Ghanatodayonline.com
