The Ministry of Energy has challenged claims by the Minority that the country is experiencing a nationwide power crisis.
The Minority at a press conference on Wednesday asked the Energy Ministry to publish a nationwide power rationing timetable for Ghanaians.
According to former Power Minister, John Jinapor, the actions of President Akufo-Addo and his government have led to the return of the current power challenges.
However, reacting to the call, the Energy Ministry said there is no need for such a timetable because the power challenge is not being experienced across the country.
“For the record, there has been no nationwide load shedding in the country, neither has there been an attempt to embark on one because there is no need to. Some of the projects ongoing in Accra and Kasoa, for example, will require outages for some days. The Pokuase timetable is out, starting from May 10 to May 17th, 2021. That of Kasoa is yet to be published and shall be released at the appropriate time when the necessary arrangements and consultations with the relevant stakeholders have taken place.”
“The only reason these outages are being carried is to allow for the contractors to tie in their works into the existing transmission lines. It is therefore false to claim, as the Minority in Parliament has, that political pressure has been brought to bear on the publishing of a load shedding timetable,” the statement noted.
Below are other details noted by the Energy Ministry
- Feeder outages in Kumasi arising from low water levels in the Bui Dam enclave. Bui is a peaking plant for transmission services to Ashanti, Bono regions, and the Northern parts of Ghana. Bui is crucial, in that it is able to energise the low voltages in power being supplied from the south into Ashanti and the north).
- Prestea-Obuasi Transmission line trips, leading to a total system shutdown (the line that tripped affected other adjacent lines. This curtailed supply and caused a system shutdown).
- Gas flow challenges upstream — arising from challenges in the WAPCo supply line.
- Gas Compressor faults reported by Ghana Gas.
- Localised outages within the distribution chain
