Many parts of the country for some time now have experienced persistent and erratic power outages, and the question of whether or not Dumsor has resurfaced has emerged. The President of Ghana, however, in his address during the recent State of the Nation Address, assured Ghanaians that Dumsor is a thing of the past.
Despite the President’s assurance, the continuous load shedding in various parts of the country can only lead to the conclusion that the energy sector is grappling with intermittent power supply. The current Dumsor situation is affecting the daily operation businesses.
Commenting on the issue, Mr. Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of the Africa Center for Energy Policy (ACEP) indicated that power load is being shed nationwide in recent times. He stated that the institutions in the energy sector responsible for power supply may want to delay admitting to it but the ordinary Ghanaian by their experiences so far can attest to it that Dumsor has resurfaced.
Furthermore, he disclosed that on the 2nd of February, the country had a power shortfall of 530Mw while power export was cut to 108Mw also, on the 14th of February, there was a power shortfall of 390Mw while power export was cut to 109Mw and on 16th of February there was 360Mw power shortfall and 110Mw was shed.
Mr. Benjamin Boakye asserted that the public needs to know what the issue is exactly to adjust and plan accordingly. He indicated that the power supply unit does not have fuel to operate backup generators. He further disclosed that the energy sector is currently facing management and financial problems.
“That is why people are happy to explain the problem and not how we manage the energy sector as a system. Because if you have a system and you have generation, transmission, and distribution, you always have to make sure that all of them are working right and if one of them is not working, the system collapses”.
Mr. Benjamin Boakye
Moreover, Mr. Benjamin Boakye disclosed that the challenge of the power sector is its inability to figure out how the components of production; generation, transmission, and distribution work together. He stressed that the energy sector does not have enough generation capacity to supply the public with power.
He further advised that the energy sector must make more investments in the power sector to be able to meet the increasing demands of the public as new businesses and houses are springing up daily. He warned that without the necessary investment, the problem with power generation and supply will persist.
Implications For The External Market
The Executive Director of ACEP also revealed that due to the shortfall in power supply, export has to be reduced to meet domestic demands. He indicated that the cut down on power export may affect state institutions like the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) financially as these institutions rely on revenue generated from exports.
Hon. John Jinapor, Member of Parliament of Yapei Kusawgu constituency and a member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament also emphasized that the power sector is dealing with technical and financial issues. He advised the government to repair faulty power plants and mobilize funds to buy heavy fuels to run the power plants.
“Why the government decided to relocate Ameri to Kumasi at this point beats my imagination. If Ameri was available, being a modular plant, it means that even with limited gas, you can fire some of the plants. The foreign market is a lucrative market for Ghana and VRA in particular. We export power to Togo, Burkina Faso, and Togo…and we are losing that market”.
Hon. John Jinapor
Hon. John Jinapor argued that the current power issue is not a political issue and must not be politicized. He directed the government to inform the public so that the people could schedule their activities accordingly.
The Member of Parliament also indicated that the energy sector levy ought to be used for its intended purpose. He disclosed that the former Minister of the sector regularly borrowed from the fund for non-energy-related expenditures. He emphasized that the practice must cease so that the energy sector has some resources to fall on when the need arises.
Though the government gave an assurance that Dumsor is not resurfacing, recent frequent power outages state otherwise. As the issue of constant power outages persists, the government has yet to give any schedule for the public to work around as is normally the practice.
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