The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), has disclosed that there has been a high demand for electricity in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer of GRIDCo, Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi, indicated that the demand for electricity in the country stands at 3,206MW, one of the highest recorded.
“The highest demand pulled from the system that we have ever recorded is 3206MW. So, it means the demand from all of us [that is] our factory and our homes totaling 3206MW and that’s the highest we’ve ever gotten to”.
Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi
According to Mr. Essienyi, the demand growth for electricity has increased since 2008 and will continue to increase in the subsequent years. Also
“So, you see the constant growth in demand? Which means that year on year, we need to make available more power to meet this demand and it will keep growing”.
Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi
The GRIDCo CEO noted that currently,;Ghana has over 5200-megawatt power plant installed capacity.
“We have installed over 5200 megawatts in Ghana,;and it encompasses the Volta River Authority (VRA) and other Independent Power Producers IPPs”.
Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi
According to him, these number of plants, including hydro and thermal plants are transmitting over 6400 circuit kilometres throughout the country to bulk customers. He added that some are also transmitted beyond the borders of Ghana and some of these lines are equipped with the fibre optics to enable communication functions to be carried out.
“Now with these plants, we have a hydro plant that uses water like Akosombo, Bui or Kpong. The others are thermal plants which uses fuel. The fuel, we have gas and we have some using heavy fuel. In some some cases, we use crude oil”.
Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi
Reduction in power outages
Also speaking on Ghana’s power supply,;the Director of System of Operation for GRIDCo,;Mark Baah, disclosed that power outages has reduced considerably in some parts of Accra.
Mr. Baah attributed the decrease in power to the construction of a bulk supply point of power within the business district of Accra. He stated that the construction of the substation has also enabled the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to send power at a lower cost.
“In view of that, outages to the central business district have reduced actually. This is because we don’t need to send power from Achimota or Adjiringanor; now it is right at the business hub. So, it has reduced outages considerably”.
Mark Baah
Mr. Baah disclosed that GRIDCo has received a $17 million loan from the French Development Agency,;Agence Française de Développement (AFD),;to boost infrastructure works on some major transmission lines between Accra and Tema.
He indicated that the high demand for power within the Accra-Tema area has become necessary to undertake the reconstruction exercise.
“If we don’t reinforce the system here, it becomes difficult to stabilize the system. Accra and Tema alone consume about 40% of Ghana’s power demand, so it is very high. There is a lot of [power] generation in Tema, and these have to be evacuated to Accra”.
Mark Baah
Mr. Baah revealed that the reconstruction works will be completed by March 2022. This, he highlighted, will aid in power stability in the region and surrounding areas.
