The Institute of Energy and Securities (IES) has called on managers of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), to be transparent about the recent power outages in the country.
Speaking in an interview on behalf of the IES, a research analyst at the Institute, Fritz Moses said GRIDCo should be forthcoming with further details on the situation.
“Within the past weeks, if you look at the power outages, we’re calling out GRIDCo to bring out better particulars. We think we haven’t had full details about what happened. At the Obuasi and Prestea lines and what caused the tripping.”
Fritz Moses
His comment comes on the back of the power outages the nation has been experiencing in recent times.
Read Also: Technical Fault At Prestea And Obuasi Caused Power Outage- GRIDCo
He further said the country has enough power generating capacity but the Sunday outage however has brought some doubts.
“We have enough dependable capacity but the issue has been maintenance of their machines and upgrades. We have been experiencing these outages for some time now but the happening on Sunday tends to leave room for doubt. As to whether we have the right capacity or making the right investments”.
Fritz Moses
CIPDiB Demands Full-Scale Investigation
Meanwhile, the Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors and Bulk Consumers (CIPDiB) is also demanding a full-scale investigation into challenges in GRIDCo’s power system that led to a total system shutdown and power outage nationwide. .
According to the Chamber, it expects that the grid managers will investigate the cause of the power failure and how the grid was restored. It is also expecting GRIDCo to make public the findings as well as appropriate measures to forestall future occurrences.
Speaking in an interview Chief Executive of the Chamber, Elikplim Apetorgbor, noted that as IPPs, they are concerned about the reliability, security and integrity of the grid as it is very sensitive to the safety of the nation’s facilities.
“GRIDCo’s role in the electricity value chain is a sensitive one. We have every reason to be worried, so we expect a thorough technical investigation and evaluation. To ascertain the cause of the blackout or the grid failure that we experienced. And the findings must be made public as well as appropriate measures taken to forestall future occurrences.”
GRIDCo on “Dumsor”
However, the GRIDCO says the country is not back to the days of protracted power supply popularly known as ‘dumsor’.
Corporate Communications Manager at GRIDCO, Ebenezer Amankwah, speaking on radio reiterates the power outages were due to a technical fault.
“Dumsor is not back, I know people will be asking questions. We have adequate generation capacity to meet demand in the country. Issues like this happen when there’s gas flow challenges and other few challenges but the assurance is that we have qualified engineers and technical team who are on standby to address some of these challenges… to ensure a stable power system for all Ghanaians to enjoy’’.
Ebenezer Amankwah
According to him, the fault led to overloads on other adjacent transmission lines leading to a sequence of trips and an eventual power system shutdown in the country. He further added that, engineers of the team were able to address the problem within a specific period. IES
