Power supply situation critical-Ministry

Centre Spread, Dec 16, 2009
Story: Emmanuel Adu-Gyamerah
THE Ministry of Energy has admitted that the current power supply situation in the country has reached “critical” levels.
A Deputy Minister of Energy, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah, told Parliament yesterday that the supply of power was “characterised by inadequate generation reserve margin, excessive transmission network constraints and poor voltage support, especially during the peak demand period of between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. each day”.
In a statement on the floor of the House on the causes of the frequent power outages in the country and measures being put in place to address them, Mr Buah stated that voltage levels in Kumasi and northwards were below normal levels during peak periods.
He said the current total installed generation capacity was about 1,945 megawatts. However, as of December 9, 2009, due to ongoing scheduled maintenance activities, the total available capacity was about 1,425 megawatts.
He stated, however, that power generation did not appear to be a major source of the current power outages, as the total capacity should be sufficient to meet the demand and reserve requirements of the country.
Mr Buah said there had been few occasions when the total generation capacity available was almost equal to the highest peak demand of 1,400 megawatts or even below and no capacity was available for reserve.
He explained that under that condition, the system operator was forced to curtail some load to meet supply, as failure to do so could result in system collapse.
He added that over the past 10 years, electricity demand had grown at an average annual rate of about seven per cent, explaining that to keep pace with such demand, the Electricity Company of Ghana must find resources to keep expanding the network in such a way that the size of the network infrastructure had to double every 10 years.
He said to solve some of the problems, a number of network improvement projects under various funding facilities had been embarked on to tackle some of the identified problems in the distribution system.
Mr Buah stated that one of the measures adopted to minimise power outages was the introduction of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system which was used for the automation of the high and medium voltage networks.
He added that the system, which was mainly used in Accra, was being expanded to cover Kumasi and Sekondi-Takoradi, adding that it would enhance network operation.
He said even though the number of projects was expected to bring a significant improvement in the distribution network, it was estimated that about $1 billion would be required for capital investments in the distribution system in the medium term to ensure a reliable distribution network in the country.
Meanwhile, the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday vetted Dr Nii Oakley Quaye-Kumah, who has been nominated by the President for the position of Deputy Minister of Health.
He promised to assist the substantive minister to implement policies of the government to ensure the good health of the people.