President of the Republic of Ghana, H.E John Mahama, has expressed his commitment to solve the looming energy crisis, stating that the country has the expertise and human resources to address the ongoing challenges in the sector.
President Mahama acknowledged the challenges in the sector but expressed confidence in the nation’s ability to overcome them.
“There are a few surprises that have come up in respect of the energy sector, in respect of some aspects of governments decisions and things over the last seven years,” he said in an interview.
“But I think that Ghana has the human resources to be able to deal with the situation and turn things around as quickly as possible,” Mr Mahama stated.
His remarks come in response to concerns raised by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei-Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, who warned of a looming energy crisis due to insufficient fuel stocks for power generation.
His remarks come in response to concerns raised by the Member of Parliament (MP) for Yapei-Kusawgu, John Abdulai Jinapor, who warned of a looming energy crisis due to insufficient fuel stocks for power generation.
Jinapor revealed that the outgoing Nana Akufo-Addo-led government had failed to procure the necessary fuel despite multiple warnings.
“If you look at the heavy fuel oil and diesel fuel, we don’t have enough to last two days. So, in two days’ time, we are likely to run out of fuel,” he warned.
Meanwhile, the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has stated that the incoming government will require $89.90 million to purchase liquid fuel in the absence of natural gas.
According to them, this is crucial to ensuring that electricity generation companies can produce sufficient power to meet national demand.
The West Africa Gas Pipeline Company (WAGP), which supplies natural gas to the country, is scheduled to undergo a major maintenance work, known as pigging, and will be unable to supply gas to Ghana for nearly one month.
In a statement issued by GRIDCo, the maintenance of the gas pipelines from Nigeria to Ghana by WAGP was initially set to take place in October 2024. However, the previous government postponed the maintenance to January 2025.
According to GRIDCo, if WAGP proceeds with the maintenance, the country will face a severe power crisis, resulting in frequent power outages, commonly referred to as dumsor, as the power producers do not have sufficient liquid fuel to generate more electricity.
Source: Joy News
