General News of 2013-02-18

More load shedding to come, says ECG

The frequent power outages being experienced across the country are to worsen as load shedding intensifies, says the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
GRIDCo, the company which transmits electricity to the ECG, has instructed the company to shed an additional 400 megawatts of power across the country - the same cutting power to the whole of Ashanti, Volta, Eastern and Central Regions of Ghana.
Public Relations Officer of the ECG, William Boateng, who confirmed this to Joy News’ Evans Mensah said the situation is worse than imagined.
Prior to this announcement, many residents and businesses are already suffocating under a load management regime which sees power turned off at least three times a week for long hours.
Ghana's industrial hub has been taken over by the sound of noisy generators whose fuel has also been increased.
According to William Boateng the country does not appear to be following any time table for the load shedding.
Depending on the megawatts they are instructed to shed by GRIDCo on a particular day, the power may have to be cut, he indicated.
Asked why the load shedding persists, Boateng said the country is facing huge generation challenges which has nothing to do with distribution.
He could not say when the situation will be normalised.