B&FT Editorial: Creeping power outages a big worry

While Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam has criticised the management of Sunon Asogli Power Plant Limited for acting in “bad faith” by shutting down its production plant over Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) unpaid debt, the Institute for Energy Securities warns of an extended version of power fluctuation or ‘dumsor’ if care is not taken.

Indeed, the recent shutdown of the 560 megawatt (MW) Sunon Asogli Power Plant – which reliably supplies about 12-15% of the nation’s electricity – is being felt with regard to electricity distribution.

In recent years, Ghana has been saddled with efforts to stabilise its power sector, balancing supply with demand to avoid the protracted outages that characterised the infamous ‘dumsor’ era.

That’s why the current situation with Sunon Asogli is problematic, if not unfortunate.

The sudden removal of 560MW from the system has created a vacuum that other power producers are unlikely to fill promptly, given the constraints of limited generation and ongoing financial stress in the sector.

In fact, Sunon Asogli is demanding an immediate payment of at least US$60million to meet its debt obligations. We dare say, without meaningful resolution, there is little indication that the company will be able to resume operations.

This Paper’s worry, together with industry as a whole, is that should dumsor occur again the economy may face significant setbacks. To avert an impending power crisis, it is imperative to find both short-term and long-term solutions.

The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) says ongoing power outages in parts of the country are due to a gas shortage to power thermal plants, affecting electricity transmission.

GRIDCo’s Corporate Communications Manager, Dzifa Bampoh indicated that the gas supply challenges stem from “commercial issues” involving agreements, payments and negotiations with gas suppliers.

The Corporate Communications Manager explained further that this means there are agreements, payment and negotiations which need to be made with gas suppliers.

She however said that the outages are unrelated to Sunon Asogli Power Limited’s shutdown. Even if the Sunon Asogli plant were operational, gas supply shortages would still prevent it from functioning effectively.

This leaves the ordinary consumer of electricity in a quandary as to what is the real reason behind these unannounced outages.