Bui Dam ‘resuscitated’ by Ghana-US match

After it was reportedly shut down last week as a result of low water levels, the Bui Dam temporarily came to life on Monday, June 16 when demand for power across the country went high as a result of Ghana's FIFA World Cup match against the United States of America.

The Dam was fallen back on for 180megawatts (MW) of power on Monday.

This was part of measures put in place by the country’s power-producing companies to enable football fans across the country watch Ghana’s opener.

The exercise is expected to continue anytime the Black Stars play, an official of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) told TV3’s Sandra Amarquaye on Tuesday.

Albert Kwesi Quainoo, the Company’s Head of Public Relations, also noted that Togo and Benin were denied about 100MW of power during the period.

La Cote d’Ivoire also fulfilled its promise by providing 50MW during the period.

Some key energy-consuming industries including VALCo, Newmont, Diamond Cement, Goldfields Ghana and Golden Star Resources were also prevailed upon to reduce production.

This was complemented by the energy conservation attitudes exhibited by Ghanaians, Mr Quainoo disclosed.

GRIDCo, as a result, on Tuesday, a day after the match, expressed gratitude to all these stakeholders for steady energy supply from 10:00pm to 12:00pm when Ghana played USA.

“GRIDCo is very grateful for this general contribution to conserve electricity and appeals to Ghanaians to continue to support this national effort at energy conservation during subsequent matches and beyond,” the release stated.

It added: “GRIDCo also appreciates the immense contribution of the ECG, VRA and other generators, and its staff of the System Control Center for managing the value-chain in keeping the lights during the night.”

GRIDCo urged all to continue to conserve electricity in order to keep the power system efficient, given the generation constraints and the public interest in the world cup.

Meanwhile, some residents – in Maamobi to be precise – expressed disappointment with the power-producing companies for a black-out in the area during the match.

“The phase went off at around 9:45pm when we had had light since morning,” a resident told TV3. “I am really disappointed.”

That resident had to join other viewers at a park, where a big screen had been mounted.