Load shedding in the offing

as gas supply from Nigeria continues to dwindle

The Volta River Authority might revert to load shedding exercise in the supply of electricity due to a shortfall in gas supply from Nigeria.

VRA¹s Head of Public Relations, Mrs Getrude Koomson says if the supply of gas does not increase, ³we cannot avoid load shedding, because the demand for power continues to grow at a pace that we are not adding so much capacity².

Mrs Getrude Koomson said this in an interview on the Big Bite Morning Show on Xfm95.1.

Even though the Volta River Authority has announced an end to the month-long nationwide load shedding exercise, the country continues to experience some nationwide blackouts occasionally while some areas still experience power outages.

However, Mrs Koomson this is due to inadequate supply of gas from the West Africa Gas Pipeline.

ŒWe are expecting the contractual volume of 123btu or million cubic feet per day but we get about forty, fifty and even sixty which is insufficient¹ she stated.

She revealed that her outfit by June this year will commission a 132megaWatt plant facility to supplement electricity generation to meet high demands.

Until then, she said ³as much as it depends on us, we will try not to shed loadŠbut when the need arises, we will announce it and we will see which areas to be affected and on which days².

Meanwhile the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei, has ordered the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to set up a technical committee to investigate the circumstances that have led to a string of nation-wide blackouts in recent times.

They are to submit their report to the ministry within 24 hours.

Story by Dennis Nii Lantey Lawson/Xfm95.1/Accra/Ghana