ECG, GRIDCo collaborate to boost power supply in Ashanti region

The Ashanti sub-transmission of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has entered into an inter-sector arrangement with the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) to boost supply capacity and meet the growing demand for electricity in the region.

The mutual agreement was reached at a meeting held at GRIDCo's headquarters in Anwomaso.

The arrangement, as agreed upon after the meeting, is to install a 145MVA power transformer between GRIDCo and ECG Bulk Supply Points. This will replace one of the three 50MVA transformers to increase the installed capacity and meet the growing demand in load, especially during the peak period, which is between 7 pm and 11 pm.

Before this capacity-building arrangement, the 50MVA transformers at the Anwomaso Bulk Supply Point sometimes stretched to their maximum loading capacity due to the increase in demand at peak times.

However, with the installation of the 145MVA transformer, the total installed capacity will be 245MVA, instead of the existing 150MVA (that is, three 50MVA transformers).

The two stakeholders believe this will help improve supply capacity and reliability in the region. Similarly, at the meeting, there was an agreement to upgrade the Obuasi and Konongo Substations with 50/66 MVA transformers to meet the growing industrial needs in those enclaves and improve supply reliability in the areas.

There were also discussions to send another 145MVA to Ridge BSP shortly to increase the supply capacity of the station, and the region as a whole. After the discussions between the two companies, there was a site visit to assess where the 145 MVA transformer could be installed.

Ing. Peter Kofi Fletcher, General Manager for Ashanti Sub-transmission, and his team discussed with the GRIDCo team on-site to find a suitable location for the new transformer to reduce the material cost of cable laying and other civil works.

Currently, the region has two Bulk Supply Points, Anwomaso and Ridge, that supply high-voltage power to other primary substations, which in turn feed the local transformers to serve consumers.