ECG invests $21million to improve efficiency in Ashanti

The Electricity Company of Ghana has invested 21 million dollars in the supply of power distribution materials for Ashanti Region.

The amount is part of a $70million loan agreement for the company to implement various projects to improve operational efficiency.

The scope of the $21million project include the procurement of 600 distribution transformers, 15,000 poles and 8,800kms of conductors under the Ghana Energy Development and Access project.

As part of the loan agreement, ECG is to ensure these distribution materials are installed to improve on the network capacity and reliability in Ashanti Region.

Seven out of the 15 Business Centres in Ashanti are to benefit from this project.

The centres, which are mainly in the Kumasi metropolis, are Danyame, Asokwa, Abuakwa, Ayigya, Manhyia, Suame and Kwabre Business Centres.

“Our customers in the Ashanti Region can attest to the improvements in the delivery of power supply and other customer service activities. This is primarily due to the completion of major sub-transmission projects targeted at network expansion and capacity building.

“These projects have been commissioned and fully integrated into ECG network thereby improving the level of network reliability,” Samuel Boakye Appiah, Managing Director of ECG said.

Some of the projects include the rehabilitation of the Barekese Dam site substation and the construction of the Offinso primary substation complete with 33kv interconnecting circuit from the Agona Switching Station.

Others are the construction of 20km Double Circuit Tower line from Kaase to the Kuntenase Switching station and another line from Ridge to Neoplan station.

Addressing the project launch in Kumasi, Mr. Boakye Appiah, said the investment would help reduce distribution system loss and improve operational efficiency.

He said the company has signed various contracts targeted at clearing the bottlenecks within the sub-transmission network to enable for further expansion of the distribution network.

“These contracts, which are estimated to cost about GBP 30million and to be funded using ECG internally generated funds is an addition to the USD120 million already injected in the network to address various operational deficiencies,” he said.

The Deputy Minister of Energy, William Owuraku Aidoo, said the global environmental objective of the project is to support Ghana’s transit to a low-carbon economy through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

“I am sure you would agree with me that with improvements in the operational efficiency of the distribution system we are going to gain in Greenhouse gas emission reductions through fuels substation,” he noted.

He said villages, towns and communities are gradually substituting the use of wood fuel with electricity as a result of the grid expansion works carried out under the project as well as the government’s Productive Uses of Electricity [PUE] activities.