Minister urges collective effort to solve energy crisis

The Ministry of Power is calling on Ghanaians to move away from partisan discussions and bring their collective efforts and contributions to bear in finding lasting solutions to the energy crisis.

“We have crisis on our hands. As gloomy as it is that is the situation right now. It’s not about the NDC, it’s not about the NPP,” he said.

Addressing a stakeholder meeting on the energy sector organized by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC), Dr Donkor said the energy crisis must be seen as national challenge that required the collective efforts of all.

Dr Donkor said efforts were being made in the short to medium term to see the end of the current load shedding regime, adding that, government is doing all it could to secure power barges to help with the situation.

He said government would soon bring in two power barges into the country, adding that, “Some works would have to be done in Ghana to enable evacuation when the first badge anchors at the Tema Harbour and once we have financial closure, those works will start,” he added.

Dr Donkor said government was working to ensure the availability of 1,000 mega watts by the close of the year to reduce the impact on electricity consumers.

He said there are plans to generate power from coal to generate more power in the future.

Dr Wereko Brobbey, Energy Consultant, said there was the need for a realistic assessment of the energy situation and a time-table drawn to ensure short-term closure of the energy deficit gap.

This, he said, government could do by engaging the services of external energy producers to provide electricity in the short-term to reduce the impact of the crisis on industries and other productive sectors.

Professor Frimpong Boateng, who chaired the session, said efforts should be made to explore other sources of energy such as biomass and solar to complement what is being sourced from the traditional sources.