Power outages: IES demands transparency from GRIDCo

A research analyst at the Institute for Energy Security (IES) Fritz Moses has called on managers of the power sector in the country to be transparent about the recent power outages.

Ghana experienced a nationwide power cut on Sunday, March 7 topping weeks of infrequent power supply in parts of the country.

The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) however says the country is not back to the days of protracted erratic power supply popularly known as ‘dumsor’.

He said “This was based on System studies and line transmission fault; at times you could anticipate, meaning we may or not be able to identify before the problem occur which requires emergency activities to stabilize power. Yesterday situation also tripped other agency transmission lines which easily caused total power shutdown”.

He continued that “Dumsor is not back, I know people will be asking questions. We have adequate generation capacity to meet demand in the country. Issues like this happen when there’s gas flow challenges and other few challenges but the assurance is that we have qualified engineers and technical team who are on standby to address some of these challenges so yesterday was a clear example of commitment to ensure a stable power system for all Ghanaians to enjoy’’.

Speaking to Francis Abban on the Morning Starr Tuesday, Mr Moses GRIDCo should be forthcoming with further details on the situation.

“Within the past weeks, if you look at the power outages, we’re calling out GRIDCo to bring out better particulars. We think we haven’t had full details about what happened at the Obuasi and Prestea lines and what caused the tripping.

“We have enough dependable capacity but the issue has been maintenance of their machines and upgrades. We have been experiencing these outages for some time now but what happened on Sunday tends to leave room for doubt as to whether we have the right capacity or making the right investments”.