Sunon Asogli did not act in bad faith; no agreement struck with IPPs yet - Dr. Apetorgbor

The Chief Executive of the Independent Power Producers’ of Ghana, Dr. Elikplim Apetorgbor, has noted that the claims regarding Sunon Asogli’s decision to shut down its 560 megawatts plant was not an 'act of bad faith' as purported by the finance minister.

According to him, the government had not upheld its financial commitments, which left the company with few options culminating in the decision to suspend its operations.

He also added that the government has no agreement with the power producers as indicated by the finance minister.

“I am not aware when we have agreed to sign restructuring terms with anyone. We are still negotiating. No one goes into a negotiation to lose. It is always a win-win affair. And he [Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam] has always maintained a position that if you will not accept this, I am not going to pay you. And even if we are signing, what it means is that we have reached a meeting point. But to the best of my knowledge, there is nothing like that. We are not there yet.

“He [the finance minister] has promised countless times to make payment to Sunon Asogli but he has not honoured those obligations or those promises. But today he’s saying that somebody is acting in bad faith. What is worse than that? You owe me about $259 million,” he was quoted by citinewsroom.com.

Apetorgbor noted that the power producers operating in the country lack the adequate working capital hence the need for the government to pay its debts.

“Give me $60 million out of that for us to negotiate about the $2 million. And you are saying this is bad faith. We are faced with a challenge. We lack the working capital to resume operation or to continue operation,” he added.

Sunon Asogli, in a statement on October 16, 2024 announced the closure of its plant attributing the decision to the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) significant outstanding debt of $259 million, excluding fuel costs, as of September 2024.

This led to a widespread power outage across various parts of Ghana, with many communities experiencing unreliable electricity supply.

SSD/MA

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