The Deputy Minister of Power, John Jinapor has hinted of a likely load shedding within the next two weeks following the extension of maintenance works on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.
[contextly_sidebar id=”EJAXjG3MPvDPwlqSCYGJLnHVJrOxpgHE”]Operators of the vessel shut it down for maintenance works which was initially scheduled to be completed on Tuesday, April 5, 2016. This was also to allow for the uptake of gas effective Saturday, April 9, 2016.
But a statement released by the Ministry of Power indicated an extension in the period of the maintenance works by an additional two weeks, due on Friday, April 22, 2016.
Speaking on the latest development on the Citi Breakfast Show, John Jinapor conceded that power producers will be constrained during the period,
“To be very honest with you in the next two weeks, it is a tight situation for us and we can have some deficit. It is very likely we will have a deficit. It is too early to draw the conclusion but it’s likely so let’s prepare, and that is why even for the two weeks that the FPSO went down, we did indicate that we are constrained but we will try and hold it. We still have that same agenda,” John Jinapor stated.
Government and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) had both assured that there would not be any distraction in the supply of power as measures had been put in place to ensure regular supply of gas to the VRA for power generation.
Some individuals however complained of the intermittent power supply during the period.
The situation has partly been attributed to a decline in gas supply from Nigeria Gas. Also, the AMERI power plant is not working due to the non- availability of gas from the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.
On whether or not engineers or managers of the Akosombo Dam will not sacrifice the availability of power for long term survival of the dam, John Jinapor said,
“I trust the engineers, I have absolute confidence in them… I prefer to rest the dam, some of the turbines for the next two weeks so that we have continuous supply of power than to risk running them for just two weeks for whatever expediency and then have a major problem ahead…So we will take the right decision,” He observed.
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By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana