The opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) has predicted a power crisis and the return of load shedding if President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) are retained in office at the December polls.
The NPP, in a bleak analysis of the power sector, has said Ghana could experience up to 700 megawatts of power shortage early in 2017 resulting from factors ranging from a drop in gas supply to a reduction in power imported.
[contextly_sidebar id=”FH4cW5zf6EzevchTBn59yNyP9wUK15tT”]Addressing a news conference today [Wednesday], Policy Advisor to the NPP campaign, Boakye Agyarko, outlined the reasons for the party’s projections and chided the NDC for not demonstrating “any measure of control” in addressing power challenges.
He stated that gas supply from Nigeria was cut in June 2016 and may not resume anytime soon due to government’s failure to pay outstanding debts in excess of $160 million.
This will be compounded by the projection that “Gas supply from jubilee field will also stop as the FPSO is expected to shut down for repairs for a period between three to six months,” Mr. Agyarko said, thus the Asogli and AMERI plants may not be able to generate enough power.
“Temporary stability in power supply has been anchored on imports [from Cote d’Ivoire] of an average of 160 megawatts, mainly hydro power, but this will not be available when the dry season sets in,” he added.
“We are therefore estimating that Ghana will experience up to 700 megawatts of power shortage early next year which may be dragged lower as Akosombo is being over drafted in spite of the low water level.”
Potential China agreement to worsen matters
Mr. Agyarko also suggested that the situation would worsen because of a “dangerous” agreement government is seeking to secure with China.
“We can disclose that the Mahama Cabinet has recently given approval to a proposal which they hope will entice the China Development Bank to reactivate the remaining $2 billion of the $3 billion Chinese loan,” he said.
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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana