The African Center For Energy Policy (ACEP) has called for pragmatic steps to stock fuel in order to power the nation’s thermal plants to avert a power crisis in the near future.
According to the group, Ghana already has enough capacity but currently requires the financial strength to acquire more fuel to produce stable power.
Speaking to Citi Business News, the Head of Policy Unit and Energy Advisor at ACEP, Dr. Ishmael Ackah warned that it is time to turn full attention to stocking fuel.
He maintained that, having adequate fuel in stock will prevent the country from plunging into an energy crisis during emergency period when supply of fuel drops.
“In terms of capacity we have, and in fact we’ve always had capacity. The challenge has been reliable sources of fuel. We are not talking about capacity. We have capacity but now we have to turn our attention to fuel we need to add fuel to the capacity to translate into electricity,” he said.
More importantly, Dr. Ackah stated that Ghana needs substantial natural gas from its oil fields since it is cheaper.
He stressed that the recommendation is important since it was major contributor in the short of power that led to the recent power crisis under the John Mahama led administration.
He explained that even though CENIT in the Tema Independent Power enclave was able to operate during the period, others, such as Asogli could not, due to unavailability of gas.
“Due to low light crude oil, even though CENIT was working in Tema, some of the other Independent Power Plants could not work,” he said.
–
By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana