The supply of natural gas to Ghana through the West African Gas Pipeline is likely to resume soon following the resolution of the labour unrest in Nigeria.
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria on Friday called off their five-day strike.
This was contained in a communiqué released at the end of a crunch meeting between the workers and Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum, Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke.
[contextly_sidebar id=”zqcb8R4Kdzqgsn87mhexisIXq8KcVVFV”]The workers laid down their tools in protest against NNPC’s alleged refusal to address unresolved pension issues concerning workers in the oil industry
The communiqué stated that “By virtue of the intervention of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, the strike embarked upon by NUPENG and PENGASSAN of NNPC Group Executive councils and DPR is hereby suspended.”
The strike halted the supply of natural gas to Ghana which forced the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to undertake a load shedding programme.
The Volta River Authority (VRA) had also expressed its readiness to bear extra operational cost by resorting to the use of light crude oil for power productions.
But with the suspension of the strike in Nigeria, it is hoped that electricity supply in Ghana will be stabilized.
Despite the latest development, the Africa Centre for Energy Development (ACEP) had in an earlier interview with Citi News, warned that any improvement in the Nigeria situation may not necessarily improve Ghana’s current energy problems.
According to a Director at ACEP, Peter Amewu, the power crisis being experienced in Ghana “cannot be solely attributed to the labour unrest in Nigeria.”
According to him, the inability of the generation plants in Takoradi to function properly is also a contributing factor, adding that, Ghana will continue to experience shortfalls in its power supply until the water level in the Akosombo dam rises.
“There are difficulties that we have as a result of the low level of water we have in the Akosombo dam and the inability of the generation plants in Takoradi to function. We agree that Bui is totally out. One of the turbines at Akosombo as of yesterday is also down. In total we have almost about 600 megawatts of power that are totally out of the system now,” he remarked.
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana