{"id":45600,"date":"2014-09-08T07:06:13","date_gmt":"2014-09-08T07:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=45600"},"modified":"2014-09-08T08:29:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-08T08:29:25","slug":"electricity-tariffs-to-go-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/electricity-tariffs-to-go-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Electricity tariffs to go up again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Volta River Authority (VRA) has told Citi News<\/strong> that electricity tariffs are likely to go up again between October and December.<\/p>\n

Barely three months ago, electricity tariffs went up 12 percent and 6 percent for water<\/span>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the Chief Executive of VRA Kirk Koffi, the price adjustment is crucial to sending the right signals to potential independent power producers that Ghana is managing the energy sector well.<\/p>\n

But there are fears that any further hikes in utility prices will worsen the economic plight of many Ghanaians.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”a1B1nZgS5qKI2iLrluPv4qxwcrV6nwlR”]In an interview with\u00a0Citi News<\/strong>, Kirk Koffi insisted the move will be in the best interest of Ghana.<\/p>\n

He further assured Ghanaians that \u201cthings are going to be better\u201d very soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people who are managing the sector are Ghanaians who have been managing this all these years,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n

He further explained that most of the challenges the country is facing in the energy sector are as a result of low inflow of gas from Nigeria and one or two other technical challenges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese problems are not permanent, they will be over very soon and we should be ok.”<\/p>\n

In a related development, government is set to contract private gas producers from Nigeria to supply Ghana with gas.<\/p>\n

This is because gas supply from the Nigerian government\u2019s producer N-Gas<\/b> has been erratic and below expectation.<\/p>\n

Mr. Kirk Koffi who disclosed this to Citi News<\/strong> said the gas from the Nigerian independent producers together with the soon-to-be completed Ghana Gas project will improve the energy situation tremendously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have already started talking to a number of private gas producers in Nigeria to help get us more gas and we are assured we will get more gas from Nigeria early next year,\u201dhe said.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, then\u00a0Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has intensified its load shedding exercise<\/strong><\/span><\/a> in the southern part of the country.<\/p>\n

In a related development, the\u00a0International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Volta River Authority (VRA) for the establishment of power plants to augment Ghana\u2019s energy capacity.<\/p>\n

The Head of the IFC\u2019s Africa Special Initiative for Infrastructure, Richard Arkutu, \u00a0told\u00a0Citi News<\/b>\u00a0the MoU will allow the Corporation to collaborate with the VRA and identify international developers that will help it [VRA] achieve the government\u2019s planned installed capacity target of 5,000 megawatts by 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will help VRA identify and shortlist the projects they want to embark on and help them with the feasibility study work.\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

By: Marian Efe Ansah\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana
\nFollow @EfeAnsah<\/a>
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