Ghana is safe with power supply but we’ll no longer sign take or pay deals - Minister

Energy Minister Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has reiterated that the government of Ghana will not sign take or pay energy deals again.

According to him, the government will convert all existing PPA’s from take or pay to take and pay.

He explained that the NPP administration will only pay Independent Power Producers for power the country consumes.

He said our demand is rising annually hence going forward, it cannot be business as usual.

He said the country needs to focus on more generation and our maximum demand is about 3,200 megawatts with an installed capacity of 5000.

‘That means we are safe, but going into the future, we won’t sign take or pay PPAs again’, he emphasized.

Speaking at a press briefing organized by the Information Ministry today, Sunday, May 16, 2021, he said Ghana will sign new PPAs and pay for the power we only use.

He said the country paid some $586 million for excess power we did not use annually.

The Minister said the current government has been the best managers of the energy sector with favourable and reasonable charges of consumers.

In his view, the NPP is the only party that has what it takes to manage the energy sector.