Govt is tackling energy sector challenges

Accra, April 27, GNA - Energy Minister Dr Joe Oteng-Adjei on Tuesday said the on-going projects on power generation, transmission and distribution were demonstrations of government's resolve to tackle the challenges in the energy sector.

In a speech read on his behalf at the launch of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) Limited Electricity Supply Plan and the Annual Reliability Assessment Report for 2010, the Minister described the challenges confronting the power sector as stark but added that the opportunities were greater given government's policies and actions. The 77-page Electricity Supply Plan document and the 91-sheet Annual Reliability Assessment Report are expected to widen the base of information and discussions with key policy makers and industry experts of the challenges of the sector.

They are also to mobilize broad consensus in making strategic choices and decisions for keeping the power industry at its optimal performance. Dr Oteng-Adjei said both documents complemented each other and needed to be read for a better appreciation of the state of the power utilities and situation for 2010.

It added: "I will recommend that you take a critical look at the supply and reliability plans to appreciate the energy situation from the generation point of view and how the availability or otherwise of power impacts on GRIDCo and other utilities in the energy supply chain and consumer." He called on the public to exercise patience when their pressing demands were not immediately met by developing projects stressing that investment decisions made were best realized a few years later. Mr Charles Darku, Chief Executive Officer of GRIDCo, said the launch of the documents was in harmony with the legislative instruments of the company and in recognition of the plurality of discourse on a wide range of developmental matters.

"The 2010 Supply Plan addresses the demand outlook anticipated for this year and estimates the corresponding energy to be consumed to meet this demand.

"It also analyses the corresponding generation scenarios and their cost impacts and the available transmission network infrastructure to support the transfer of power from power plants to bulk supply points across the network," Mr Darku said.

The Annual Reliability Assessment Report, he said, presented the outlook for Ghana's bulk power supply system for stakeholders and the public and assessed whether the system met minimum reliability standards for the delivery of power to the anticipated demand in the 2010 operating year. Mr Darku disclosed that the reports were the first of a series of annual assessments bordering on the reliability of Ghana's wholesale power supply system designed for stakeholders and the public adding that the corporate entity would publish the reports by November of the preceding year.

Mr Norbert Anku, Director of Engineering at GRIDCo, in a presentation, said the cost of unreliable wholesale electricity to the economy was estimated between 320 million and 924 million dollars a year. The figure, he said, represented a two to six per cent of Gross Domestic Product, adding that the cost was in excess of the investment needed to attain reliability and to avoid failures.

Mr Anku called for sustained levels of investments in generation and transmission of power adding that well-informed stakeholders and stakeholder support were critical solutions to the current challenges facing the sector. Emphasis on operational efficiency and excellence in view of increasing presence of thermal generation and sustainable tariffs as well as managing supply and demand balance to ensure reliability were other suggested solutions.