VRA on warming light

The Volta River Authority’s (VRA) strategic reserve plant (SRP) provided a year ago to bail the nation from its energy crisis but ended up becoming a liability, maintains its posture to ‘milk’ the nation without pity.

Though under agreement with the nations power deliverers, the plant is expected to generate 110 megawatts of electricity, till date could not produce even one unit of electricity, the taxpayer is alleged to ‘cough’ around $20 million and that is not the end.

The authority has landed a 75MVA transformer yet to be cleared from the Tema port for the vampire project, which by all standards is a waste.

The transformer, shipped from Germany, The Chronicle gathered, allegedly cost about $800,000, but in true sense is not needed now to operate the strategic reserve plant for the supposedly emergency rental units has already been equipped with a transformer, though very old, about 30 years.

The huge transformer is stacked at berth 10 and labeled 75MVA Power Transformer for Strategic Reserve Plant imported from the Federal Republic of Germany and has the import declaration form number 2001/08B0903049.

Information trickling in has it that to justify its presence and in order not to cite people for causing financial loss to the state, efforts are being made to shelve the 75MVA transformer into the Kumasi system even though there is more than enough to handle that capacity.

Reliable information has it that the VRA in spite of reports that it has settled its obligations Cote d’Ivoire Electricity (CIE), we still owe that country about $48 million for power supplied. Electricity from Cote d’Ivoire cost less than 5 cents per Kw/h whereas the SRP’s delivery is going to cost 15 cents per Kw/h and by all standards will compel Ghanaians to witness increase in electricity by at least 200%.

Interestingly, the plant is to be operated on aviation fuel, which is very expensive to run. Presently, a large consignment of fuel imported by the VRA for the project is stored in tanks at the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) accruing rent aside the huge duty the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) is demanding, though a grace period of three months was offered by the tax collectors for settlement, that could also not be done.

Latest information has it that the Aboadze plant is operating only two out of its five generators because the VRA is alleged to be unable to provide fuel to power them.

Senior management sources are therefore wondering if we can operate the SRP, which depends on expensive aviation fuel at a time we are unable to purchase fuel for the Aboadze plant.