Intermittent power outages not caused by financial challenges – Energy Minister insists

The Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has yet again rejected assertions that intermittent power outages in the country are a result of financial challenges in the energy sector.

His comments come after the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) and Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) undertook an eight-day power rationing to enable them to conduct a planned maintenance exercise on network and transmission lines.

Addressing journalists at a press conference on May 16, the sector minister reiterated that the intermittent cuts was to enable sufficient and reliable power supply to all.

“These problems are not financial because the problems are being solved, and we pleaded with Ghanaians to bear with us. We worked to make the power supply more dependable in the country. I also urge you to ignore those making wishful thinking on the situation.

“The problems are being solved, and by the end of the year, we should have much stable power for all of us. Kindly bear with us as we fix these problems in our collective interest,” the minister added.

Parts of the country experienced interruption in power supply from May 10 to May 18 owing to works on the Pokuase Bulk Supply Point (BSP) while a number of key projects are currently ongoing to enhance power supply reliability in Greater Accra, Central and Ashanti regions.