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The Energy Minister
Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, recently outlined the
government's position on how it was working on
solving the current energy crisis. The crisis has
resulted in almost a year-long load shedding
exercise that has a 12 hour power outage every other
day. Ghanadot.com's Kweku Asare outlines the full
text of the Ministers' message to Parliament:
PARLIAMENTARY STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF ENERGY
HONOURABLE JOSEPH KOFI ADDA (MP),
ON THE CURRENT ENERGY SITUATION IN GHANA
BACKGROUND
Mr. Speaker, I am profoundly grateful to you to be
able to address this august House today on the
energy situation that is currently affecting us all.
Mr Speaker, as this problem has deep-seated
implications for our nation’s economy and our social
well-being, and also as the nation has been through
this experience before, it is imperative that we put
things into perspective so that we can better
appreciate the nature and scope of the problem and
how the Government is taking measures to effectively
address it.
Mr Speaker, the nation’s future in the energy sector
is driven by a policy that is rooted in the overall
development agenda of reducing poverty and becoming
a middle income nation by 2015.
Mr Speaker, as the driving force behind this policy,
early last year, the Government committed itself to
doubling the generation capacity of this country’s
energy resource within the next three to five years.
Not long after this policy decision was taken, Mr
Speaker, His Excellency the President, in his
typically visionary way, and realizing the need for
rapid injection of power into the system to spur on
the rate of development of the nation, further
directed that the Energy Ministry should work with
the relevant agencies to ensure the speedy addition
of at least 1,000 megawatts (MW) of power within
eighteen to twenty-four months.
Mr. Speaker, as the Ministry set itself on this task
and began to take steps to carry out this directive,
we were suddenly informed of the dangerously low
level of the water in the Akosombo Reservoir and the
need therefore to resort to a load shedding regime
to conserve the water and protect the turbines. Mr
Speaker, from that time onwards, the general efforts
of the power sub-sector have been dedicated to
managing the situation as well as working to bring
the load shedding to an end.
Mr. Speaker, as I speak, a lot of work has been
done, resulting in the acquisition, installation and
operationalization of relatively small emergency
generating plant while also lining up much bigger
power plants for the medium to long-term. Mr
Speaker, the details of these measures would be
stated in due course but for now, Right Honourable
Speaker, it is necessary to set the stage right for
my Honourable colleagues as well as the nation at
large to be able to understand the issues fully and
through that, to appreciate the policy measures
being undertaken by Government.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Mr. Speaker, a phenomenon known as global warning
has over the past years become a subject of debate
in as far as its implications for climatic
conditions and rainfall patterns are concerned. From
indications it would seem that the situation that we
have periodically faced with in terms of irregular
rainfall and the low levels of inflows into the
Akosombo Reservoir can be in part attributed to this
global phenomenon.
Mr. Speaker, as we take note of this global
situation, we should also be mindful to take note of
the power situation in our continent given the
similarity in climatic conditions between our
countries.
For instance, in La Coted’Ivoire to the west, the
low level of water at the Kossou Dam, coupled with
other problems in their themal plants has caused
that country to resort to load shedding since April,
2007. Farther afield, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe are other sister African
countries that are facing similar problems with
power generation capacity, and in those cases
shedding power between twelve (12) hours every day
and 36 hours continuously before power comes on for
only twelve (12) hours.
Mr. Speaker, with this information, the point is
clearly made that the Ghanaian situation is not
unique. We are operating within this global
phenomenon and Ghana is affected by it just like the
other countries.
RENEWABLES, ENERGY POLICY AND STRATEGIC PLAN
Mr. Speaker, given this trend of unpredictable
weather changes, based on global warning, a growing
number of countries, both from the developed and
developing world, are resorting to an increased use
of renewables such as solar, Wind and even Waste
Conversion as well as the use of sea waves to
generate additional power.
In Europe, the Americas and the Far East , these
sources are being tapped into not only for household
use but also to be fed into the grid. Of course,
these sources are understood to complement the
thermal and hydro sources as well. Ghana , at this
stage, has considered and indeed adopted all of
these renewable source of energy, except the sea
wave option for now The nuclear option I also being
considered and the final decision would be based on
the recommendations of a Special Presidential
Committee’s work.
Mr. Speaker, various levels of commitments have been
entered into between the relevant agencies and
private entities ranging from Memoranda of
Understanding to Power Purchase Agreements to tap
into these natural endowments that God has
bequeathed onto us.
As a policy therefore, the Government is pursuing a
generation mix that fully exploits all our
potentials to ensure self-sufficiency and also to
become a net exporter of power. The strategic plan
that has been designed is set to pursue this
objective with Short Term Medium Term and Long Term
perspectives.
THE GHANAIAN SITUATION
History of Load Shedding
Mr Speakers, this unpleasant experience that the
people of Ghana are facing today is not the first
time. Indeed in our short history as a nation, we
have been through this situation thrice, once
between 1983 and 1985 and another occurrence in
1998.
In 1983, power from the hydro power station was
reduced leading to load shedding. This was a result
of prolonged drought in Volta River ’s catchment
area. This curtailment occurred between 1983 and
1985, a clear two years. The was level then went as
235.76 feet by mid-June in 1984.
The other load shedding exercise occurred in 1998
for the same reasons with the water level going as
low as 236.93 feet. In both cases, the load shedding
then was worse than what pertains in this current
regime, with the lights being on effectively for one
day and off for another twenty-four hours.
Additionally, instead of the four zones arrangement
now, the big cities were split into only two zones.
In some cases, the entire northern half of the
country was off.
It is instructive to remind ourselves that in 1983
and 1985, very little was done by additional
capacity could be brought in as the revolutionary
rhetorics which were the order of the day, did not
allow the country to access the necessary funds to
secure the extra generation capacity required to
supplement the little coming from the hydro.
However, in the 1998 crisis, attempt was made to
bring in thermal generation through a rental system
which saw only two of the suppliers Aggreko and
Cummins bring in some power. Note worthily, while
Aggreko actually supplied the power, Cummins Power
Generation was not fully operational before the
crisis was over. But having signed a take-or-pay
Power Purchase Agreement, the Government then was
being called upon to pay.
Mr. Speaker, while the other three companies, namely
Global Aero Design Company, Faroe Atlantic Company
and Stone and Webster, did not generate any power,
they aso went ahead to sue the government for
damages. Mr. Speaker, as I am delivering this
Statement to this august House, I wish to state that
after eight years this government is still battling
in London on how to settle a mounting debt of about
Twenty Million Dollars (US20million) to Cummings one
of the two companies mentioned earlier under a
contract signed by the NDC administration. Mr.
Speakers, this experience is a good lesson for us to
tread cautiously so as not to throw away badly
needed funds on faulty contracts hastily put
together that might not solve our problems.
Recent Developments (2001-2007) Major Issues and
Initiatives
Mr. Speaker, since August 2006, the Ministry of
Energy has instituted a nation-wide load management
programme to deal with the current deficit in the
supply of power to customers. It will be recalled
that the power shortage was precipitated by the
following factors.
· Technical difficulties with the generating units
at the Aboadze themal power plant
· Unavailability of power from La Cote’dIvoire. This
was due to difficulties in the power system in La
Cote’Ivoire.
· Low level of water in the Akosombo Lake and
consequently in adequate generation.
This led to a deficit of about 300 MW or 21% of the
demand for electricity at the time; consequently,
the objective of the load management programme was
to address this deficit. In addition the Ministry of
Energy has since embarked on a programme to address
install additional generation to meet the medium to
long term needs of the country.
Mr. Speaker, in the initial stages, the load
management programme consisted of a twelve (12) hour
outage every three days (in Accra etc.).
subsequently, after an improvement in the generating
capacity at the Akosombo and Kpong generating
stations after the rainy season in November, 2006,
the programme was revised to a 12 hour outage every
five (5) days. Currently, the programme consists of
a total of 24 hour outage every 4 days.
Mr Speaker since the load management programme was
initiated, the Ministry of Energy has implemented a
number of measures to address the situation. These
measures include the procurement of emergency power
generation, demand side management and the
procurement of medium term generation.
MEASURES TO ADDRESS THE CURRENT SITUATION
Mr. Speaker in summary, government has lined up the
following additional generation capacity to bring
the situation back to normalcy:
* Emergency Plants - 126 MW-June ending
* Armed Forces Support - 10 MW-June
* Mining Consortium - 80 MW-July
* VRA/Government - 126 MW-September
Total Short-Term Government = 342 MW
- September
Private
* The Wood Group - 50 MW-July
Total Private
short-Term - 50 MW
GRAND TOTAL (GOVERNMENT &
PRIVATE) SHORT-TERM 392 MW
· Energy Efficiency Dividends from introduction of
CFLs – 200 MW
· Procurement of 126 MW of emergency generation.
Mr. Speaker, the procurement of emergency generation
of currently in progress. The orders have been
confirmed and the equipment are being delivered and
installed. Currently 70 MW of generation have been
installed and are in operation. The rest of the
equipment are currently being flown in and cleared
from the airport. It is expected that all the 126 MW
of emergency generation will be operational in June,
2007. Further, the Ghana Armed Forces are to operate
10 MW diesel power plant at Burma Camp/37 Military
Hospital to augment our current power supply. The
total generation under the emergency programme is
therefore 136 MW.
· 80 MW Power Plant by Mining Consortium/VRA
Mr. Speaker, a consortium of four (4) mining firms
in collaboration with the Volta River Authority (VRA)
is installing an 80 MW power plant at Tema. This
plant which is to be operated on a long term basis
will significantly enhance the generating capacity
of the country
· 126 MW by VRA/Government
The VRA with support from the Government is
constructing a 126 MW power plant at Tema. This
plant which will also be for long term operation is
planned for completion in September, 2007.
On the basis of the above projects, namely,
emergency power units, the Mines/VRA plant and the
VRA plant, the cumulative additions to the power
generation system will be 342 MW by September, 2007.
this will result in a 20% increase in our generating
capacity and is also higher that the original
deficit of 300MW.
Mr. Speaker, we have recently concluded another
arrangement with the Wood Group of UK to installed
50 MW of capacity of power also at Tema.
· Energy Conservation and Efficient Improvement
Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Energy has ordered 6
million pieces of the more efficient compact
fluorescent bulbs for distribution to the public.
This is expected to result in savings of about 200
MW during the peak hours i.e. 6-10 p.m. This will
reduce the overall energy consumed by the public.
Significant quantities of the bulbs have arrived and
are currently being installed in public buildings.
Subsequently the lamps will be offered to the
general public.
Mr. Speaker, Colleagues of Parliament, the Ministry
of Energy in collaboration with Energy Foundation
has also embarked on a massive public education
campaign to educate the public on the need to
conserve energy.
Further, Mr. Speaker, in order to reduce power
consumptionm in public buildings, the Office of the
President has also directed all Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDA) should use air
conditioner systems in buildings and offices only
between the hours of 10.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. It has
also been further directed that to the extent
practical, natural light is to be used as much as
possible and all electric lights should be switched
off during wuring working hours.
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