The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has raised concerns over the persistent inefficiencies and lack of coordination plaguing Ghana’s power sector.
In an interview on Eyewitness News on Citi FM on Thursday, January 9, Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director of the IES, discussed the ongoing power generation challenges that threaten to plunge the nation into another round of ‘dumsor.’ He highlighted the critical issues undermining the sector’s stability and stressed the urgent need for reform to prevent further disruptions.
“We have already indicated to you over the last year that we have a fragile power sector and to the extent that government continues to pump in money while ECG sits aloof and watches the inefficiency and is unable to collect the revenue and share equitable distribution of the revenue to all the sector players.
“We can’t say we have a solid power sector. It is fraught with inefficiency, poor planning, lack of coordination and a whole lot,” he stated.
Nana Amoasi VII emphasised that the inefficiencies extend beyond just fuel supply challenges.
He pointed out that technical losses in the transmission and distribution segments further exacerbate the issues.
“We all know that beyond even the fuel supply challenge to the generators, there are inefficiencies and technical losses in the transmission and distribution segment of the value chain. Until we are able to address the mountain debt and the debt owed to all the utilities and make them sound to perform, we can’t say we have a sound energy or power sector,” he added.
The IES Executive Director, however, commended President John Mahama for taking swift action to address the challenge.
“President Mahama has shown leadership that in a space of two days confronted with a major challenge that could take away close to 1000 megawatts of power from generation and result in ‘dumsor.’
“He’s been able to engage at least put together the major sector players and industry watchers to come out with a solution and this is how leadership must work. You don’t put it under the carpet, you confront it, you engage the right minds to support and you get your answer,” he stated.
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