Dumsor Dumsor; The Way Forward

Tommy O'Dell Doku

The country is currently undergoing a regulated blackout regime and load management program which has come to be known and referred to generally as dumsor dumsor. People are aggrieved, especially when it comes after the heels of recent utility tariffs increment by over 50% last October.
In as much as various reasons has been ascribed by the bodies responsible for the production, transmission and distribution of power in Ghana, namely Volta River Authority (VRA), Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) and the Electricity of Ghana (ECG) respectively, the uncomforting situation is felt widely in industry and at homes of all Ghanaians.

Hence, an announced load management programme because of the challenges with power supply has resulted in limited power supply to consumers during peak times, that is, between 6pm and 10pm and even during off-peak times. However undesirable this situation is, it offers the country a way forward to using this opportunity to correct our energy sector.

Genesis of the current energy challenges

It is worth noting the real challenge behind the nation's energy challenges. There is a phenomenal leap in growth, aggravating demand needs on the already installed national grid. It is obvious, industries are springing up, the productive sector is expanding and the nation's population is increasing in tandem with our nation's growing prosperity thus overwhelmingly driving electricity power demand beyond what available supply can meet.

For instance energy statistics from the Volta River Authority estimates that, electricity demand increased by 10 per cent in 2012 and by 12 per cent in 2013 which therefore requires 250 megawatts of power per year. However, it is obvious the nation's energy production is not increasing at such rates to augment the increases in demand.

The challenge can also be blamed partly on a sharp drop in the volumes of gas received from Nigeria through the West Africa Gas Pipeline. Supply had ranged between 60 million and 90 million standard cubic feet per day. However, supply has dropped to an all-time low of 30 million standard cubic feet per day, as against a contractual volume of around 120 million standard cubic feet per day.Due to the gas supply deficit, the country currently is missing close to 300 megawatts of power.

Hopefully the recent interactions between the minister of energy and petroleum will help to ensure a restoration to the supply that existed before the decrease.

Again, mention should be made of the dismantling of TICO's plant which resulted in the loss of 100MW and the accident on the VRA's Aboadze plant which damaged its compressor, resulting in the loss of an additional 150MW.

These shortfalls in the country's grid definitely played pivotal roles in the need for rationing of power to the varied consumers of energy in the country.

Practical steps to overcoming this challenge in the medium to long term

This current energy situation which has caused inconvenience and distress among general public however offers all consumers and power producers the opportunity to avoid the wastage of energy in two main ways. Abuse or wastage of generated power by consumers and the power system losses due to challenges in the distribution channels are key factors resulting in the energy wastage.

There is the need for an intensive practical public education on Demand Side Load Management which basically calls for energy conservation on the part of consumers. This to a large extent will help drastically reduce the pressure on the national grid because the usage of power will be restricted to only relevant purposes.

Hence, in the face of increasing demand, notwithstanding the non-increasing supply of electricity, a vital option to be considered as a nation is energy conservation. Financial statistics available indicate that, it takes over One million US dollars and over a year and half to install oradd 1Mw of energy to Ghana's energy generation,whiles same can be saved on the part of consumers, if a choice to use energy wisely is taken by consumers.

The benefits of undertaking a vigorous national Demand Side Management are countless both to the nation's energy security, and entire energy consumers. It offers the great advantage of saving consumers, huge monies paid for wastage of energy.

Another major challenge to our power supplies in Ghana is power system losses which are caused by both technical loses and commercialloses. Experience in many parts of the world demonstrates that it is possible to reduce the losses in a reasonably short period of time and that such investments have a high internal rate of return.

However, a clear understanding on the magnitude of technical and commercial losses is the first step in the direction of reducing transmission and distribution losses. This can be achieved by putting in place a system for accurate energy accounting.

This system is essentially a tool for energy management and helps in breaking down the total energy consumption into all its components. It aims at accounting for energy generated and its consumption by various categories of consumers, as well as, for energy required for meeting technical requirement of system elements. It also helps the utility in bringing accountability and efficiency in its working.

Theft and pilferage account for a substantial part of the high transmission and distribution commercial losses. Actions such as making unauthorized extensions of loads, tampering the meter readings by mechanical jerks, placement of powerful magnets or disturbing the disc rotation with foreign matters, changing the sequence of terminal wiring, bypassing the meter, errors in meter reading and recording, improper testing and calibration of meters amongst others.

The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum's “Energy Sector Strategy and Development Plan 2010” acknowledges that, the power sub-sector faces the challenge inadequate power supply infrastructure which requires huge investments, amongst other key challenges.

As Ghana seeks to expand its industrial base in the country's quest to transform its economic fortunes, the reliable supply of energy, primarily electricity supply, is a crucial factor and catalyst for our national industrial development.

Conclusion

As a matter of urgency therefore, there is the need for a major investment into the energy sector. This investment must be in two folds, investment into building infrastructure for the production of energy and investment into changing worn out machinery been used presently.

This will go a long way to ensure efficiency in the operations of the sector and help power both homes and industry in the country, thereby assuring individuals of power for a comfortable life and industry of needed energy to boost their operations.

Tommy O'Dell Doku,

Is An Energy Communications Practitioner

And Senior Convener, Ghanaian Students' Energy Summit

[email protected]