SONA 2015: Past gov't managed 'dumsor' but I will fix it: President Mahama

President Mahama at the 2015 State of the Nation address says his approach to the current power crisis is not to manage it as past governments have done, but to fix it once and for all.

“I do not intend to manage the situation,  I intend to fix it. I, John Dramani Mahama will fix this energy challenge”, he told an attentive Parliament Wednesday morning

Recounting the history of the energy crisis, he said Ghana has faced similar challenges in 1993,1998,2006 and 2007. The current crisis began in 2012 and has lasted since.

On paper, this crisis should not exist because with an installed capacity of 2,800, a consumer demand of 2,100 should be enough.

Ghana is suffering a deficit of about 1,000megawatts due to broken down power plants and unreliable gas from Nigeria.

But this will be a thing of the past by 2016, he noted. The President is promising to add 3,665megawatts by 2016.

This will push total installed capacity to 6,465megawatts.

Detailing the breakdown, he said Asogli Phase 2 will add 350megawatts, coal power generation will bring on 750megawatts, CERNIT -350, General Electric-1,000megawatts,VRA T4 will add 184megawatts and Kpong plant at Tema set to bring on 220megawatts.

He analsysed that with consumer demand pegged at over 10% increase per annum, Government should be looking to double power supply every 8 years.