Despite rampant daily power cutsGhana has enough energy to meet demand-says ECG Boss

In spite of the recent power outages in the country, the Chief Executive Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Engineer Owura K. Sarfo has assured the general public that his outfit has more than enough generation capacity to meet the power demands of the country.

According to him, even though plants and equipment belonging to the company at one point in time may develop a fault, they are currently in a good state and are available to produce the needed power for consumption by the populace.

“We currently have more than enough generation capacity to meet the power demand that we face. The plant and equipment that we have are in good state and are available to produce the power we require. Adequate arrangements have been made to meet the power supply needs of the country in 2009 and beyond”, he noted.

He added, “we have the staff to keep the system in good state. So your power generation system is in safe hands and you can be assured of reliable and high quality power supply”.

Mr. Sarfo made this known to a group of media practitioners at a press conference in Accra, yesterday, over the current power situation in the country and the way forward.

e said appropriate measures have been put in place to address the future power needs of the country over the medium to long term.

He attributed the recent power cut to the incidents of supply-demand imbalance which was beyond the capacity of the reserve margin on running generating machines, given accounts on how the reserve margin operates based on supply and demand pattern.

“The reserve margin available at any time could either be reserve capacity on a running generating unit or a reserve machine waiting to be connected to the system. In the event of a sudden change in the demand-supply balance, the reserve capacities on running machines are immediately called upon to correct the imbalance. If the imbalance is greater than running reserve, it will require the startup of reserve generators.

This is what results in total system shutdown causing loss of supply to the entire country. This is a rare but possible occurrence in any power system”, noted the CEO.

According to him, the Volta River Authority (VRA) as part of its commitment to ensure supply adequacy throughout the year have put measures in place to ensure that all its generating machines at Akosombo, Kpong and Takoradi are kept in good working condition, day-to-day maintenance of all its plants and equipment to ensure enough supply margin and also retain staff in critical areas who will be on standby to resolve any problem.

The total energy demand for 2009 is expected to be 9,152 GWh (9,152,000,000 kWh) or 9,152,000,000 units of electricity. Out of the demand, Hydro power sources will supply 66.6%, whilst the thermal plants will supply 30.1%. 3.3% out of the demand for consumption in the country will then be imported from neighbouring Cote d'Ivoire, a country that once enjoyed power supply from Ghana.

The implication of the 66.6% supply from the hydro generation according to Mr. Sarfo is that the water level at Akosombo dam will drop from a level of 263.5 feet on January 1, 2009 to 253.1 feet by the middle of the year, a situation he said will be above the minimum level of 240 feet. He said the water level is expected to rise again during the second half of the year as it rains within the Volta Lake catchments area saying “there is definitely therefore adequate hydro power capacity and thermal power capacity to meet the energy needs of 2009 and even beyond”.

Mr. Sarfo, therefore, called for a coordinated effort by players in the supply chain to ensure reliable supply of electricity to the people.