The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has lost more than Gh¢26.7Million (US$3,380,220.00 ) in revenue since 2019 due to embedded power generation.
GRIDCo revealed this in its 2022-2027 tariff proposal submitted to the PURC.
In electrical terms, embedded generation is the production of electricity from power stations that are directly connected to a distribution network.
Justifying why PURC should approve its request for a 48 per cent increment in Transmission Service Charge, GRIDCo said since the last tariff review in 2019, some bulk customers connected to the National Interconnected Transmission System (NITS) have procured generation at their sites while others have indicated their intention to follow the same path.
It pointed out that as more customers embrace Embedded Generation (EG), the demand for service from the grid reduces significantly, leading to under-utilisation of transmission capacity.
The company mentioned BXC 20MW solar power in Gomoa Onyeadze near Winneba in the Central Region and Genser Energy’s 48MWe in Tarkwa in the Western Region as examples.
Explaining how embedded generation would affect the company, GRIDCo said, “A high penetration of Embedded Generation will result in stranded assets for GRIDCo, and lead to low returns on investments on such assets.”
It said further that in instances where EG becomes unavailable due to technical reasons, the immediate upsurge in demand may create instability in the NITS.
It, thus, recommended that embedded generation be adequately regulated to prevent such adverse impact on the NITS.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com