Ghana: Claims That Export Of Power To Neighbouring Countries Is Cause Of Power Outages Erroneous, Misleading-VRA

Ghana’s largest state power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA), has rejected claims by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) Ghana that it is part of the reasons why Ghana is experiencing regular power outages.

According to the VRA, the statement by the IPPs is not only erroneous but also misleading.

Dr. Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, Chief Executive Officer of Independent Power Generators, Ghana and Mr Kwame Asare Obeng popularly known as A-Plus accused the VRA of focusing on exporting power to neighbouring countries and not meeting its domestic obligations.

A-Plus, on a Facebook page, told Ghanaians to blame VRA and GRIDCo instead of the ECG for exporting power to Ghana’s neighbours.

Dr Elikplim Kwabla Apetorgbor, on the other hand, noted that although the VRA has been tasked to explore the export market to reduce the burden of idle capacity on the government, it must do so within the law, adding that it is a regulatory requirement to ensure the domestic demand is met whilst maintaining the set 18 per cent reserve margin.

“It is a great disservice to mother Ghana and Ghanaians for VRA to be exporting the most affordable hydro generation to neighbouring countries– Burkina Faso, Togo and Benin whilst the Ministry of Energy, PURC and ECG remain unconcerned and force the Ghanaian taxpayers to pay for the expensive thermal generation and also sleep in the dark,” he said.

However, VRA, in a statement on Sunday, March 24, 2024, indicated that the claim that it is not meeting its power supply obligation to Ghana is false.

“The VRA wishes to state that since 1972, the Authority has been supplying power to neighbouring countries without reneging on its mandate to deliver reliable and affordable power to Ghana; and this the Authority continues to do,” parts of the statement read.

“Also, it is important to mention that the allocation of the power generated from the Akosombo and Kpong hydropower stations is supervised by the Electricity Market Oversight Panel (EMOP) and not the VRA,” the company added.

VRA explained that as a result of this arrangement, the Ghanaian market is always prioritised in power allocation.

This is by government policies to ensure long-term optimization of the nation’s hydro resources, it added.

VRA assured the general public and all other stakeholders that it will continue to prioritise electricity supply to the Ghana market in line with its mandate, government policies and regulatory obligations.

Source: https://energynewsafrica.com