The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the company responsible for power distribution in southern Ghana, Samuel Dubik Mansubir Mahama, has assured Ghanaians that recent power outages in the country will not be repeated.
He gave the assurance after ECG paid US$8 million out of the total US$20 million indebtedness to the gas transportation company, West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo).
“It will not happen again because we have put in the right mechanisms.
“Very soon, with the arrangement we have, we are going to pay off our exposure to WAPCo. I am hoping that by the end of this week, it will be zero. As we speak, I think, they have received more than US$8 million, so, hopefully, by the end of the week, it will be zero,” Samuel Dubik Mahama said during an interview on JoyNews’ PM Express on Monday, October 30, 2023.
WAPCo, which transports gas to western and eastern power enclaves on behalf of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), suspended gas transportation to the Tema enclave because of a US$20 million debt.
This resulted in a shortfall in electricity generation by 550MW.
This led to widespread power outages, forcing citizens to accuse the government of returning the country to the era of load shedding.
WAPCo resumed gas transportation last Friday after ECG had promised to pay part of the debt on October 30.
Mr Mahama noted that once they cleared the debt, ECG would develop a sustainable plan on how it would pay WAPCo regularly.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com