A former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), Ing Jonathan Amoako-Baah, says he was not the type of CEO who sat in the office and always enjoyed the breeze from the air conditioner.
Speaking to energynewsafrica.com in an over an hour’s exclusive, Ing. Jonathan Amoako-Baah said when he received his appointment in 2017 and started working, there were problems and, therefore, put a team together to tackle the issues.
“When I was at GRIDCo, whenever there was a problem and journalist called me to find out what was happening, I would tell them there were problems but, then, we were on top of the issues and that we’re going to solve the problems because we had not come to give excuses. We came to work to solve problems. And the people who put us there knew that we were capable of solving those problems that was why they put us there,” he stated.
Amoako-Baah, who praised the resilience and zeal of his team, said: “My team members were willing to do everything for us to have solutions to the problems and I raise my heart for them.”
He recalled how he and his team visited the Atiwa forest a couple of times to inspire the engineers who were working to fix a problem with the transmission line.
“I was not the CEO who sat in the office every day. I was visiting the transmission lines that were built from Kumasi. I visited the whole transmission line route. I went to Nayania substation which was built in Bolgatanga, Adubiyile in Tamale and Awomaso,” he said.
GRIDCo has a total transmission network of about 6,414kilometres
Ing. Jonathan Amoako-Baah with some officials of GRIDCo during a visit to Atiwa Forest to inspect repair works on the transmission line
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s southern Electricity Distribution Company (ECG) has served notice to government institutions and private entities that are owing the company to settle their indebtedness or face disconnection.
“All ECG customers and government institutions including state-owned enterprises will be disconnected by the task force so long as their bills are in arrears as stipulated by PURC regulations. ECG reserves the right to publish the names of customers whose bills are in arrears. Please pay your bills promptly to avoid any embarrassment,” a notice issued by ECG said.
The power distributor encouraged the public to report any act of illegal connection to the nearest ECG office or call the task force via the telephone number 0551444011 for an informant reward of six per cent of the surcharged amount upon confirmation of the crime.
The ECG formed a National Taskforce under its revenue mobilisation unit last year to retrieve monies owed by consumers.
Since then, the Taskforce has been visiting institutions and disconnected power supply to those owing arrears including the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Africa Oil Week has entered into a partnership with the African Energy Commission(AFREC), a part of African Union (AU).
AFREC’s responsibility is to develop the African energy sector for all AU Member states and as part of the Africa Oil Week partnership, AFREC will facilitate a ministerial dialogue at this year’s event, hosted from 3-7 October in Cape Town, South Africa.
“We are pleased to work with Africa Oil Week to facilitate dialogues with all energy players and we look forward to the important conversations’’, says African Energy Commission’s Executive Director, Rashid Ali Abdallah.
“For more than 25 years, Africa Oil Week has brought together governments, oil companies, investors, the exploration community, and service providers. Hence, this partnership is a major breakthrough for Africa Oil Week. Working with African Energy Commission will unlock many possibilities to shape a better future for Africa through impactful engagements on energy and in turn will help to realise our vision of enhancing Africa’s energy development”, says Africa Oil Week’s Vice-President of Energy and Director of Government Relations, Paul Sinclair.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s southern power distribution company, (ECG) has been going after state agencies and private organisations that owe the company several millions of cedis but have defaulted in settling their indebtedness.
Energynewsafrica.com sees the move as a positive one in making sure that ECG stays afloat.
Two weeks ago, ECG cut power supply to the country’s international airport, KIA, over Ghana Airport Company’s indebtedness to the tune of Ghs49million.
Last Friday, ECG reportedly served a disconnection notice on some heavily indebted public and private institutions.
Six out of the numerous institutions including the Ministry of Communications, Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Center, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Economic Organized Crime Office (EOCO) and the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) owe about GH¢9.8 million.
A spokesperson for ECG in the Accra West Region ECG, Mary Eshun said the indebted companies had up to three days to pay else ECG would not hesitate to disconnect them.
The Ministry of Communication owes – GH¢5,080,752.37, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – GH¢558,014.13, Internal Audit Agency – GH¢545,740.68 Kofi Annan Centre – GH¢208,318.50 Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) – GH¢277,300.32 National Information Technology Agency (NITA) – GH¢1,543,113.68 while University of Professional Studies (UPSA) owes GH¢1,611,403.21
These amount to a total of GH¢9,824,642.71 for the seven listed institutions out of the 29 ECGs targeted for disconnection.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Four staff of Kenya Power have been charged for vandalising two transformers of the company valued at Sh 1.9 million ($16,464.47).
The suspects are David Murithi Githinji, Henry Mbae, Jackson Thuo Macharia and Jared Juma Oyoo.
They, however, denied the charges before the Thika Senior Resident Magistrate, Vicky Kachuodho.
The suspects were charged, jointly with others already before the court, with vandalising a 50KVA transformer valued at Sh1.2 million at Kilimambogo TTC Gate in Thika East Sub County on the nights of January 26 and 27.
They also faced a second charge of vandalising an Sh700,000, 100 KVA transformer at Gateiguru, Thika East Sub County, jointly with others not before the court on the nights of February 21 and 22.
Additionally, they are also facing a corruption charge for receiving Sh908, 610 via mobile money being proceeds of the illegal sale of the energy infrastructure while being public officers working with Kenya Power and Lighting Company.
The four requested to be released on bond but the prosecutor, Jackeline Wambani, objected, asking that they be held until April 21, 2022, when their cases would be conjoined with those of the traders who were allegedly arrested after they were found in possession of the energy equipment.
The Magistrate ruled that the four be detained until April 21 when bond terms would be determined after the two cases are conjoined.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
The Management of Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) has described as misleading and inaccurate reports suggesting that the company has made a loss of Ghs400 million under the current Managing Director of the company, Edwin Nii Obodai Provencal.
Mr Provencal was appointed Managing Director of BOST in 2019 when most of the company’s assets were dysfunctional.
However, through resilient work and dedication, the new MD, with his team, managed to revamp most of the assets and are now working to rake in income for the company.
A couple of projects being undertaken during his tenure include rehabilitation works at the Accra Plain Depot Rehabilitation, Accra Plains Administration project, Repair of the B3P3 pipeline, Tema Akosombo Petroleum Pipeline (TAPP) refurbishment, Tema Akosombo Petroleum Pipeline (TAPP) surveillance system, construction of the Bolgatanga Bulk Road Vehicle Park, Kumasi Depot Rehabilitation works, repair of 12 out of 16 storage tanks at the Accra Plains Depot (APD), Kumasi, Buipe and Bolgatanga, Remedial works on twin 18 and repair of marine assets (barges and tugboats).
The rest are the construction of Bulk Road Vehicle (BRV) parking lot at APD, Tema-Kumasi Petroleum Pipeline-FEED, LPG FEED, supply & installation of mass flow meters, pumps and loading arms and maintenance of offloading platform at Kumasi Depot.
Although the company has, since 2016, consistently recorded losses, it was only in 2020 when the state oil stock holding company booked a profit of Gh¢9.844,673 before tax as stated by its audit report.
According to the audit report, BOST recorded a loss of Gh¢533,191,096 in 2016, Gh¢112,196,531 in 2017, Gh¢287,745,944 in 2018 and Gh¢158,478,676 in 2019.
In a statement responding to the awful impression created by the report, the management of BOST noted: “The report of the GH¢400 million losses made by BOST is not accurate. To measure the profitability and operational efficiency of a business, one must determine whether the underlying operations (core business) of the company are profitable.”
It continued that the Managing Director, in his submission at SIGA, was emphatic that the company achieved a profit before tax of GH¢9,844,673 versus an estimated GH¢30 million in 2020 as against a loss of GH¢158,478,676 in 2019.
The positive net profit before tax attained in 2020 implies a massive turnaround of the operational fortunes of the company.
The statement said: “This enhanced performance was driven by extensive operational efficiency initiatives including, but not limited to massive repair works of our storage tanks, pipelines and marine assets, replacement of outmoded parts across the facilities of the company in the last two years supported by improved marketing and customer service. In the past two years, our income-earning assets have improved from 18% to 91%.
“Any comprehensive and objective analysis of the audited statements for the past five years (2016-2020 profit before tax trend) will show a company on track to higher performance through enhanced efficiency and we look forward to capitalizing on these modest improvements to make BOST an example of a world-class state-owned enterprise.
“It remains uncontested that the debt to suppliers and related parties of $623 million has been paid down to $39 million, the debts owed the local banks of about GHS273 million have been fully cleared and our pipelines which were procured in 2011 and left to the mercy of the weather in the United States under the AT&V contract have arrived safely on our shores and we expect to complete the installation of the additional 12-inch pipeline between the Accra Plains and Akosombo depots. The cash flow position of the company is enhanced and the repair of the company’s infrastructure continues despite the reduction in our BOST Margin.
“We reiterate the fact that your company BOST is on its way to becoming a profitable state-owned enterprise and nothing will derail the resolve of management and staff to achieve this.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and power distributor, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) have assured the public, particularly those in Accra that the reconstruction of transmission lines from Achimota to Mallam substations will not result in load shedding popularly known in the local parlance as ‘dumsor’.
“Whilst we confirm the reconstruction work on our transmission lines has commenced since
Saturday, April 9, 2022, we wish to assure the public that the ongoing work will not lead to any DUMSOR,” a statement jointly issued by GRIDCo and ECG said.
The statement said Phase 1 of the reconstruction exercise of the transmission line from the Mallam substation to Avenor was undertaken and completed in November 2021 without any significant disturbance to power delivery in Accra and its environs.
It added that Phase 2 of the exercise from the Achimota substation to Avernor would similarly not disrupt power delivery in Accra.
This statement sought to clarify an earlier statement issued by GRIDCo which some media houses misinterpreted to mean that there was going to be load shedding popularly known as ‘dumsor.’
Touching on some efforts made to improve power delivery in Accra, it said as part of measures to improve power delivery in Accra and its environs, GRIDCo and ECG commissioned the Pokuase and Kasoa substations.
“The bulk supply points of Kasoa, Mallam, Accra Central, Pokuase and Achimota substations have enough transformer capacities to meet the desired demand without any load curtailment or load shedding,” the statement noted.
“We wish once again to reassure Ghanaians that GRIDCo and ECG are collaborating effectively to deliver power whilst the reconstruction work goes on.”
OPEC does not have the additional spare capacity to lift crude oil production much more than it is doing today, Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister Timipre Sylva told Anadolu Agency on Friday.
“It is not something that you can open a tap for at this point. You must have the additional capacity, the idle capacity to bring on, but it takes a lot of work and a lot of investment for it to have additional production,” the Nigerian minister told the Turkish news agency in an interview.
Many OPEC producers, including Nigeria, are currently pumping at the peak of their capacities, Sylva noted.
“If there is anything we can do to produce more, OPEC will be the first to produce more.But unfortunately, this capacity doesn’t exist in most OPEC countries,” he told Anadolu Agency.
OPEC is not too happy with very high oil prices because it wants prices at levels that do not hurt the consumers of its crude, but the organization cannot do much more to pump more, the Nigerian minister said.
There is “absolutely” a supply problem in the oil sector right now, Jeff Currie, global head of commodities at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg earlier this week.
There are broad-based supply constraints in oil producers, particularly non-core OPEC, Currie said. Every producer except for Saudi Arabia and the UAE is producing less today than they were in 2020, he added. Throw in the Russian shock, and the supply constraints are the most severe in decades, since the 1970s, according to Currie.
In February, the OPEC+ group continued to severely underperform in its oil production levels compared to the target in the pact, with February output at more than 1 million barrels per day (bpd) below the collective quota and compliance rate jumping to 136 percent, Reuters reported last month.
In March, OPEC’s second-largest producer, Iraq, produced just 4.15 million bpd of crude oil, well below its quota under the OPEC+ agreement, according to data from Iraqi state oil marketing firm SOMO seen by Reuters.
Oil production in OPEC’s key partner in the OPEC+ deal, Russia, has also shown signs of a decline in recent weeks.
Source: Oilprice.com
Parts of Ghana’s capital, Accra will be experiencing power outage for a period of eighty-two (82) days beginning today, Saturday, April 9, 2022.
The rational is to afford the West African nation’s power transmission company, GRIDCo to re-construct transmission lines from Achimota substation through Avenor to the Mallam substation.
In a statement issued Friday night, it said the work involves taking out service, two 161kV transmission lines (i.e. Achimota – Accra Central and Achimota – Mallam) from Saturday April 9, 2022, to Thursday, June 30, 2022.
According to the company, the exercise will result in power outages in parts of Accra, especially areas served by the Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) distribution systems crossing these transmission lines (between the Achimota Substation at Dzorwulu and Avenor in Accra) during the day, for the stated period.
“The outage is to enable GRIDCo to upgrade the transmission capacity on each Line. This important exercise is to meet the growing demand for electricity in Accra and its environs.
“GRIDCo apologises for any inconvenience caused during the period,” the statement concluded.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria’s National Electricity Grid has collapsed again for the third successive time. The situation has plunged the West African giant into total darkness which is partly affecting businesses and industries.
The latest collapse, the third in less than a month, came despite assurances by the Federal Government of taken steps to deal with the situation head on.
However, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) which manages the grid had last month stated that, it had developed an alternative ways of managing the grid.
A statement by TCN sighted by energynewsafrica.com, said, its “in-house engineers have deployed a stop-gap solution to improve grid monitoring and acquisition of data from remote stations (power stations and transmission substations) to the National Control Centre. This, according to them was achieved by utilizing the Internet of Things (IoT) solution and Virtual Private Network (VPN) by using various Internet Service Providers (ISP).
“This temporary use of the Network Automation System was deployed to assist TCN in conveying critical operational measurements data from remote stations to NCC using Web Technology, which is an integral component of the IoT. So far, the data received from remote stations has enabled NCC to obtain more insight into the situation of the power flow on the grid and has enabled NCC to make decisions that have impacted positively on the security and integrity of the Grid.
“The stop-gap solution became necessary as TCN could not access and receive comprehensive operational data of the entire power grid for managing the fast-growing system. The existing inadequate SCADA System cannot provide adequate grid visibility, as parts of the existing SCADA system are moribund and damaged, coupled with an ineffective telecommunication network infrastructure.’’
In a public notice sent to customers by Eko Electricity Distribution Company sighted by energynewsafrica.com, it said: “We regret to inform you that the current outage affecting our entire network is due to system. TCN team is working to resolve it as soon as possible. Sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused. Please bear with us.’’
Many Nigerians have however, resorted to social media to register their displeasure about the seeming unending power crisis in the country.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Tullow Oil Plc’s plan to take over the operations of the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah (KNK) being used in Ghana’s oilfield from oil services provider MODEC and self operate it has been questioned by a former Minister for Energy and Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah.
The African focused independent oil and gas firm said in its 2021 Full Year results that it would, in the middle of 2022, take over the operations of FPSO Kwame Nkrumah from MODEC.
This decision, according to Mr Amarh Buah, should be of concern to Ghanaians since it is likely to destroy the local Ghanaian businesses in the upstream petroleum sector.
“We face a real risk of losing millions if the government fails to address the issues raised.Remember, we are stuck with just three producing Fields with dwindling reserves in a very tough economic time,” the former Minister said in a statement issued and copied to energynewsafrica.com.
He questioned whether Tullow can operate FPSO Kwame Nkrumah.
“How is Tullow’s maintenance record?” he quizzed again.
According to him, “We know of Tullow’s poor maintenance record as evidenced by the FPSO KNK turret.
“The Turret remediation project cost Ghana over 1 Billion USD in the form of cost of oil production,” he claimed.
He further questioned Tullow’s real motive for jobs and local content and participation.
“What will be the impact of this decision on indigenous Ghanaian companies, especially on contracts they already have with the current operator, MODEC? With this short timeline to take over, what are the transitional arrangements made with MODEC?”
Meanwhile, Tullow Oil Plc is yet to comment on the issue raised by the former Minister when energynewsafrica.com reached the Communication team on the telephone.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
The Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, has assured tanker drivers in the country of his resolve to address their welfare issues.
He noted that the drivers play an essential role in the petroleum downstream sector and thus going to roll out initiatives to benefit them.
Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid gave the assurance when members of the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker Drivers Union paid a courtesy call on him at the NPA head office in Accra.
In a Facebook post sighted by energynewsafrica.com, it said the purpose of the visit was to outline their challenges as tanker drivers and to also commend him for immediately addressing some of their challenges barely a year after taking office.
The tanker drivers, in recent times, have been protesting over poor working conditions despite working in a hazardous industry.
The poor working conditions and some other issues compelled the gas tanker drivers within the union to suspend their services but the swift response by Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid made them suspend their industrial action.
Dr. Hamid assured them that he was going to quickly work together with his team to resolve other outstanding challenges tabled during the meeting.
The Union led by George T. Nyaunu commended the Chief Executive for his sterling leadership and assured the Authority of their readiness to collaborate whenever they were called upon.
George T. Nyaunu, Chairman of the Ghana National Petroleum Tanker DriversPerry Curtis Kwabla Okudzeto, Deputy CEO of NPASource: energynewsafrica.com
Kenya’s electricity company, Kenya Power, has made a startling revelation that criminals in the Eastern African nation have been vandalising its electric transformers and extracting the fluid in them and selling it to restaurants and roadside stalls as cooking oil for food preparation.
This criminal activity has been making the company lose millions of dollars.
The increase in vandalism of transformers in Kenya has been linked to the rising cost of cooking oil, which has forced some businesses to turn to unorthodox methods to try and keep afloat.
Health experts warn that transformer oil, which looks like cooking oil, is unsafe for human consumption and poses serious health risks.
A statement issued by Kenya Power noted that there has been a sharp increase in vandalism in central Kenya, where nearly 20 transformers were either destroyed or interfered with.
Harrison Kamau, the company’s business manager in Murang’a County, cited an incident where a vandal “was electrocuted on top of a transformer while attempting to remove/return fuses.
“He is currently admitted to the Thika General Hospital with life-threatening injuries,” the Kenya Power official said.
Of chips mwitu and the likes…stay woke!
Transformer oil contains polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) which pose a major health risk to consumers.
— The Kenya Power & Lighting Company Plc. (@KenyaPower) March 31, 2022
At least, 22 people have recently been arrested and their cases are currently in court.
Kenya Power has now started a nationwide awareness campaign about the dangers of vandalising the grid, and this comes as the company struggles with constant power blackouts.
In January, a national blackout seen as the worst in years was blamed on the vandalism of steel pylons for scrap metal, which led to the collapse of the power grid.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Ghana is expected to review its electricity and water tariffs in July this year.
The last time the West African nation reviewed its utility tariff was in July 2019 when electricity saw an 11.7 per cent upward review.
This was after electricity cost was reduced by 17.5 per cent for residential consumers, while non-residential consumers enjoyed 30 per cent reduction.
Special load tariff customers (those who use more power, such as industries) also enjoyed a 25 per cent tariff reduction, while the mines had a 10 per cent reduction.
Speaking to journalists in the Western Region of Ghana, the Executive Secretary of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), a regulator of utilities, Dr. Ishmael Ackah, said the Commission is currently reviewing all the proposals received from the utilities and would arrive at a decision and follow it with an announcement in July.
According to him, the announcement would depend on the Ghana Utility Performance Index satisfaction which the PURC would publish this year.
“This year is a major tariff review year. Before we start, we develop guidelines, and in these guidelines, we go around to engage utilities, consumers and other groups after which we ask utilities to submit proposals. These proposals have been submitted. In coming out with the tariff, we look at the proposals; we look at microeconomic indicators, exchange rates and others. We look at customer services, which is how utilities over the period have also responded to customer concerns.
“Let me add that this year, PURC is going to start publishing what we call the Ghana Utility Performance Index looking at the regional performance based on customer satisfaction and the number of indicators. So, we look at all these things before we come out with the tariff. Where we are now is that all utilities have submitted their proposals to PURC. We have started doing the initial analysis, and as we speak, it will be very difficult to tell you whether it will go up or come down, but we hope to announce the tariff in July,’’ he said.
Dr. Ackah said the Commission would engage all consumers, the media and civil society before coming out with the new tariff.
He, however, said he did not foresee much impact on the tariffs from the increment in the prices of petroleum products.
“When we look at the generation mix, we have the hydro and we have thermal plants, but most of them use natural gas. I think we have only one plant using petrol now, and then, we have the solar system contributing about one per cent. So if there are any changes in gas price, then, it is going to affect the tariff because we have only one plant using petrol…yes, petrol can have some effect, but it is just one plant, so it may not be as much as gas if there are changes in gas price,“ he added.
Source: energynewsafrica.com
Source: energynewsafrica.com 
Source: energynewsafrica.com 
Source: energynewsafrica.com