The Lawra Municipal Hospital and the Municipal Police Command, as well as the Lawra Paramount Chief’s Palace in the Upper West Region of the Republic of Ghana will soon be installed with rooftop solar system.
The Municipal Hospital will have a 45kWp solar rooftop system, with the Municipal Police command having 15kWp solar rooftop.
The Lawra Chief’s Palace will be have an installation of 17.5kWp standalone solar rooftop system.
This will be done by Ghana’s largest power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA), in partnership with Spanish Electrical company, Elecnor S.A.
The Board Chairman of VRA, Kweku Andoh Awotwi, who disclosed this during the commissioning of 6.54MWp solar power plant in Lawra in the Upper West Region, explained that the initiative formed part of the VRA’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to give back to the people in the Upper West.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s utilities regulator, Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), has commissioned energy test meter laboratory at its head office in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The laboratory, which cost the Commission some $150,000, is equipped with state-of-the-art stationary reference meter test bench which can test up to five electricity meters simultaneously.
The facility has the capacity to test both single and three-phase meters.
Speaking at the commissioning of the facility, Executive Secretary of PURC, Mrs Mami Dufie Ofori said the energy test meter laboratory would help the Commission to improve on its monitoring of quality of service and also assess the integrity of meters used by regulated electric utilities.
She added that it would help the Commission to conduct insulation resistance test, high voltage test, creep/no load test, meter constant test, meter accuracy test, voltage variation test, frequency variation test and repeatability test.
Mrs Dufie Ofori, who recounted the difficulties the Commission had to go through using portable meter test equipment to undertake regulatory functions of resolving complaints bordering on meter accuracies and billing, expressed confidence that with the new laboratory, the Commission would be able to resolve such complaints promptly.
“It will ensure that energy meters being used by regulated utilities are efficient and fall within appropriate accuracy limit. Furthermore, it will enable the Commission to carry out random meter sampling tests and assert its independence and impartiality in carrying out its regulated functions.”
She commended the contractor, Alpha TND, an Indian company, for working hard despite the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the project was completed.
Alpha TND Ltd is one of the leading product & solution providers in Power Transmission & Distribution Sector with its firm footprints in West Africa.
Alpha TND is an ISO certified company and has executed meter testing facility for ECG and NEDCo in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), an energy think tank in the Republic of Ghana, has identified gaps in the enforcement of Ghana’s petroleum agreement.
According to ACEP, these gaps have been a major setback for the West African nation’s petroleum and mineral resources contracts.
This came to light at the launch of the Petroleum Contracts Platform by the Head of Policy Unit at ACEP Ms. Pauline Anaman, in Accra, capital of Ghana.
The report said evidence pointed to poor due diligence done on the financial and technical competences of companies during contract award processes; governments’ failure to strictly enforce contractual terms and impose sanctions upon breach and lack of relevant public data on performance of such companies to aid civil society and interested parties to track their performances in the sector.
“Sadly, ACEP’s 2019 update of contract monitor revealed no significant improvements from 2017 findings. Only two companies graduated into the compliance bracket. Companies have failed to deliver on their contractual obligations due to lack of competition for blocks (all contracts monitored were granted based on the open-door policy); weak parliamentary oversight; poor track record of some companies; and political patronage of the inefficiencies we see,” it stressed.
ACEP has, therefore, urged the government to review existing petroleum agreements and sanction non-compliant contracts in the sector to engender efficiency.
“At this point, let me commend the leadership of the Petroleum Commission for taking this project seriously by providing ACEP with every collaborative support to this day. We are also grateful to STAAC for funding ACEP’s initiative to support the government’s efforts in ensuring obligations in upstream oil and gas industry,” the report noted.
The report said the Ghana Contract Monitor is a representation of how far Ghana has come from the abyss of extractive contract transparency, adding that it was not enough in the wake of an era of open contracting.
ACEP intends to expand the scope of the Ghana Contract Monitor Platform to cover a century-old mining industry to legalise and implement international best practices on open contracting that achieves good accountability results at every stage of the mining value chain for meaningful development outcomes.
“I must emphasise that the Ghana Contract Monitoring Platform was designed with every person living in Ghana in mind. We are resolute in our drive for disability inclusion in the resources sector and have made this platform friendly for the blind with text to speech features,” she observed.
ACEP, therefore, urged the media and Ghanaians to be actively interested in accessing information that empowers their minds and amplifies their voices to demand transparency and accountability in the extractive industry.
The Ghana Contract Monitor Platform is an online tool that provides updates on work of non-producing extractive sector companies that have valid agreements with the Government of Ghana to explore, develop and produce petroleum and mineral.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla has announced that it will release its Full Self-Driving (FSD) beta version to a limited number of customers next week, as promised, Elon Musk said on Monday.
“Limited FSD beta releasing on Tuesday next week, as promised. This will, at first, be limited to a small number of people who are expert & careful drivers,” Musk said in a tweet, according to Oilprice.com.
During Tesla’s Battery Day on September 22, Musk said: “I think we’ll hopefully release a private beta of Autopilot, of the full self-driving version of Autopilot in, I think, a month or so, and then people will really understand just the magnitude of the change.”
The date is now confirmed for October 20, according to Musk’s tweet today.
Last week, commenting on Waymo’s autonomous driving capabilities, Musk said, “Waymo is impressive, but a highly specialized solution. The Tesla approach is a general solution. The latest build is capable of zero intervention drives. Will release limited beta in a few weeks.”
Apart from working on software, Tesla plans to further accelerate production and lead a global EV surge. The U.S. company is reportedly looking to invest in more nickel supply.
Tesla has contacted Indonesia informally about the possibility of an investment in the country, which is a major producer of the battery metal nickel, a senior Indonesian official said last week.
“We need further discussion with Tesla,” Reuters quoted Ayodhia Kalake, a senior official at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment, as saying.
Tesla wants to ramp up production of batteries as it increases EV production and models, and Musk has recently pleaded with nickel miners to produce more nickel, which would support the global expansion of batteries and EVs.
“Tesla will give you a giant contract for a long period of time if you mine nickel efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way. So hopefully, this message goes out to all mining companies,” Musk said on the Q2 earnings call at the end of July.
Africa Oil & Power has united an alliance of investment groups and natural gas advocates for its Mozambique Gas & Power 2021 event in March next year.
This week, the conference confirmed the Mozambican Oil & Gas Chamber (CPGM) as a key partner, joining the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME) and the African Energy Chamber as leading partners of the event.
“Mozambique’s natural gas is a resource that can support massive growth in our economy, and has already successfully brought global investment into our country. Mozambique is actively creating the enabling environment for investment in all sectors of the economy, with our natural gas reserves as a foundation and catalyst for local capacity building. This will give investors the confidence they need to join with us to build a stronger economy as we emerge from COVID-19,” said Florival Mucave, Chairman of the Mozambican Oil & Gas Chamber.
The chamber was established in January 2020 with a mandate to build industry networks and support national companies, in large part through training, certification, knowledge transfer and technology. It will also set up a platform to assist companies in providing goods and services in Mozambique.
Mozambique Gas & Power 2021 will take place on March 8-9 in Mozambique (venue to be announced) under the theme ‘Leveraging LNG: Building a Prosperous Mozambique’. Home to Africa’s largest ever foreign direct investment project, Mozambique LNG, the nation is set to be transformed by its natural gas finds and their development. In addition to Mozambique LNG (operated by Total), additional production and processing projects Rovuma LNG (led by ExxonMobil and Eni) and Coral FLNG (led by Eni) are underway, with the Coral floating LNG unit expecting first production in 2022.
Honoring the leadership of H.E. President of Mozambique Filipe Nyusi, Africa Oil & Power earlier this month named the President its ‘Person of the Year’.
The award recognizes Mozambique’s great strides forward in attracting investment and setting up the framework for the natural gas industry to grow, providing opportunity for international investors, the Mozambican people and local businesses.
“Gas is a transformative fuel and we see great positive change ahead for Mozambique,” said Mucave. “It is an honor to see the President’s efforts being recognized by Africa Oil & Power, but we also know that there is much work ahead to realize the full potential of our resources, and the Mozambique Gas & Power event and investment drive will be an important part of that.”
Mozambique Gas & Power will take place on 8-9 March 2021 and online registration is open at www.MozambiqueGasAndPower.com.
Organizer Africa Oil & Power invites interested potential partners to contact International Conference Director Sandra Jeque at [email protected]. If your organization would like to learn more about sponsoring or exhibiting at MGP 2021, please contact [email protected].
Train services came to a halt, homes and businesses were without electricity and people sweltered in humid heat as a grid failure resulted in massive power outages across Mumbai on Monday.
As the day progressed, power restorations efforts began on “war footing”.
Railway services across city on the Western Railway and Central Railway came to a grinding halt at 1005 hrs as a result of the power outage, with both the networks blaming power cut from Tata Power (their power supplier) for it.
State’s Power Minister Nitin Raut said the trouble emanated from Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MSETCL) facilities during a planned maintenance work.
Tata Power, which is into both generation and distribution, attributed the power outage to a simultaneous substation tripping at 1010 hrs at state-run transmission company MSETCL’s two substations in the suburbs of Kalwa and Kharghar.
Raut said power supply will resume soon, as officials were working on it on a war footing.
As the afternoon progressed, power at many pockets including the Bandra Kurla Complex business district, Lower Parel and South Mumbai started resuming.
With work-from-home (WFH) becoming the norm across vital industries like banking, finance and information technology, employee output was also impacted as the residences do not have electricity backup in a city which generally has stable power.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Federal Government of Nigeria and the organised labour have resolved to extend the suspension of the new electricity tariffs by one more week.
This is to enable the review technical committee to work out modalities for the implementation of the agreement reached on the electricity tariffs structure, as well as address some grey areas of the report.
This was part of the decisions reached at the meeting between the Federal Government and organised labour at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, capital of Nigeria.
Speaking about the extension, Chairman of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Prof James Momoh said NERC was committed to ensuring that the power sector works no matter what it would take.
The Minister of State for Power, Prince Goddy Jedy-Agba said one million meters were already available and that distributions would start within the week.
He disclosed that the distribution would be completed before December.
The resolution read by the Chairman of the Technical Committee and Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo said: “The committee adopted a two-phase approach to proffer solutions that would help resolve issues affecting the sector in the medium term while providing relief to customers immediately.
“The immediate relief would be provided to citizens for a two to three-month period (not later than December 31, 2020), being the timeline for the conclusion of an extended scope of work for the Technical Committee.”
Some of the issues to address include a timeline for the distribution of the six million electricity meters being pledged by the government as part of the palliative deal.
In the report of the committee, the Federal Government accepted to procure six million meters to be distributed by the Discos to electricity consumers without metres.
It said: “Six million meters will only be through local meter manufacturers and assemblers and will be targeted at creating local jobs and a new meter manufacturing sub-sector in the country.”
The report also provided for salary protection for electricity workers.
It said that the government would ensure that the salaries for electricity workers were protected in the revised payment waterfall structure.
The report further stated: “Mandatory monthly publication by Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) of allowed billings in Naira for unmetered customers to make the capping regulation more effective.
“NERC will publish maximum charges in Naira for consumers without meters (in support of the capping regulation); freezing of customer band migration during the interim period in order to protect customers from changes in tariff during the two to three-month period of review by the Joint Technical Committee.”
The report said that Discos would be directed to temporarily suspend customer band migration.
“This means that while Discos are expected to fulfill their Performance Improvement Plans (PIP), thereby, improving the quality of service to customers, no added charges will be passed on to customers during this period. This measure is aimed at building confidence in the Service-based Tariff structure.”
Other aspects of the technical committee’s report include the inclusion of labour representation in NERC, extensive review of key sector reforms, ground Audit of implementation across Discos, review of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms set up by NERC and the Discos.
Others are gas pricing, review mechanisms for pricing the domestic supply obligation (DSO) and the foreign exchange component(s), decentralisation of the grid.
The government is to explore ways to accelerate investment and bring more players into the sector, drive investment and reduce costs for end-users. Options should be in addition to the franchising and mini-grid regulations.
On the issue of import duty waivers for the electricity sector, the committee was mandated to investigate and recommend ways for the electricity sector to receive incentives that would reduce costs across the value chain that would impact on tariff.
Organised labour, led by the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), Ayuba Wabba, and Trade Union Congress (TUC), Quadri Olaleye, demanded an inclusion of timelines for the implementation of the report.
They insisted that there should be a timeline for the distribution of the six million meters promised by the Federal Government.
Mr Olaleye sought to know what the Federal Government would do with the N1.7 billion it said would be saved daily from the removal of subsidy on electricity tariff.
BP has started up the second phase of its gas operations in Oman, with the launch of the Ghazeer project.
The company had expected to reach first gas at the field in 2021 but has brought the 0.5 billion cubic feet per day project on line four months ahead of schedule.
BP approved Ghazeer in April 2018.
“This is another example of our business performing while transforming. This underpins our financial framework and is absolutely central to BP. The hydrocarbon business provides funding for low carbon business and is absolutely aligned with our net zero plans,” energyvoice.com quoted BP’s executive vice president of production and operations Gordon Birrell saying in an interview.
We’re starting production from Ghazeer gas field in Oman. This major new project reflects bp’s commitment to resilient and focused hydrocarbons. Plus, using ‘green completions’ 201,000 tonnes of CO2e emissions have been saved in Oman since 2019.
Global power producer ENGIE has appointed Gillian-Alexandre Huart as Chief Executive Officer(CEO) of ENGIE Energy Access, its access to energy business in Africa tasked with providing millions of households and businesses across the continent with clean and affordable energy.
The group launched its Access to Energy (A2E) strategy in 2018, in line with the ambition of expanding its African footprint.
The strategy has now evolved into a fully-fledged business with the successful integration of solar home system companies Fenix International and ENGIE Mobisol, and mini-grids provider ENGIE PowerCorner, under one entity and one name – ENGIE Energy Access.
The integration places the business as one of the leading off-grid, Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGo) solar and mini-grid solutions providers in Africa with a presence in Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Mozambique.
Prior to this appointment, Huart was the managing director for EMEAI (Europe, Middle East, Africa and India) at ENGIE Impact. He began his career as a consultant with Accenture before joining the group in 2002.
In his new role he will be responsible for driving ENGIE’s ambitious goal of maintaining market leadership and providing long-term impact on the lives of Africans. Huart: “I am honoured and motivated to be leading a business with a mission that is key for ENGIE. Over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity and we have an important role to play in addressing this gap.
“With the integration of the three companies, we are now able to serve our customers according to their specific energy needs – from basic lighting and phone charging, to more advanced systems for households all the way to powering productive use equipment to promote entrepreneurship and boost economic activity in rural communities” Huart added.
Universal electrification is the seventh of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that the global community has committed to achieve by 2030. ENGIE says it is confident that universal access to energy is achievable in the foreseeable future, through smart investments in a combination of national grid extension, solar home systems and mini-grids.
Organisers of the prestigious Ghana Energy Awards have released the list of nominees for the 4th Edition of the prestigious annual event for Ghana’s energy sector.
Featured in the list are top players in the country’s power, petroleum and renewable energy subsectors vying for the number one spot in each of the 14 competitive categories.
Competition is tight for all the awards categories including the apex Energy Personality of the Year, Chief Executive of the Year, Energy Company of the Year, Innovation Project of the Year, Rising Star, Energy Reporter of the Year, and many more.
Under the auspices of the Ministry of Energy and the World Energy Council Ghana, this industry-based awards scheme is aimed at recognising excellence and impactful innovation within the energy sector.
This year’s event is under the theme: ‘Excelling in Crisis: The Energy Sector in a Covid-19 Era’.
It is organised by the Energy Media Group, in collaboration with CH-Business Consulting Ghana.
The 2020 Ghana Energy Awards is happening on Friday October 30, 2020, at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel, Accra at 6:30pm.
Special Guest of Honour for the night is the Honourable Minister for Energy, John-Peter Amewu.
Industry partners for this initiative are the Bui Power Authority, Ghana Grid Company, Ghana Gas, Volta River Authority, Energy Commission, Menergy Technologies, Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, ECG, PURC, Association of Oil Marketing Companies and COPEC Ghana.
Validation is done by MAZARS Ghana.
For tickets and sponsorship, contact: +233 55 930 0631 and +233 54 155 5561. Also, send your enquiries to [email protected]Below is the list of the nominees:
Chevron Corporation has reportedly notified its employees in Houston office in Texas, United States of America that it plans to lay off nearly 700 employees as part of a “cost-cutting program expected to eliminate up to 15% of its workforce.
Affected employees are being asked to reapply for their existing positions, with layoffs set to take place beginning October 23rd.
According to Reuters, impacted Chevron staff will receive “enhanced severance benefits and two months to leave the company.”
A Chevron spokeswoman said majority of the employees will have their appointment terminated by the end of the year.
The Houston layoffs are part of Chevron’s broader plans to eliminate as many as 6,000 jobs worldwide.
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, John-Peter Amewu, is convinced the government led by President Akufo-Addo, has managed the country’s power sector more efficiently than the previous government did, and has, thus, asked Ghanaians to maintain the governing party in the upcoming general elections.
He noted that when the West African nation’s largest opposition party, National Democratic Party (NDC), was in power between 2008 and 2016, Ghana was thrown into power crisis for a period of five years.
Mr Amewu said the five years’ power crisis affected businesses and resulted in loss of lives.
Describing the opposition NDC as a party that “is in favour of the power crisis,” Mr Amewu said stability in the power sector ensures economic growth, as well as provides decent sources of livelihood.
He explained that it is for this reason that the current administration, under President Akufo-Addo and the New Patriotic Party administration, worked hard to ensure that the intermittent power supply witnessed under the previous administration became a thing of the past.
“Any Ghanaian who will like to return the country to the era of power crisis is not wishing this country any good,” he stated.
Mr Amewu gave the caution when he joined President Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to commission a 6.54MW peak solar power park constructed by the Volta River Authority in Lawra in the Upper West Region.
Mr Amewu commended Volta River Authority (VRA), the consultant, Tractebel Engineering, and the contractor, Elecnor S.A from Spain.
The project is the first phase of a 17MW solar power park funded by KfW, a German Development Bank, with counterpart funding of eight million Euros from the Government of Ghana.
Mr Amewu said he was extremely happy to see a dream become a reality due to the enormous benefits that would bring to the people of Lawra and its environs.
According to Mr Amewu, the project is a bold step taken by the Government of Ghana under its Renewable Energy Master Plan (REMP), in shaping Ghana’s energy sector especially with regards to doubling the country’s efforts of scaling up the production of renewable energy as well as helping to reduce the risks of climate change.
He said his Ministry would continue to encourage and support grid connected solar projects in Northern Ghana to take advantage of of the good solar energy potential.
He hinted that the Renewable Energy Amendment Bill is currently before Cabinet for consideration and approval by Parliament.
Mr Amewu explained that the Bill is intended to abolish the high feed in tariff scheme of renewable energies and provide for the future utility scale solar photovoltaic (PV) to be procured through competitive bidding.
The President of the Republic of Ghana, H. E Nana Akufo-Addo on Saturday, October 10,2020 commissioned a 6.54MWp solar plant in Lawra in the Upper West Region.
The project is the first phase of a 17MW solar power park being constructed by Ghana’s largest power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA) in the region.
President Akufo-Addo, in February this year, cut the sod for VRA to commence the construction of 13MW and 4MW solar power projects at Kaleo and Lawra respectively.
The original capacity of the Lawra Solar Park was 4MW, but energynewsafrica.com understands there was a technical improvement and this resulted in the enhancement of the capacity without extra cost.
The 13MW, the second phase of the project, has reached an advanced stage.
The solar parks are part of the VRA’s vision to diversify its sources of power into clean and renewable energy generation.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony, President Akufo-Addo noted that the project will help to reduce transmission losses on the country’s national grid and improve the reliability of power distribution in Lawra and its environs.
He commended the project contractor, Elecnor S.A from Spain, the consultant, Tractebel Engineering and VRA for delivering the project on schedule despite the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Among the dignitaries present at the commissioning ceremony are Minister for Energy John-Peter Amewu, Director for Renewable and Alternative Energies at the Ministry of Energy Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, Deputy Director for Renewable Energy Seth Mahu, CEO of Ghana Grid Company(GRIDCo) Ing. Jonathan Amoako-Baah, CEO of Volta River Authority Ing. Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, Managing Director of Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) Dr. Osman Ayuba, Executive Secretary of Energy Commission Rev. Ing. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, Executive Secretary of Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, Director for System Operations at GRIDCo Mark Baah, Mr. Kweku Andoh Awotwi, board member of VRA. Director for Distribution at the Ministry of Energy Ing. Chris Anaglo and Deputy Director for Materials Ing. Sulemana.
Below are exclusive pictures from the event.H.E Nana Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana (3rd from left)
Ghana is expected to make an estimated savings of US$3Billion following the commitment by Cenpower Generation Company Limited (Cenpower), one of the independent power producers in the Republic of Ghana to switch from depending on light crude oil (LCO) to natural gas to power their power plant.
The company has been depending on crude to power its Tema -based power plant. However, government has renegotiated with the company for them to turn to the use of natural gas. Cenpower has thus signed a gas supply agreement (GSA) with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
Gas operations are expected to begin by the end of this week.
A statement issued by Ghana’s Ministry of Finance welcomed the commitment by Cenpower, describing it as a significant milestone.
The GSA is a key part of the proposal put forward by government during negotiations with Cenpower and will deliver substantial cost savings, estimated at $3 billion over the remaining term of the Cenpower PPA.
According to the Finance Ministry, the conversion to natural gas will have important environmental benefits, as emissions will be lowered and Ghana’s abundant natural gas resources effectively utilised for the benefit of the Ghanaians and the business community.
Additionally, the move to natural gas will alleviate the considerable pressure on Government from its take-or-pay commitments with fuel suppliers and allow for the substitution of imported fuels with locally available natural gas, thus positively impacting the capital account.
Cenpower power plant
Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta said: “We welcome Cenpower’s commitment to Ghana and recognise Cenpower’s conversion to gas as a significant step in helping regenerate Ghana’s energy sector.In recent weeks, there has been increased momentum under the ESRP Consultation Process towards resolving some extremely challenging legacy issues inherited from the previous administration. We encourage all other IPPs to engage constructively with the Government negotiating team to conclude negotiations as soon as possible.IPPs have a vested interest and a significant role to play in providing a stable energy supply as well as ensuring a fair, balanced and sustainable energy sector for the people of Ghana.”
As ever, this Government is committed to building a competitive and dynamic energy sector, where private investments can thrive and the interests of the Ghanaian people and businesses continue to flourish.”
Cenpower is a major power producer in Ghana, providing approximately 10% of Ghana’s total electricity generation. This project is an excellent example of the public and private sectors working together in Ghana to attract private investment while ensuring sustainable development.
Presently, Ghana pays over US$500 million a year for unused electricity. Most of the power PPAs are legacy agreements, entered into under the previous administration.
This Government, in collaboration with the World Bank, established the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP), identifying the policies and actions needed for financial recovery in the energy sector over a five-year horizon (2019-2023).
As part of these reforms, Government is taking steps to institute competitive bidding for future additional capacity, so as to ensure that future tariffs are fair and in line with expected pricing benchmarks.
Government has demonstrated its commitment to the ESRP by actively developing whole-of-sector initiatives and reforms, including the implementation of the Cash Waterfall Mechanism (CWM) in April 2020, which allows tariff revenues of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to be distributed in a more transparent manner.
As well, Government is managing payment of energy sector arrears, despite the challenging fiscal situation, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Government negotiating team, established under the Energy Sector Recovery Task Force (ESRTF), which is helmed by the Senior Minister, is working bilaterally with independent power producers (IPPs) and gas suppliers (GSs) under the ESRP Consultation Process, to secure more favourable agreements for both parties and achieve a balanced energy sector capable of delivering fair, long-term energy partnerships and solutions.
Government has undertaken these discussions in good faith and urges all IPPs to continue working closely with the Government negotiating team to conclude negotiations as soon as possible.
In September, Government successfully secured terms for an amended PPA with CENIT Power Limited.
As part of the ESRP Consultation Process, Government has also directly engaged IPP lenders in negotiations, offering to refinance outstanding facilities at a discount through a designated Energy Fund.
Clearly, lenders have a crucial role to play in alleviating the debilitating financial strain on Government – arising from the onerous and unbalanced legacy energy sector contracts – by renegotiating on terms that provide significant tariff reductions.
Globally, financial institutions are having to reconsider their positions in light of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on national economies, including triggering defaults and credit downgrades.
Government urges lenders to take a sensible and pragmatic approach and urgently consider the refinancing proposals in order to conclude negotiations as quickly as possible.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
“It will ensure that energy meters being used by regulated utilities are efficient and fall within appropriate accuracy limit. Furthermore, it will enable the Commission to carry out random meter sampling tests and assert its independence and impartiality in carrying out its regulated functions.”
She commended the contractor, Alpha TND, an Indian company, for working hard despite the coronavirus pandemic to ensure that the project was completed.
Alpha TND Ltd is one of the leading product & solution providers in Power Transmission & Distribution Sector with its firm footprints in West Africa.
Alpha TND is an ISO certified company and has executed meter testing facility for ECG and NEDCo in Ghana, Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
“Sadly, ACEP’s 2019 update of contract monitor revealed no significant improvements from 2017 findings. Only two companies graduated into the compliance bracket. Companies have failed to deliver on their contractual obligations due to lack of competition for blocks (all contracts monitored were granted based on the open-door policy); weak parliamentary oversight; poor track record of some companies; and political patronage of the inefficiencies we see,” it stressed.
ACEP has, therefore, urged the government to review existing petroleum agreements and sanction non-compliant contracts in the sector to engender efficiency.
“At this point, let me commend the leadership of the Petroleum Commission for taking this project seriously by providing ACEP with every collaborative support to this day. We are also grateful to STAAC for funding ACEP’s initiative to support the government’s efforts in ensuring obligations in upstream oil and gas industry,” the report noted.
The report said the Ghana Contract Monitor is a representation of how far Ghana has come from the abyss of extractive contract transparency, adding that it was not enough in the wake of an era of open contracting.
ACEP intends to expand the scope of the Ghana Contract Monitor Platform to cover a century-old mining industry to legalise and implement international best practices on open contracting that achieves good accountability results at every stage of the mining value chain for meaningful development outcomes.
“I must emphasise that the Ghana Contract Monitoring Platform was designed with every person living in Ghana in mind. We are resolute in our drive for disability inclusion in the resources sector and have made this platform friendly for the blind with text to speech features,” she observed.
ACEP, therefore, urged the media and Ghanaians to be actively interested in accessing information that empowers their minds and amplifies their voices to demand transparency and accountability in the extractive industry.
The Ghana Contract Monitor Platform is an online tool that provides updates on work of non-producing extractive sector companies that have valid agreements with the Government of Ghana to explore, develop and produce petroleum and mineral.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Below are exclusive pictures from the event.
