Ghanaians have over the last couple of years been enduring long hours of power outages as a result of the shortage in generation capacity by the power producers.
Thermal plants at Aboadze in the Western Region and Tema in Accra are unable to produce at full capacity due to the insufficient supply of gas from Nigeria. The Akosombo hydroelectric dam is also not producing at full capacity as a result of the closure of two of the six generating units due to depleting water levels.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is therefore forced to shed about 600 megawatts of the load each day, putting the economy in severe distress.
But addressing a gathering of Ghanaian nationals living in Germany Tuesday, January 20, 2015 as part of his visit to that country, the President said he is focused on resolving “this problem once and permanently”.
According to the President, despite the energy challenge, 76% of the Ghanaian population has access to electricity. The target is to grow that figure to at least 80% in the coming years when ongoing projects are completed which will add at least 5000 megawatts to current supply.
He indicated, “The power factor and the demand for power continue to grow exponentially [and] so every government must add in as much generation as possible”.
He said it is, therefore, his determination to find a lasting solution to the problem.
“I accept responsibility for it and I will work to resolve it,” he told the over three hundred Ghanaians who attended the Ghanaian Community Meeting to interact with him.
The meeting included Ghanaian professionals, traditional leaders, students, business executives, children of Ghanaians living in Germany some of whom are now Germans of Ghanaian Origin and a number of friends of Ghana.
SOURCE: myjoy
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