Benin and Togo have made a joint request to the Ghana government to supply them with more power, since their power situation is more desperate than Ghana’s.
“Ghanaians are undergoing power crisis, but Benin and Togo
are in darkness. We are desperate and are pleading with the government to
supply both countries with more power,” the Minister of Energy of Benin, Mr
Barthelemy D. Kassa, pleaded.
During an interaction with his Ghanaian counterpart, Mr
Emmanuel Kofi-Armah Buah, Mr Kassa said, “We know you are in difficulty, but we
are more desperate. We are in darkness.”
Mr Kassa, who was the leader of a four-member delegation
which held discussions with Mr Buah on Friday evening, acknowledged the fact
that Ghana was undergoing energy crisis but noted, “The situation in Benin and
Togo is worse.”
Ghana has reduced the contractual supply of power to Benin
and Togo from 90 MW to 35 MW after the destruction of a pipeline belonging to
the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP) in August 2012.
The cut in power supply to the two countries has resulted in
massive load shedding and power disruption in Togo and Benin between eight and
12 hours or more daily.
Mr Kassa looked worried, apprehensive and expectant when he
pleaded with the minister to compromise and increase the power supply slightly
upwards, but Mr Buah was firm and said Ghana could only help when the situation
in the country normalised.
Mr Buah’s response created more distress for Mr Kassa and
his team, who shoved diplomacy aside and displayed open worry.
Other members of the Beninois delegation were Benin’s
Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Assounan Nouhouoi; the Director General of CEB — the
power generating company for Togo/Benin — Mr Salifou Djibril, and the Director
General of the Electricity Company of Benin, Mr Marius Z. Hounkpatin.
According to Mr Kassa, power rationing in Togo and Benin had
caused serious distress to individuals and businesses in those countries, but
Mr Buah remained resolute and maintained his position.
Throwing more light on the issue to the Daily Graphic, Mr
Djibril, who spoke English, said the situation was so bad that most companies
were making losses, adding, “Parliamentary and local elections will be held in
both countries and our people are saying, ‘no power, no vote’.”
Mr Buah explained that Ghana had experienced a shortfall in
energy supply of about 250 MW as a result of the disruptions in the gas supply
by the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP).
He said individuals and businesses in Ghana were currently
going through similar distress as a result of the load-shedding programme, but
Mr Kassa interjected and stated, “We are desperate and in deeper stress than
Ghana.”
Mr Buah said the recent visit by President Mahama to the
Takoradi T3 Thermal Plant, the WAGP and the Bui Dam was a clear indication of
the government’s resolve to improve the power situation by the end of April.
Explaining the position of Ghana on the issue, he assured
his Beninois counterpart that Ghana would restore its full contractual supply
to Benin and Togo as soon as gas from WAGP was restored.
To show Ghana’s commitment to assist its neighbours, a
communique was signed between the delegation and the Ministry of Energy at the
end of the meeting.
As part of the agreement, 15 MW of power out of 132 MW will
be supplied to the two countries when the Takoradi T3 Plant goes into
commercial operation in the next two weeks.
An additional 15 MW of power will be supplied from the Bui
Hydro Plant when it goes into commercial operation with its first unit in May.
“The full contractual quantity of 90 MW continuous will be
supplied when the West African Gas Pipeline is back in service,” the communique
signed by the two ministers stated.
The delegation expressed concern over the transmission
service charge and the meeting agreed that a technical committee comprising
officers from the two sides would meet to discuss the details and come up with
the necessary recommendations.
Ghana’s team included the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of
the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Kweku Awotwi; the Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) of GRIDCo; Mr C. A. Darku, and the Deputy Director of Power at the
Ministry of Energy, Mr Solomon Adjetey.
Other members of the Ghana group were the Manager of
GRIDCo’s System Control, Mr Frank Otchere; the Director of Systems Operations,
Mr Bernard Modey, and a manager at VRA, Mr Ebow Aquah.
No comments:
Post a Comment