Providing metering solutions for Ghana:10 Years of GEM-ECG connection
Electricity provision is an issue that is dear to many Ghanaians because attempts that have been made by the country to ensure adequate supply have still not been able to resolve completely the incidence of power outages.
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Another vexed issue for many consumers of electricity in Ghana is the ever increasing electricity tariffs they have to contend with.
The introduction of prepaid meters has not helped matters and, in fact, most consumers have been at their wits end trying to figure out how a certain amount of credit bought had not gone the whole hog as expected.
These contentious matters have brought about the suspicion of the poor quality of the meters given to consumers which, to them, have brought about daylight robbery by the service provider, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and its assigns.
It is in the light of these that a partnership entered into by the ECG and the Ghana Electrometer Company (GEM), the sole local manufacturer of electricity meters, is worth hailing and interrogating.
The partnership
GEM has since 2004 been providing credit and prepayment meters to ECG, as well as the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum (MoEP) for the Rural Electrification Project (REP).
Its credit meters have also been deployed under the Government of Ghana’s Self Help Electrification Project (SHEP) and the National Electrification Scheme (NES) in many rural communities across the country.
As one of the meter suppliers for the ECG and the MoEP, GEM’s meters have been deployed in about 85 per cent of ECG’s operational areas.
Currently, stand alone and split GEM E-Cash meters have been deployed in the Koforidua, Ho, Takoradi, Sekondi, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Accra and Tema operational areas of the ECG under its prepayment metering projects programme.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic, the Operations and Internal Relations Manager of Ghana Electrometer Company, Mr Obed Solomon, said “Over the period, we have supplied to the ECG and MoEP over 1,300,000 units which are all functioning satisfactorily in the designated areas of installation; be it prepaid in urban areas or credit meters in SHEP areas.
“The 1,300,000 mentioned earlier has gone to replace otherwise obsolete or malfunctioning meters which were previously operated by ECG.”
He also disclosed that GEM was in the second phase of piloting on behalf of the ECG ‘Smart G’ pre-paid meters in the Ashanti West District which would involve the replacement of over 200,000 meters with state-of-the-art GPRS-complaint ones.
The benefits
According to Mr Solomon, the partnership with ECG had enabled GEM to improve itself technically, improving its products (hardware and software) and production processes and also building a good track record to be used as a reference in its proposed export drive.
The key benefit of the partnership with ECG, however, is the continuous facilitation of accelerated revenue generation, collection and protection by ECG, he said.
ECG staff also receive training from GEM in the area of power distribution, while gaining and building knowledge on state-of-the-art technology in prepaid metering.
For the consumer, the benefit of the partnership is the provision of quality prepaid meters through ECG to enable it to control power usage and save money for other activities.
GEM also has a factory that produces prepaid meters, generating direct employment for 150 Ghanaians who are given skills through training and indirect employment for 250 people.
Savings on revenue
“One example of savings ECG has made is when ECG contracted GEM in 2005 to supply and install 8,000 single-phase electrocash one prepaid metres in Koforidua on pilot basis.
“ECG registered cost-saving and improved cash flow during the period. It also registered 14 per cent reduction in energy consumption which prompted ECG to migrate to a full-scale project which required the installation of 250,000 electrocash prepaid meters.
“ECG also indicated that it was and is happy with the anti-tamper features of GEM’s meters which have helped in its revenue-protection drive,” Mr Solomon told the Daily Graphic.
Prospects
GEM is optimistic of widening its tentacles in the provision of metering solutions in the West African sub-region.
“We have made presentations to the Liberian Electricity Corporation and are exploring the possibility of collaborating with a couple of other countries. Recently, representatives of several West African countries embarked on a facility tour of GEM on the ticket of the West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC). We are in talks with some of these power distributors for partnerships regarding metering,” Mr Solomon stated.
GEM has almost completed a facility expansion to be commissioned anytime soon, and that is expected to increase the current daily production from 2,500 units of meters to 5,000 units.
With its completion, GEM hopes to have the capacity to provide meters not only for Ghana but also other West African countries.
Writer’s email: [email protected]
