There is nothing new under the sun as the good book makes us understand and so is the current power crisis in Ghana locally termed as “dumsor” or more recently “dumdum”.
History makes us aware that this is not the first time Ghana is going through periods of inadequate power supply relative to demand as similar experiences have occurred in the past.
The first of such experience since the Akosombo hydro dam was commissioned in 1965 (i.e. the first electric power plant in Ghana) was in 1983-1985 followed by 1998-2000 and then in the period 2006-2007 and the current power crisis which started in 2012 to date. The uniqueness of the recent case is the longer period that the nation has to endure rotating load shedding programme.
Unlike the previous power crisis which lasted less than two years, the current situation has persisted for over three years and still counting as there appears to be no end in sight.
Also unlike the past where the situation was attributed to low levels of water in the country’s hydro dams (Akosombo and Kpong), this excuse is no longer tenable since the nation is now not only dependent on hydro but also thermal (Aboadze, Tema, Sunon Asogli and CENIT Power Plants) and renewable (solar).
Also at the time the power crisis began, the water level in the Akosombo dam for instance was above the minimum level (240 feet) required to operate the dam. Consequently several reasons have been put forward by public officials and government communicators as the factors accounting for the current power crisis. Some of these reasons seem reasonable whilst others appear ridiculous and new reasons come up every now and then.
Below are some of the reasons adduced by public officials as the underlying causes of the power crisis on a number of platforms;
During the last IEA Presidential Debate in Tamale, the issue of load shedding featured prominently. President Mahama in his response to a question on this issue gave an explanation which at the time appeared brilliant but the situation afterwards has shown there is more to it than meets the eye.
The President explained that the load shedding was necessitated by the rupturing of the West African Gas Pipelines (by a ship’s anchor) that supply Nigerian gas to fuel Ghana’s thermal plants.
Again we were informed the repair of the gas pipelines delayed because of a fire explosion in the repair process leading to the death of two engineers working on them. Eventually the pipeline was fixed but the power crisis never ceased and has instead reached an alarming proportion.
The reason that was given and has remained on the lips of public officials is that the Nigeria Gas Company has not been able to fulfill its contractual obligation of supplying about 123 million cubic feet of gas per day to Ghana and understandably so because Nigeria also needs the gas to supply electricity to its larger population and support its industrialization initiatives.
Meanwhile the installations that could enable Ghana to fully tap from the gas resources from the Jubilee Field are several years behind schedule.
Other reason that has been attributed to the load shedding is the shutting down of some thermal plants for scheduled repairs/maintenance. Whist it is good that machines have to be properly maintained, for a layman it is baffling that repairs works would be ongoing for all these years.
The conspiracy theory has therefore been that there is no money to purchase oil to power the thermal plants. Related to this is also the idea propagated by Government Communicators that some engineers working in the power sector have been engaging in acts of sabotage by deliberately putting off the lights.
Whilst this may be true, the burden of proof lies on those making this wild allegation to produce evidence as a basis for sanctioning engineers engaged in these grievous acts.
Again the engineers at VRA in particular have been accused of lacking the competence to run the power system. But the irony is that these are the engineers and institution which have kept the lights on since 1965 and with the experience gained over the years it is unconvincing to suggest that they are just incompetent.
It is also important to state that these ‘incompetent’ VRA engineers played significant roles in restoring electric power to Liberia after the civil war.
They have also been invited by the governments of Sierra Leone and Guinea to offer assistance in restructuring their power sector. The most ridiculous of all is the suggestion that this hardship is the sign of the end time.
If this were the case, why Ghana more so when a country like La Cote d’viore which used to depend on us for electricity supply is now in a position to supply us with electric power to watch a football match. Does God love La Cote d’viore more than Ghana? This end time theory definitely flies in the face of common sense.
This piece has focused on the causes of the power crisis because in planning the identification of the core problem is the most significant and crucial aspect of the planning process.
Unfortunately listening to public officials we seem not to find the core cause of the problem. Wrong diagnosis leads to wrong prescription and the problem would persist unabated.
A wealth of articles suggesting that the recent power crisis is being orchestrated by lack of money to purchase crude oil to power our plants seems plausible.
This is against the background that our installed generation capacity (hydro, thermal, embedded generation and renewables) according to statistics by the Energy Commission is nearly 3000MW whilst system load peak (ECG+NEDCo+Direct Customers of VRA+Mines+VALCO Load+Export Load) is a little above 2000MW.
In view of these statistics and analysis by other authors, the latest explanation that the increasing mobile phone usage is in part accounting for the power crisis is unconvincing, to say the least.
The available statistics on installed generation capacity and peak demand suggest that even if some of the turbines at Akosombo are shut down due to low water levels, there should be enough power to meet our electricity needs.
Considering the adverse effects of the rotating load shedding programme, I am of the opinion that if the way out of this power crisis is an upward review of electricity tariffs for the generation of sufficient funds for crude oil purchase to power the thermal plants, then so be.
This short-term measure would be acceptable to all well meaning Ghanaians if the Government of Ghana first and foremost settles its huge indebtedness to the power distributors whilst the power distributors also make strenuous effort to retrieve debts owed by private organizations and domestic consumers.
By: Anthony Yaw Tano, Lecturer, St. Margaret College, Feyiase, Kumasi.
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