The prevailing power crisis could worsen in the coming days as the Bui Power Authority (BPA) has announced a whopping 2.22 million kWh/day reduction in its current generation.
Officials of the BPA cited dwindling water in the reservoir at Bui as the main reason for the huge generation cut.“The exceedingly high level of generation support that the Bui Generating Station has been providing for the national electricity grid since the inauguration of the Bui plant has caused the Bui reservoir level to fall to the minimum operating level of 168 metres above sea level (masl),” a statement from the BPA said yesterday.
It said because the Bui reservoir had reached the minimum operating level, the rate of power generation at the generating station had been reduced in order to protect the turbines from potential damage.
Depletion of reservoir
The statement explained that because of the power situation since November 2013, the authority had had to operate at an overdraft rate of 3.66 million kWh/day (about 2.5 times the target rate) to boost the national electricity generation.
But, in view of the dwindling level of water in the reservoir, it said, the BPA had no option but to limit the generation capacity to an average of about 1.44 million kWh/day. It, however, said the BPA was monitoring the reservoir level and would revise the production plan, in conjunction with GRIDCo, as soon as it was prudent to do so.
Background
The reservoir, created by the construction of the Bui Dam, was designed to have a maximum water level of 183 masl and a minimum operating level for power generation of 168 masl. Based on the limited amount of water obtained in the 2013 rainy season, the BPA planned to draw down the Bui reservoir at a rate which could be sustained throughout the dry season.
Generation was, therefore, to be restricted to an average of about 1.44 million kWh/day during the period.
