No more cheap power - Amadu Sorogho
It is increasingly becoming clearer that the government has no intention of making the consumption of electricty by the public any cheaper. This is evident from the recent astronomical increases in electricity tarrifs which sent shock waves across the country and the various comments being made by government officials to that regard.
Advertisement
The latest to alert Ghanaians to the reality is the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy, Alhaji Amadu Sorogho, who said the shift from producing power from hydro to thermal sources will require that Ghanaians pay commensurate tariffs.
Those tariffs, he said, would have to reflect the high cost of producing power from thermal sources to guarantee sustainable supply.
At an energy conference in Accra, Alhaji Sorogho said the days when a large chunk of power was generated from hydro sources were over, as a result of low water levels; hence, the move to gas, which comes at an extra cost.
“The notion that energy should be cheap should completely be taken out of our minds. There is no way we can continue to have sustainable and reliable energy and still want to have it cheap. If you were producing from hydro at four cents and you move to thermal, and you have to produce between 18 and 27 cents, there is no way you can continue to charge the same way you did for hydro,” he said.
The forum was organised by the Institute of Green Growth Solutions (IGGS), in collaboration with Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS), on the theme: “Providing Lasting Solutions to Ghana’s Energy Conundrum.”
Currently, hydro sources are said to be generating about 30 per cent of the country’s electricity requirement while thermal sources are bringing in the remaining 70 per cent.
“The water levels are very low currently to power the hydro turbines for power generation. We are even operating below the lowest water levels. Hydro is now 30 per cent and thermal is 70, so right from the word go, there is going to be a change in the pricing for electricity,” he said.
Sustainability
There has been public outcry over the rising cost of electricity, but according to Alhaji Sorogho, consumers cannot continue to pay the old tariffs if production is to be sustained and the utility companies are managed efficiently.
“In a country where you don’t have a reserve of a minimum of 20 per cent, your energy is completely not reliable. The period when we want to pay cheap for power is over. We must be able to sustain production,” he said.
He said the major distributor of power in the country, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), wanted about 230 per cent upward adjustment of tariffs so it could continue to be sustainable, while the national power producing company, the Volta River Authority (VRA), wanted a higher margin.
“ECG wanted a 230 per cent upward adjustment, and they justified it that it was the only way through which they can break even and provide sustainable reliable services for consumers. The VRA wanted higher but at the end of the day we can only afford 60 per cent,” he explained.
Reversing the subsidy trend
An Energy Sector Executive Member of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Mr kobina Nyanteh, said the current trend of industry subsidising residential consumers must be reversed as that put industry at a disadvantage.
Alhaji Sorogho alluded to this challenge and said work was being done in this direction. He explained that, “in all jurisdictions, it is you and I who make sure that we pay more for industry to thrive. It is the opposite in Ghana, where industry is rather subsidising consumers.”