Media reports suggested here on Saturday that the Ghanaian government would soon settle the 20-million U.S-dollar debt owed the West Africa GAS Pipeline Company (Wapco).
The indications were that the government of Ghana and Wapco had reached an agreement on the modalities of payment.
The subregional utility company has shut the valves on Ghana, causing shortage in gas supply to the country’s thermal power plants, with unannounced power cuts across the country.
Despite the agreement, power outages are expected to persist since the agreement does not guarantee that there will be gas from Takoradi to Tema immediately.
“Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) operator of the National Interconnected Transmission System(NITS) informs the general public that due to limited gas supply to tema, there will be a supply shortfall of 550MW at peak times,” a GRIDCo press statement announced on Thursday.
GRIDCo added, “This will affect power supply to consumers in parts of the country.”
Ghana depends on 4,482MW or 51 percent of its electricity from thermal sources, fired by natural gas from WAPCo and domestic sources.
“The government must work hard to give WAPCo some level of comfort to continue transmitting gas from Obuasi to Tema, otherwise, we are going to be in trouble. If the gas does not come, what it simply means is that the plants cannot run because they use fuel. And if they cannot run, you’d have that ‘dumsor‘,’” said Edward Bawa, minority member of the Mines and Energy Committee of Parliament urged.