Ghana is facing a critical energy challenge as the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) reveals that a staggering $89.90 million is required to purchase liquid fuel to run thermal plants and meet the country’s growing energy demands.
The alarming revelation comes as the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) is set to undergo maintenance, which will significantly impact the country’s energy supply.
The maintenance, scheduled to take place from January 20 to February 16, 2025, will reduce gas supply to thermal plants, necessitating the use of liquid fuel to generate electricity.
GRIDCo’s estimates indicate that the cost of liquid fuel required to run the thermal plants will be substantial, with a breakdown of:
- LCO: $50.94 million
- HFO: $11.98 million
- DFO: $26.88 million
- Total cost: $89.80 million
The energy demand in Ghana is projected to grow steadily, with a peak demand of 4,415.42MW expected by the last quarter of 2025. However, the current dependable generation capacity of 5,015.50MW falls short of the minimum 18% reserve capacity margin required for supply adequacy.
To address this shortfall, GRIDCo has identified the need to secure additional generation resources with a dependable capacity of at least 244.66MW by the last quarter of the year.
According to GRIDCo, this could be achieved through the timely completion of ongoing projects, including the Anwomaso Thermal Power station, the AKSA thermal power plant, and the CENT power plant project in Kumasi.
Furthermore, GRIDCo has emphasized the need to secure an additional 129 mmcfd of natural gas supply (or equivalent volumes of liquid fuels) to ensure adequate fuel for thermal generation in Ghana in 2025.
GRIDCo recommends Coordination of ENI and Tullow gas production to reduce their gas production volumes during the maintenance period.
Also, GRIDCo noted that there’s the need to Procure quantities of liquid fuels for running Cenpower, Asogli, AKSA, and KTPP plants to ensure adequate generation capacity during the maintenance period.
Source: www.kumasimail.com /Kwadwo Owusu
