A report according to US-based private media, Bloomberg, has revealed that currently Ghana pays as much as US$500 million per year for power it doesn’t consume.
Ghana is considering buying out the debts of independent power producers as a step toward restructuring contracts and reducing its power bill. Bloomberg reports
Deals that obliged the government to pay for power regardless of whether the supplies were needed, have left the country with almost double the generation capacity it requires to meet peak demand of 2,700 megawatts. The report highlighted.
The Bloomberg report added that the government wants to take over the companies’ loans from financial institutions through the state-owned Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund at less onerous repayment terms, also the government is also talking with multilateral lenders such as the African Development Bank and International Finance Corp.
According to source who spoke to Bloomberg, cheaper finance will lower the producers’ costs and in return the government would demand that it only pays for power it needs.
The Bloomberg added that, while negotiators for the government and power producers remain in talks about the proposal, most of the companies will consider it seriously. The plan will also allow Ghana to retain its generation capacity and save on future infrastructure expenses, the source added.
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A spokesperson at the finance ministry, Deputy Minister of Energy, William Aidoo and Reginald Okai, the chief financial officer of the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Fund, wouldn’t immediately comment when contacted by phone.
Meanwhile, frequent power cuts in parts of the country over the last six weeks is stirring fears that Ghana may be returning to the dreaded period of persistent, irregular, and unpredictable electric power outage – popularly called ‘dumsor’.
Over the last weeks, Accra and Kumasi have been hit the hardest by the unannounced intermittent power cuts.
Residents at many communities in these two major cities say the power cuts last for up to six hours sometimes.
