Load shedding over - VRA

THE nationwide load-shedding exercise which was prompted by faulty equipment and shortfall in gas supply has ended, the Volta River Authority (VRA) has said.

According to the Head of Public Relations of the VRA, Ms Getrude Koomson, the end of the exercise followed improvement in the supply of gas from the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCo) and the completion of repair works on the faulty units at the Akosombo hydro switchyard, the Aboadze and the Tema thermal plants. 

The interruption in the gas supply from WAGPCo cost the VRA an operational loss of GH¢20 million in the past four weeks.

The loss, according to Ms Koomson, was occasioned by the frequent switch between the use of crude oil and gas at the Aboadze and the Tema thermal plants.

She told the Daily Graphic in an interview that immediate power generation plans were far advanced to forestall future load-shedding exercises.

She said, for instance, that the Takoradi three (T3) thermal plant project, expected to produce some 132 megawatts of power, would be ready by June this year.

That, she said, was anticipated to improve supply, especially during the period of low gas supply.

She said the construction of a 110 megawatt CENIT plant in Tema was expected to be completed by the end of the year.

“We are also hopeful that the mobilisation for the installation of the 200 megawatts Alstom plant at Kpone in the Tema metropolis, which will be completed by 2014, will adequately address the growing demand for electric power,” she said.

She blamed the recent nationwide blackout that occurred on Sunday, February 25, 2012 on the high frequency of switching between gas and crude oil to generate power.

“The two thermal plants have now been restructured to run on both gas and crude oil,” Ms Koomson said.

SOURCE: Della Russel Ocloo, Daily Graphic, Fri March 16, 2012