The Energy Commission issued an advisory in December 2023 warning of irregular power outages due to insufficient financing for fuel procurement and unreliable gas supplies. Despite efforts to stabilize the sector, occasional power outages have continued, prompting calls for a blackout timetable.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) collects an average of GHS850 million monthly, short of the required GHS1.9 billion, according to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC). The finance minister, Dr. Mohammed Amin Adam, attributed the energy sector’s financing shortfall to approximately US$1.9 billion.
The Energy Commission’s 2024 Energy Outlook for Ghana highlighted the need for investments in gas supply reliability, citing security and adequacy of fuel supply as the most significant risk to power supply reliability. The report recommended expediting the construction of a gas pipeline connecting Tema and Takoradi power enclaves and establishing a generation enclave in Kumasi.
The recent power outages have been attributed to insufficient financing for fuel procurement, with the Cash Waterfall Mechanism (CWM) failing to meet liquidity flows in the value chain. However, the government has taken measures to address the issue, including commissioning the Volta River Authority’s (VRA) 15MW solar facility in Kaleo and plans to buy one million revenue-efficient meters through the World Bank’s Programme-for-Results (PforR) initiative.
“We’re fixing it, and we’re nearly there,” said Mr. Herbert Krapa, Board Chairman, ECG, in a Facebook post. The government has also merged all 61 ECG collection accounts into a single fund to promote transparency and accountability and streamline revenue distribution to value chain players.
The Energy Commission’s report forecasted that grid-connected power generation capacity would reach 5,194 MW in 2024, with a total dependable capacity of 4,756 MW for electricity generation. However, due to scheduled maintenance and fuel supply issues, up to 4,400 MW of total dependable capacity is expected to be consumed, meeting the projected system peak demand of 3,788 MW while maintaining a reserve margin of 16 percent, lower than the minimum reserve margin requirement of 18 percent.
