The Institute for Energy Security (IES) has raised alarm over an imminent power crisis, popularly known as ‘dumsor,’ and is urging the Mahama administration to act swiftly to avert disaster.
This warning aligns with concerns expressed by Yapei Kusawgu MP, John Abdulai Jinapor, who blamed the looming crisis on a severe fuel shortage. Speaking on January 7, 2024, after President John Dramani Mahama’s inauguration, Jinapor revealed that Ghana’s fuel reserves are critically low, with only five hours of supply remaining.
He further criticized the outgoing administration for failing to secure adequate fuel, leaving the incoming government in a precarious position.
Echoing these concerns, Nana Amoasi VII, Executive Director of IES, described the power sector as fragile during an interview on Citi FM’s Eyewitness News.
He attributed the crisis to systemic inefficiencies and poor planning, emphasizing the need for immediate reforms to avoid prolonged outages.
The IES and other stakeholders are calling for urgent measures to stabilize the country’s power supply and prevent widespread disruptions.
“It is not something that we were not expecting. Being watchers of the space, we knew very well that we had a very fragile power sector stemming from systemic inefficiencies, including poor planning,” Nana Amoasi VII stated.
He emphasised the reliance on natural gas and the lack of adequate backup or stock of liquid fuel, which has left the country exposed to potential power outages.
“Today we are more reliant on natural gas, but thank God almost all the plants that we have in Ghana, excluding the hydro ones and the solar, all of them can run on liquid fuel as well. But we knew that we don’t have any backup or any stock of liquid fuel in adequate form, so we knew that at a certain point in time we could be exposed,” he explained.
Nana Amoasi VII expressed disappointment that no procurement or lifting arrangements were made during the transition to ensure a seamless power supply.
“Unfortunately, we were expecting that as part of the transition arrangement, some form of procurement or lifting would have been made to ensure that there is no gap left within the space, but our checks indicate that we don’t have enough liquid fuel to give us that reliance and assurance that we won’t have any shock in power supply,” he added.
The IES Executive Director appealed to the current administration to take immediate action to address the looming crisis.
“So we will appeal to the men in charge today to get back to work and start work as soon as possible. Either than that, we are largely exposed,” he stated.
