President John Mahama has assured Independent Power Producers (IPPs) of the Government’s support towards generating the needed energy to boost the country’s electricity supply.
He bemoaned the poor governance of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and pledged to take the bull by the horns to reform the energy sector while ensuring the efficient running of the ECG.
“I mean, you can’t run an electricity utility and make 40 per cent commercial and technical losses and continue to think that you have a viable business,” he said.
“And so, if we do it more transparently, more fairly, more competitively, I’m sure that we’ll get an efficient partner to join us in terms of billing and metering so that we can eliminate the huge losses that ECG is making.”
He reiterated the key role IPPs played in the country’s energy sector, which complements government’s efforts in leveraging the capital required to generate the needed power for the country.
The President gave the assurance during a meeting with IPPs in Accra on Monday to discuss the challenges they faced in their operations and how to find solutions through teamwork.
“It was important that we expand the space for independent power producers, because the Government on its own cannot always leverage the capital to put in the generation that is required,” he said.
“And that’s how come many of you signed the PPAs (Power Purchasing Agreements) and set up the thermal plants that we have.”
That was to help increase generation as the Akosombo Hydro Dam alone could not continue to be the sole power provider for the country, forever, he said.
The time had, therefore, come for Ghanaians to complement hydro with thermal, which the Volta River Authority was responsible for.
“But mobilising capital early enough and being able to operationalise thermal plants was becoming a challenge for government and its state-owned power production companies,” President Mahama said.
That was where IPPs such as the Sunon Asogli Power started to get on board, which had since played a critical role in ensuring the nation’s economy got the needed power to continue to make progress.
“However, this has generated some debts, which had accumulated and become difficult to pay back,” he said.
The President noted that his previous administration introduced the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA) with the anticipation that within five years, Ghana would have been able to clear the legacy debt, looking at the revenues to be accrued by the sector.
However, with the change in government in 2017, the ESLA was not used for its intended purpose, President Mahama said, adding: “The revenues of ESLA were mismanaged. And so, what should have gone to pay down a lot of the debt was used for other purposes.”
He said Ghana was opened for business again and called for investment in the sector.
GNA