The Deputy Minister for Energy and Green Transition and Member of Parliament for Gomoa West, Richard Gyan-Mensah, says government is taking steps to acquire a power generation plant to help improve electricity supply across the country.
Speaking in an interview on Adom TV’s Badwam with Akwasi Nsiah, Mr Gyan-Mensah said the Ministry of Energy and government are committed to addressing the current power challenges facing the country.
According to him, the planned expansion in power generation is expected to improve electricity supply not only in Accra but also in Kumasi, the Volta Region and other parts of the country experiencing transmission challenges.
“We are looking at expanding generation capacity, and places like Kumasi and the Volta Region are areas of concern when it comes to transmission challenges,” he said.
The Deputy Minister also disclosed that government has advertised a 200-megawatt solar power project, which is currently going through a bidding process.
“We have done the advertisement for 200 megawatts of solar power and people are bidding. These negotiations are important,” he stated.
Mr Gyan-Mensah explained that government is introducing a more competitive and transparent procurement process for future power agreements.
“In the past, ECG alone could go and negotiate with Independent Power Producers, but this time around we have to go through a competitive procurement process and the necessary procedures before agreements are concluded,” he said.
He noted that the additional power generation projects form part of measures being implemented by government to strengthen the country’s energy sector and improve supply reliability.
The Deputy Minister assured Ghanaians that more power generation capacity would be added to the national grid by next year.
He said government is concerned about recent power outages being experienced in Accra, Kumasi and other parts of the country.
Responding to questions on whether government intends to sign new power supply agreements, Mr Gyan-Mensah said the growing demand for electricity makes it necessary to increase generation and improve supply capacity.
He further stressed that future power purchase agreements would not be left solely to institutions such as the Volta River Authority (VRA) or the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
“We want to ensure that any additional power we bring onboard will be cheaper than what we had in the past, and the negotiations we are doing now are aimed at getting more competitive, cheaper prices,” he added.
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