Mr Kofi Anokye, the Chief Executive Officer of Koans Estate has called on the Volta River Authority to take advantage of the proximity of the Akosomba Dam and the Volta river to the sea and use the sea water as an alternative water for powering the turbines that gets shutdown during shortage of water supply to the dam leading to the rationing of power to Ghanaians.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with this reporter, he revealed that large pumps can be put into the sea to draw water that can be used to power the turbines that are forced to shutdown to due shortage of water.
According to him, this will not only permanently end the predictable power outages that hit the country during dry seasons, but also save the country the millions of dollars used in importing crude oil as alternative for powering the turbines during such times
Predictably, this brilliant but simple idea has generated a lot of interest from Ghanaians who are not only desperate to see the load shedding end but also tired of going through the same ordeal year after year over the past two decades.
Though most experts agree perfectly with Mr. Anokye’s proposal, a few who despite admitting that the solution is finding an alternation source of water to be relied on in times of shortage have argued that mixing the Volta River with the salty sea water will see the fishes in the sea struggle for survival- predictably Mr. Tilapia.
Reacting to this, Mr Anokye revealed that those raising that objection should do scientific research and argue with fact instead of speculating and hoping to be taken seriously.
According to him, research shows that aside the fact that most fishes can survive in the sea, rivers and other water bodies - with the tilapia cited as a typically resilient fish - too can survive harsh conditions including area highly condensed with salt.
That aside, he indicated that the water drawn from the sea will only be used as top up in the event the Volta River is able to supply less than required and therefore the density of the sea water will be greatly reduced when it comes into contact with the main river before entering the dam.
He indicated that filtration can also be another method of reducing the salt content if that becomes necessary.
“That aside, which do we need most, tilapia and electricity?” he quizzed.
“The crises we are going through is a danger to human lives and therefore worth it even if tilapia has to be sacrificed,” he added.
With a long history of unending interruption in power supply dating back to over two decades, Ghanaian have lauded the proposed alternative and called on the VRA to work closely with Mr. Kofi Anokye to find long-term solution to the power crises.
Mr. Anokye on his part has pledged his support and readiness to help in bringing to an end the power crisis.
He concluded by calling on the Management of the Volta River Authority to be very accommodative and try to involve people outside their paid experts who have good ideas and are willing to help in resolving the problem once and for all.
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