Mills Lies About Energy

Deputy Minister of Energy, Inusah Fuseini, has giving a strong indication that the achievements of the Mills-Mahama led NDC government in the energy sector cannot be said to be unprecedented, as it has added only 150 megawatts to the country�s power generation capacity and not 376 megawatts as stated by President Mills in this years� State of the Nation Address. It is recalled that on the February 16, 2012, President Mills stated that �This Government inherited a total electricity generation capacity of around 1,800 megawatts in 2009. We have since installed an additional 376 megawatts to the generation capacity.� However, the deputy Minister of Energy Monday debunked the President�s statement when he said, �We have been able to add about 150 megawatts of power to the installed capacity when others spent eight years and added nothing.� In a reaction to the deputy Minister�s claim of the NPP having done nothing in the energy sector, former Energy Minister Joseph Adda says the deputy minister is either being �ignorant, mischievous or a straight faced liar.� He stated the NPP in 2007 added 1,000 megawatts of power to the installed capacity, referring to a short to medium and long term measures implemented by the government. He added that the 150 megawatts of power the NDC government is blowing its horns over is actually part of a comprehensive power generation programme left behind by the NPP. President Mills, also in this year�s State of the Nation address said, �The phenomenon of �dumsor, dumsor� is not as bad as it used to be at the time we took over the management of the affairs of state.� However, the Electricity Company of Ghana Monday gave indications that the current load shedding in the country would be intensified to include more areas. This according to the ECG's Operations Manager, Tetteh Okine, is to further reduce the excess pressure on the capacity which is serving the entire country. ECG�s announcement that it will be intensifying the load-shedding has triggered angry reactions from a section of the public who are demanding an immediate solution to the problem. According to experts in the energy sector, the only reason why Ghana is experiencing unprecedented levels of blackouts and load shedding is the NDC government�s refusal to buy crude oil to fire thermal plants acquired by the New Patriotic Party in 2007. �Ghana has more power generation capacity, as total energy need is about 1,300MW with current capacity being able to generate to generate 1,730MW of energy. But the government is refusing to power the generating plants, thus the reason for this �dumsor dumsor�,� an energy expert told the New Statesman. Additional power generation plants, i.e. TICO 1 & 2 and Asogli power plants, are not operating because of total reliance on gas as supplies of gas from the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company has been erratic. Ghana, meanwhile, continues to re-inject and flare its gas from the Jubilee Fields as the NDC government, for three years, has failed to construct the gas infrastructure required to ensure the delivery of gas to the independent power producers in the country.