<<Print>>

The Volta River Authority (VRA) has stated that government�s policy to increase power generation capacity from 2,800 megawatts to 5,000 megawatts by 2016 is not attainable. Bernard Kofi Ellis, Director, Planning and Business Development, VRA, who made this known at Public Utilities Regulatory Commission�s (PURC) consultative workshop on domestic natural gas processing and pricing recently in Koforidua, said government�s target could not be achieved due to the increase in energy demand annually. �When we project the 7 percent growth in energy demand annually, there is no way we can achieve 5,000MW by 2016. Arithmetic tells you that you can never get there. However, Kofi Ellis said the attainment of 5,000 megawatts could still be a government policy, especially when it wants to maintain a very high reserve margin. Ghana�s current total installed capacity of about 2,800MW and the country�s demand of 7 per cent per annum has compelled government to explore several options, including renewable sources to ensure enough supply for consumption. ENERGY CRISIS Touching on the current energy crisis in the country, Kofi Ellis said �the power crisis will persist until we find solution to the short supply of fuel and generators to generate more electricity. He said �currently the energy demand is growing and we are not adding enough generations at which the demand is growing. So it will be very difficult for this crisis to come to an end now. I can�t tell when the power crisis will be over. �There are two things that make power available that is generators and fuel, and currently we don�t have enough generators in this country and we are short of fuel supply too,� Kofi Ellis said. He stressed the need for the country to get enough generators to produce electricity. However, Kofi Ellis said, �This will be very difficult because it will require a lot of money. And we are also in an economy that we can�t finance our own generations.� He said the effect of the crisis could be minimized if Ghanaians adopted energy conserve practices in their homes, stating that �we all have a role to play in solving the power crisis.� The consultative workshop was attended by editors and senior journalists from various media houses in Ghana.