From my analysis, the current electricity crisis in Ghana is as a result of poor planning and maintenance of the power generators. I will use this data blog to throw more light on the issue with the graphs and charts I constructed relying on data from Energy Commission of Ghana and Volta River Authority.
Power generation installed capacity
Since 1965, Ghana has been on the path of increasing its power generation. Currently, Ghana has an installed capacity of 3,081 MW with shortfall of about 400MW.
Source: various www.vragh.com and www.energycom.gov.gh
Looking at the graph above, it shows an impressive power generation capacity, which is good. It also reveals that there was no major investment in power generation between 1966 and 1981. This could be attributed to political instability, within this period Ghana was rifted with military coup d’état.
It was until 1982 when Kpong hydropower was added to existing Akosombo hydropower generator. Immediate after this addition, Ghana’s economy took a noise dive, this affected public investment in social services and infrastructure. The consequences of these are that, such a major infrastructural development was not utilized for economic growth. Ghana government’s focus within this period is to control inflation and balance its books.
The third major investment came in the late 1990s and into 2000. This period is significant in the history of power generation in Ghana due to two things. Ghana government’s focus shifted from investing in hydropower generators to thermal power generators. This period saw a creeping agenda to introduce Private Sector Participation (PSP) in power generations and weakening public sector control of the sector.
For the first time there was the introduction of Joint Ventures and Independent Power Producers (IPP) in the sector. Most of these additions were not mega power generators but small to medium plants as compare to Akosombo hydro power plant.
The chart below shows the capacity of the various generators that are currently in production. It is important to see the range of generators the country is relying on. They range from ones that have the capacity to produce 1,020MW (Hydro, Akosombo) to 2.5 MW (Sola, Navrongo).
Generators Installed Capacity (MW)
Source: Energy Commission of Ghana, National Energy Statistics 2000-20013 Table 3.1; Installed Electricity Generation Capacity (End of December, 2013) www.energycom.gov.gh
Ghana’s installed capacity is impressive, however, it is important to note that installed capacity is only an indication of the potential power that could be generated.
A number of other factors influence how much power these plants generate. The factors vary base on the type of generator in question, for hydropower generators the most important factor is rainfall while thermal power plants have routine maintenance and fuel supply as major factors. The other factor, which is a major factor to all, is unexpected breakdown of plants.
As standard practice, every power plant is a assigned a Power Availability Factor. It is calculated with a scale of 1.0 to 0.0, this is a kind of measure of reliability. The global standard for hydropower plants such as Akosombo in 0.90 as compare to thermal ones where the best performers are 0.85.
The graph below shows a three years performance of the all the generators as reported by the energy commission. It is shocking to see generators such as Bui, TICO and dropped drastically in 2013 as compare to previous years. The hard hit ones obviously have been the thermal plants. This translate into non-availability of power for the electricity in Ghana.
This is the plausible explanation for the current power crisis in the country.
According to Energy Commission, this poor performance was due to repairs and short supply of fuel from Nigeria. With this data at hand, the managers of the power sector knew Ghana was heading towards crisis.
The solution of the power crisis is to first and foremost secure an efficient and effective fuel supply to the current generators. Have proper maintenance schedule and have a good sense of judgment. Having a long-term plan of investing in upstream watershed management of the Volta Lake to reduce surface run-off, which will improve recharge of the Akosombo hydro dam.
Coal power plants not the solution
Ghana government’s move to increase the install capacity by 700MW with coal fired generator plant to be located at Tema is a misplaced priority at the moment due to a number of reasons. First of all, there is no guarantee that South Africa who is going to supply the coal will not hold us to ransom as the Nigerians are doing.
Two it is absurd for Ghana to be producing diesel and gas while building coal plants. If oil prices keep tumbling it will make sense for Ghana to use its oil to subside power generation in the country. Three, coal plants are environmental disaster; they are the worst environmental polluters. Most countries are de-commissioning coal generators.
It is heart warming to see VRA investing in clean energy from solar and are considering further investment in concentrated solar plants. Given that cost of solar technology is falling, it will make sense for Ghana to focus on this area.
Investing in clean technology will save our environment and contribute to improve health as well.
Would Privatisation of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) solve the power crisis?
Privatising Electricity Company of Ghana will not solve the power crisis. To begin with, ECG is not a power producer but a distributor. Since the crisis is about power generation, ECG is being targeted unfairly just for ideological reasons. It is also important to note that ECG distribution covers only six regions (Greater Accra, Western, Central, Volta, Eastern and Ashanti) out of the ten regions in Ghana. Northern Electricity Department, a subsidiary of Volta River Authority is responsible for the rest of the regions (Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and Upper West).
Preparation for privatization of the power sector is being done in the quite until recent. As part of the move for privatization, Ghana’s electricity sector was unbundled into three separate markets, namely power generation, transmission and distribution/retail. For some senior managers and politicians in the country, this was an opportunity to be appointed a director or on the board without looking at the consequences of extra cost and confusions it will bring into the power sector. Currently the most active segment of the market with private sector participation is power generation.
As to whether Ghanaians are getting value for money for this breaking up of the electricity industry is another issue I will be discussing soon in a follow up blog. The simply answer for the moment is that this creates extra cost to citizens.
Email comments to: alhassan.adam@gmail.com
