‘Dumsor’ will be back in the next two years if no additional power is generated- Kwabena Donkor warns
Kwabena Donkor, a former Power Minister under the Mahama-led administration has cautioned that if the government does not swiftly address the country’s issue with its power generation capacity it risks returning to the dreaded days of erratic power outages referred to as ‘dumsor’ in the next two years.
He argues that despite the pace at which the power demand is soaring, the capacity has not been increased exposing the country to the crisis.
The Pru East MP during a media briefing called on the government to urgently take steps towards bringing on stream additional power supply units to boost the country’s total capacity and adequately meet the increasing power demand.
“This country is most likely to face load-shedding in the next two years if urgent steps are not taken from this moment to increase our power generation. Power consumption demand increases between 7% and 15% every year, and it takes a minimum of three years to bring on stream a new thermal plant. We seem to be sleepwalking into a situation of possible power outages as a result of supply limitation,” he said.
In recent times Ghana has enjoyed a fairly stable power supply, with isolated cases of outages in various parts of the country.
This has backed the government’s claim that it has addressed the problem of power outages in the country.
The government has already indicated that it is presently focused on reviewing all agreements signed with Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to ensure that the government does not incur unnecessary expenses.
