GRIDCo Announces Power Outages

Ghanaians are to brace themselves for revolutionary intermittent blackouts as the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has announced a gas supply shortage in their operation.

In a statement on Thursday, October 26, the country’s National Interconnected Transmission System operator said there will be a 550MW supply gap at peak time due to the shortage.

“The Ghana Grid Company Ltd, (GRIOCo), the “Operator of the National Interconnected Transmission System (NITS) informs the general public that due to limited gas supply to Tema, there will be a supply gap of 550MW at peak time.”

It noted that the situation will take a toll on power supply to customers in some parts of the country.

“The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” it said without delving into what was accounting for the shortage of the gas and when the situation will be addressed.

The notice however gives meaning to the recent outages at night in parts of the country.

In May erratic power supply in Accra and Kumasi left people anticipating the comeback of “Dumsor”- intermittent outages the country confronted during the administrations of former Presidents Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama.

However, the company assured the contrary.

At the time, the situation was blamed on gas supply shortage from neighbouring Nigeria by the Corporate Communications Manager of GRIDCo, Dzifa Bampoh.

She told the media, “We had a gas supply challenge from Nigeria. That has been the fundamental reason, and it has led to a multiplier effect, meaning our generating plants which use gas cannot operate fully.”