Sunon Asogli Power Plant Shuts Down Over Gov’t Debt
Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited has shut down its power plant following accumulated debt by the government of Ghana.
The independent power producer (IPP) announced this on Monday, December 4, 2023.
The 560 MW plant went off at 6 pm on Monday – a decision the management of the company calls “our last resort”.
In a statement, it said, “Sunon Asogli Power (Ghana) Limited Company announces with regret an indefinite suspension of operations at the Sunon Asogli Power Plant, effective Monday, 4th December 2023 at 6 pm. This difficult decision became necessary due to avoidable delays in payment from the GoG/Electricity Company of Ghana for power supplied, as well as, the unproductive engagements to find an amicable solution.”
The government owes the producer bills from January to October 2023, plus a percentage increase in receivable balance from December 2022 to October 2023.
The debt, according to the company has significantly impacted their operational capacities, “making it unsustainable to continue without addressing these financial challenges”.
It comes a few days after the Public Utility Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced a 1.52% reduction in electricity tariffs.
This angered the nine IPPs in the country who stated, “We are on life support and cannot guarantee continuity. If you give us a haircut, say a 30% or 40% reduction, who is going to pay our debts for us?.. The debt in question is not our savings, it’s not our profit. So it is impossible to restructure it.”
It is reported that Ghana’s debt to IPPs hit $1.4 billion by the end of July 2023.
