Things you should know about power crisis Ghana

The biggest power crises that rocked
Ghana since 1992
Yesterday
The power crisis that rocked Ghana for about three
years seems to have resurfaced in recent times.
The country is currently shedding about 240
megawatts of electricity daily due to generational
challenges.
However, President John Mahama has said that the
government will not introduce a load-shedding
programme .
Here are some of the biggest power crises that have
rocked Ghana since the return to democratic rule in
1992.
1. Power crisis rocked Ghana in 1997 and 1998
Jerry John Rawlings
It was caused by drought in the sub-region due to the
El Nino climatic phenomenon and the growth in the
demand for power in Ghana largely as a result of
economic growth.
The situation compelled the Rawlings government to
inaugurate the 220 megawatts Aboadze thermal plant,
Takoradi One or T1. In June 1999 a hundred
megawatts steam turbine came on board T1 to make a
combined cycle plant that was capable of generating
330 megawatts.
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2. It resurfaced in 2006 and 2007
Former President Kufuor
It was triggered by the poor rainfall which resulted in
reduced inflow into the Volta Lake and the non-
availability of sufficient reliable thermal power
generators at the Aboadze power plant to complement
the reduced generation from Akosombo/Kpong.
The JA Kufuour administration 126MW diesel generator
units and purchased six million compact fluorescent
lamps which helped the country save 125MW of
electricity. It also bought Valco, freeing up 370MW of
power available to the company. Load shedding was
in place from August 2006 to September 2007.
3. Power crisis returned between 2012 – 2015
John Mahama
It was caused by a fault on the WAGP pipeline that
resulted in the cut-off of natural gas supply from
Nigeria to the thermal power plants in Ghana.
Subsequently, a number of reasons were cited as the
cause of the crisis, including poor rainfall into the
Volta Lake, maintenance work on the thermal plants
and lack of financing for fuel procurement.
The John Mahama administration set up the Ghana
Gas Company to provide gas to thermal plants at
Aboadze. It also installed the Ameri power plants as
well as the Karpower power barge. The crisis was
declared over in December 2015.
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