The Volta River Authority (VRA) has decried that the Authority risks losing millions of dollars if the recent load shedding exercise rages on as a result of unavailability of gas from the West Africa Gas Pipeline.
At a press conference yesterday in Accra to brief the media about the current energy situation, the Director of Business Development and Planning of VRA, Mr. Kofi Ellis, lamented over the recent shortfall in gas supply from Nigeria, stressing that the situation has affected power supply over the past two weeks in the country.
Flanked by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VRA, Mr. Kweku Awotwi, Mr. Ellis revealed that discussions were ongoing with the suppliers of gas to increase supply from the current 40 million standard cubic feet per day (mscf/d) to the contractual volumes of 100 mscf/d to enable the Authority operate all its thermal facilities.
He assured “we are working around the clock to re-fix the stable power supply.”
Mr. Ellis expressed concern about the people whose businesses would be affected in the heat of the load shedding exercise and appealed to them to exercise patience, since according to him, contingency measures are being put in place to arrest the situation.
He disclosed that the Authority after the unforeseen occurrence is in dialogue with Chevron Gas Limited, a Nigerian based Gas company to subsidize about 100 megawatts of its gas sale to the VRA to enable it facilitates its operations efficiently.
According to him, the move comes on the heels of the commencement of a compressor upgrade activity from February 20 to March 17 this year.
Mr. Ellis reiterated that the Authority “does not expect any substantial reduction in power supply during the afore-mentioned period except during peak hours from 6pm to 10pm when we could experience a shortfall up to 100 megawatt.”
He noted that the Authority not quite long ago announced that a drastic reduction in gas supply from Nigeria through the West African Gas Pipeline to its thermal plants was forcing power companies to embark on a load management exercise.
He said as a follow up to its previous announcement on the shortfall in gas supply from Nigeria, the Authority has also been informed that Chevron Nigeria Limited will commence compressor upgrade activity from February 20 to March 17, 2012.’
