GRIDCO attributes Nationwide Blackout to System Failure

The Public Relations Officer of GRIDCO, Albert Quainoo, has attributed
the Nationwide blackout that occurred Sunday night to System Failure.

Speaking to Radio Ghana, Mr. Albert Quainoo, explained that the whole
nation was affected because the Plants at Akosombo, Tema and Takoradi
are interconnected.

The whole nation was Sunday night plunged into darkness between the
hours of seven and ten.

Meanwhile, The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of VRA, Mr. Kweku Awotwi
at a press conference in Accra said the inability of the West Africa
Gas Pipeline Company (WAGPCo) to supply it with gas,
will make it impossible for VRA to operate its third turbine between
now and next month.

Mr. Kweku Awotwi disclosed that WAGPCo supplies VRA with 90,000
British Thermal Units (BTU) of liquefied petroleum gas daily but the
supply has been reduced to 60,000 BTU as a result of some technical
problems encountered by the supplier.

Noting that the problem will be short-lived, he said Ghana currently
needs a daily supply of 1,600 megawatts power for both domestic and
industrial use.

He said Between this year and next year, 960 megawatts would be added
to the national power pool.

He said from 1967 to 2010, electricity supply increased between 4 and
5 percent each year, howver over the last two years, it has increased
to between 10 and 11 percent. He said With the oil production it is
even expected to go up.

The gas shortage might affect the operations of GRIDCo, ECG and the
Northern Electrification Department (NED).

Source: GBC