Power companies to mitigate impact of shortfall in generation

Power producers have  assured the public that adequate measures have been put in place to mitigate the impact of the shortfall in power generation due to the shutdown of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant for maintenance.

As part of the mitigation measures, additional power would be generated  from the Akosombo and  Kpong hydroelectric plants  which operate on light crude oil (LCO) , as well as the Tema and Kpone thermal plants which operates on  diesel.

A statement issued jointly by the Volta River Authority (VRA), the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO) in Accra said some of the thermal units at Aboadze that had been shut down for planned maintenance would be returned into service during the shutdown period.

 “Additionally,  imports from Cote d’Ivoire would also be purchased to  help make up for the power supply deficit”, it said.

The statement said electricity consumers and the general public were assured that the power situation would be managed in the most efficient manner during the shutdown period to address the anticipated challenges in power supply.

Planned shut down

It said the Ghana National Gas Company Limited would shut down the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant for its periodic and mandatory maintenance from  February 3, 2017 to February 20, 2017.

 It said it was anticipated that the shutdown would result in a shortfall of 230MW adding “ there would be no power crises (dumsor).

The statement explained that the shutdown was also to allow the company to connect the gas pipeline system and other equipment from the TEN fields to the Atuabo processing plant.

It said the connection of the TEN fields to the Atuabo plant was critical as it would significantly increase the amount of natural gas needed to run the power generating facilities at Aboadze.

The statement said the connection would also improve the overall reliability of power supply to the general public.

“This mandatory outage is required by original equipment manufacturers and vendors for maintenance of certain critical components of the gas processing plant on periodic basis and to facilitate warranty assurance on the installed equipment,” it explained.