Ghana has been exporting electricity for decades – from Jinapor to Akufo-Addo

General News on Tuesday, April 2, 2019

Source: starrfm.com.gh

2019-04-02

Former Deputy Minister of Electricity John Jinapor disputed President Akufo-Addo's claims that Ghana is currently carrying electricity to neighboring Burkina Faso because of its competence in the management of the energy sector.

"We have been able to handle the situation," the president told Ghanaians in the United States, adding that the $ 2.4 billion in debts inherited from the Mahama government have been liquidated. Therefore, "we are exporting energy today to Burkina Faso, we will start again in Togo."

In response to this statement, Jinapor said the framework allowing Ghana to export excess electricity to neighboring countries has been in place for years.

"First and foremost, it is important to point out that Ghana has been exporting electricity to its neighbors for decades. Available data from the Energy Commission confirm that Ghana exported 530 MW in 2013, 522 MW in 2014, 587 MW in 2015 and 187 MW in 2016.

"On the specific issue of energy exports to Burkina Faso, it must be understood that, in order to be able to set up a resilient and efficient transmission system, capable of exporting additional energy to neighboring countries, The Mills / Mahama administration signed the Zonal Transmission Hub Project Agreement with the World Bank and other partners, which came into effect on December 14, 2012, "he wrote in a statement.

The statement added: "The objective of the project was to reduce the cost of electricity and security of electricity supply in Burkina Faso, while increasing Ghana's electricity export capacity in general. The project envisaged the construction of an energy evacuation infrastructure of about 200 kilometers long, supposed to evacuate the electrical energy generated in Ghana directly in Burkina Faso.

"The Ghanaian part of the project covers the construction of about 39.3 km of the 330 kV transmission line and the extension of the existing 161 KV substation in Bolgatanga to accommodate line.

"The project, funded by the World Bank, the French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank, the National Electricity Corporation of Burkina Faso (SONABEL) and GRIDCo of Ghana with an amount of 81.1 million euros, is expected to be completed by the end of September 2017..

"It is therefore surprising that instead of recognizing and congratulating his predecessor for having implemented this noble project, the President has instead taken the opportunity to criticize the sector of the project." energy and make false claims about the energy sector in the most irresponsible way.