Ghana to Save $ 300 Million a Year to Generate Electricity from Gas – Bawumia

Company News of Friday, April 5, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-04-05

Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia said on Wednesday that Ghana would save $ 300 million a year once the reverse flow of natural gas transferred from the Aboadze Power enclave to Tema for production. electricity.

This decision, he said, would allow the country to be self-sufficient by using gas for power generation and to minimize natural gas imports from Nigeria.

"Ghana has enough gas to power all its power plants without relying on imported gas because gas is much cheaper than liquid fuel, which is why a political decision was made to switch to gas for produce energy, "he said.

Vice President Bawumia announced when he delivered the keynote speech at the first public meeting of the Economic Management Team (EMT) of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, in Accra, Wednesday.

He added that the country is currently paying $ 24 million a month in excess capacity charges for generated and unused electricity, which would save $ 41 million later this year.

The meeting was held under the theme "Our Progress, Our Status, Our Future" to inform the public of the progress made to date and the efforts made to sustain them to foster economic growth and development.

The meeting attracted representatives from civil society organizations, academia, traders, importers, freight forwarders and members of the public, who engaged with members of the EMT and asked questions on a wide range of issues related to the economy.

Vice President Bawumia said the first phase of the move from liquid fuel to gas would be completed this month, which would allow the evacuation of 60 million standard cubic feet of gas from the enclave of the West region towards Tema Power, while Phase Two would be completed. in July or August this year.

Regarding job creation, he said the government had created 350,000 jobs, excluding jobs in the Planting sector for food and employment , since taking office in 2017.

He added that he also pursued an inclusive transformation governance, in which everyone would be affected, including by reducing nuisance taxes and other social interventions.

The vice president said he was building human capacity through the Free High Schools Policy, Nation Builders Corps and Planting for Food and Jobs.

"We are managing the economy better and keeping our promises, but as I mentioned earlier, we still have a lot to do … it's only been two years and, as I said before, we have laid a solid foundation, so support the president. The Akufo-Addo government needs to deliver more, "he added.

The Vice President announced his intention to reduce by 50% the reference value of imports, with the exception of vehicles, which were reduced by 30% from 4 April to reduce smuggling incidents.

Owusu Afriyie Akoto, Minister of Food and Agriculture, answered questions from the audience. He said the Planter for Food and Employment program is showing positive results, with the country exporting 130,000 tonnes of food to neighboring countries last year.

He added that the government had begun to build 80 warehouses, which would be managed by the stock buffer company for food storage, which should be completed by June or July of this year.