Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Energy Minister
Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh says government is working to ensure long-term financial sustainability in Ghana’s power sector.
He disclosed this when he took his turn to address a press briefing on the energy sector under the theme ‘Delivery Reliable and Affordable Power’, as part of a series of presentations by government Ministers organized by the Ministry of Information on Sunday.
The Minister made reference to the Project Light, which is aimed at renegotiating Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) entered into under the previous government during the power crisis of the time, to ensure that Ghana obtains value for money on all agreements as well as the renegotiation of Gas prices from the Sankofa Fields.
He also revealed that with respect to the over 46 PPAs signed by the previous government with Independent Power Producers (IPPs), government managed to get some of them deferred. He said the savings that have been made on the deferment of agreements of Early Power, Jacobsen Power Ltd and Rotan are significant and sets the tone for a more sustainable energy sector financial management framework.
“We have made savings on deferment of 3 PPAs amounting to $1.426bn since 2019” he added, amounting to $475.50m per deferred PPA. The total saving was sufficient to build 62 stadia the size of Tamale Stadium”, he stated.
He added that this is in addition to other savings in the sector amounting to a total of $1.335bn. This brings the total savings to $2.761bn in the energy sector.
The Minister disclosed that since 2017, the Akufo-Addo government has always made funds available to generation companies to procure fuel to power the thermal plants, which he says restored power generation to meet demand. He added that the Energy Sector Levy Act (ESLA), Cash waterfall Mechanism, Gas Clearing House, and the Delta Fund, among other interventions, have improved Ghana’s Energy sector financing.
According to the sector Minister, Government has approved the Energy Sector Recovery Programme (ESRP), which is being implemented to bring about long-term financial sustainability of the sector. “We are fully committed to release funds as has been done since 2017 to improve liquidity of the value chain” he noted.
He continued “These measures are part of the Akufo Addo led government’s broader strategy to ensure long term financial sustainability in Ghana’s power sector”.