The IES says government owes IPPs close to US$1 billion
• The IES says government owes IPPs close to US$1 billion of debt
•The institute believes this could amount to further intermittent power outages
• Already, parts of the county will from June 28, 2021 experience some power outages
Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES Ghana) has disclosed the Government of Ghana currently owes Independent Power Producers (IPPs) close to US$1 billion, Citi News has reported.
According to Nana Amoasi VII, the debt which has been accumulated over the years could amount to the continuous trend of intermittent power outages already occurring in parts of the country.
In an interaction with Citi News monitored by GhanaWeb, Nana Amoasi VII said the debt owed if not addressed will put the country’s power generation and distribution sector in constraint.
“There are transmission issues and distribution inefficiencies, and all these, you will need money to address them, and we have our energy sector debt go up, causing a lot of cashflow constraints for these utilities to change their systems.”
“So, I can boldly tell you that the government owes the IPPs close to US$1 billion. So, every moment you see the debt rising with the sector and that cash constraints create a lot of maintenance challenges, that affects the reliability of power supply,” the IES executive director said.
Already, parts of the country have been experiencing intermittent power cuts as a result of ongoing maintenances works on transmission lines and Bulk Supply Points by the Ghana Grid Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana.
The latest blackout schedule as released by the ECG on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, is expected to begin on Monday, June 28, 2021, and will affect some 71 communities in Accra.