Ghana’s state-owned electricity company has announced a three-week power disruption due to reduced gas supplies from Nigeria.
The West African country has been experiencing power shortages for years, colloquially known as ‘dumsor’, which means ‘on and off’ in the Akan language.
Energy demand has increased steadily over the past two decades, partly due to rapid urbanization and population growth.
The gas reduction, which started on Wednesday, is attributed to maintenance work carried out by a gas supplier in Nigeria.
The maintenance has led to a reduction in power generation capacity across Ghana.
This led to the need for load shedding to efficiently manage electricity distribution, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) said late on Thursday.
“The reduction in gas supply is due to maintenance works being carried out by a gas supplier in Nigeria and is expected to last for three weeks,” it added.
On Wednesday, the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) said there had been a decline in gas volumes available for transport after one of its producers in Nigeria closed its plant for maintenance.
This resulted in a decrease in the gas available for WAPCo to transport to customers in Togo, Benin and Ghana.
“The current situation is completely beyond WAPCo’s control,” the regional energy company added.
“We expect normality to return after the maintenance work.”
ECG assured the public that it was working closely with other stakeholders in the energy sector to optimize available resources and minimize the impact on consumers.
The companies pledged to manage the disruptions effectively to ensure that essential services were not interrupted during the period of reduced gas supplies.
It comes barely two months after President Nana Akufo-Addo curtailed electricity exports to neighboring Togo, Burkina Faso and Benin in response to local supply problems.
Power shortages have worsened in recent years as the country grapples with its worst economic crisis in a decade.
Private electricity suppliers owe the state energy company $1.6 billion, according to Elikplim Kwabla Apetogbor, the head of the organization that represents them.
Last July they threatened to stop operations due to payment arrears.
Ghana, one of the world’s largest producers of both gold and cocoa, has in recent years become heavily dependent on gas as a major energy source for electricity generation.
The country gets much of its electricity from hydroelectric and thermal sources, but these are often poorly maintained.
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