According to information obtained by Ghana360news, the administration and the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) have worked out a provisional payment plan to pay off the State’s $20 million debt. WAPCO cut off the gas supply needed for electricity generation, causing widespread darkness as the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) reported a 550MW supply shortfall during peak hours.
Ghana360news sources report that while a deal has been struck, there is still a possibility of some interruptions because the agreement does not ensure that gas will flow from Takoradi to Tema immediately. The administration has been pushed to pay down its debt by the Minority in Parliament in order to prevent the nation from entering an energy catastrophe.
Edward Bawa, a parliamentarian who serves on the Mines and Energy Committee, has proposed that the government work out a solution with WAPCo.
“The government needs to work out a plan with WAPCo on how to pay for that. I think it will work if WAPCO starts to feel somewhat reassured that the government has been in contact to handle the payment.
“We are going to have problems if the government doesn’t find a way to allow WAPCo to feel secure enough to carry on transferring gas from Obuasi to Tema. Simply put, the absence of gas indicates that the plants, which depend on fuel, are unable to operate. “And you’d have that ‘dumsor’ if they couldn’t flee,” he said.
He claims that since January 2023, WAPCo has not received payment, which has caused costs to mount.
“You might then wonder, Whose liability is it? It is true, that GNPC acted as a guarantee for ECG because the latter does not always have a healthy access to or guarantee that it will be able to enter into agreements with gas or electricity utilities.
He clarified, “So ECG has to pay WAPCo, but regrettably, ECG is unable to pay the liability because the cash waterfall mechanism, which is where all the money that ECG collects after selling power is put for it to be distributed among the utility mechanism, has not been working for almost 13 months.”
source: Ghana360news.com
