Ameri Plant Relocation: Energy Minister deflecting attention from core concerns raised – CSOs Alliance
The Alliance of CSOs working on Extractives, Anti-Corruption, and Good Governance, has accused the Minister for Energy, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, of deflecting attention from core concerns raised by the African Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) in the relocation of the Ameri Power Plant from Takoradi to Kumasi.
This, the CSO Alliance noted is being done by the Minister through a media campaign with the Minister making unsubstantiated comments such as, “ACEP being against the relocation of the power plant simply because it is going to Kumasi.”
Another unsubstantiated comment made by the Minister, the Alliance noted is “ACEP instigating the Chiefs and people in the Western Region to demonstrate against the power plant relocation from Takoradi to Kumasi because the Minister is from Kumasi.”
In a press briefing held on Thursday, August 11, 2022, the CSOs Alliance described the Minister’s comments as unacceptable and demanded that the Minister rather focus on and engage ACEP along with the other members of the Alliance on the core issues raised to provide opportunities for further discussions on the relocation of the power plant.
Additionally, the CSOs Alliance also demanded that the Minister revisit concerns raised on the need to adopt a competitive bidding process to accommodate local contractors to achieve the most optimal contract cost in the relocation of the power plant.
That notwithstanding, the CSO Alliance maintained that there are other options such as the retooling of the National Interconnected Transmission Systems (NITS) that are far optimal than the relocation of the power plant which comes along with unnecessary costs.
VRA has capacity to operate, maintain plant
The CSOs Alliance is of the view that VRA can operate and maintain the Ameri power plant given the institution’s established capacity and technical know-how in hydro, thermal and solar power generation.
This is contrary to the assertions made by the Energy Ministry over VRA’s inability to operate and maintain the power plant due to untrained staff.
“We understand that VRA currently manage much more complex combined cycle thermal plants in both the Aboadze and Tema power generation enclave. The Minister must provide evidence to support his claim of VRA’s inability to operate and maintain the power plant,” the Alliance noted.
GHS 17.6bn outstanding debt in energy sector
According to the CSO Alliance, there is some GHS 17.6bn outstanding debt in the energy sector.
This is after some GHS 14bn debt settled by the government for inefficiencies and losses recorded in the sector for the year 2020 and 2021.
“Challenges in the energy sector have contributed significantly to the current economic challenges that Ghana faces. Without a handle on debt accumulation and the fiscal challenges, the sector would continue to exacerbate the country’s economic challenges and stifle social investments to fight poverty and inequality.
“Addressing the debt accumulation challenges requires the government to be efficient in its decision-making and make changes to ensure system planning that employs sound policy, financial, and legal expertise to holistically examine the energy sector’s problems,” stated the Alliance.
Background
Energy Think Tank, Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), raised concerns over government’s decision to enter into a $71.6m agreement with Mytilineos Holdings to transport and operate the Ameri-powered plant.
According to the Energy Think Tank, the contract sum has been inflated further asserting the deal is not financially sound and doesn’t favour the country.
ACEP notes that the cost for transporting the Ameri Plant by Mytilineos is $35m whereas the cost for operating and maintaining the power plant is $36.6m which is $12.6m above the $24m requested by Mytilineos for the operation and maintenance of the plant.
“We note that the transfer of titles did not contain any liabilities for delivering on the commitment. The decision to absorb Ameri of its responsibilities, to put the plant as its original equipment manufactory recommended state before the transfer, is erroneous and sins against the terms of the BOT agreement and by extension the interest of Ghana,” said Kojo Yaotse, ACEP’s Policy Lead, Petroleum and Conventional Energy.
To prevent the country from losing money, the Policy lead recommended that government should allow the Volta River Authority (VRA) to take over the operation of the Ameri plant.
“Under no circumstance should the maintenance and operations of the plant be outsourced to any contractor. VRA must own and operate the plant per the deed of assignment dated August 17, 2016, for which they were trained by Ameri,” he noted.
Read details of the press statement by the CSOs Alliance
Alliance of CSOs Statement on Ameri (1) by Fuaad Dodoo on Scribd
