Renegotiated power deals save Ghana $13.2bn – Finance Minister
Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has disclosed that government has saved $13.2 billion from renegotiated power deals with six Independent Power Producers (IPPs).
According to him, the companies are Karpower, Cenpower, Early Power, Twin City Energy (formerly Amandi), AKSA Energy and Cenit.
“These renegotiated agreements are expected to have savings estimated at $13.2 billion over the life of the PPAs through a combination of reduced capacity and energy charges. In other words, we are saving the Ghanaian taxpayer $13.2 billion from power contracts signed by the previous administration,” Mr. Ofori-Atta said at parliament on Monday during the Mid-Year Budget presentation.
He maintained that the renegotiated deal provides balanced, sustainable energy partnerships that has led to affordable power for industrial, commercial and residential use.
Touching on happenings in the energy sector, Mr. Ofori-Atta said the raft of sanctions imposed on Russia are tightening supply conditions for energy products.
In response, he stated that government is closely monitoring the stock of products at all depots.
“The timely intervention of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), through the Special Forex Auction mechanism, is also expected to sustain continuous supply of petroleum products in Ghana,” he said.
The development, he argued, has caused disruptions in power supply causes to businesses, large and small, from factories to hairdresser salons.
“As part of measures to improve transmission and reliability of power supply and expand energy to all Ghanaians, we have, between January to date completed the Kasoa Bulk Supply Point (BSP) Project which comprises the reconstruction of a section of GRIDCO’s 161kV Winneba-Mallam transmission lines and tie-in-works”
He added that government has also advanced the Volta-Achimota Lot of the 161KV Volta-Achimota-Mallam Transmission Line Upgrade Project to 85 percent, from 83 percent.
He stated that government has also connected 58 communities to the national grid as at end June 2022 with several communities at various stages of completion; and
“We have commissioned the Solar Irrigation Project at the Ho Technical University on 18th March, 2022 to promote renewable energy systems”.
