The 400-Megawatt Bui hydropower station is not a white elephant, Power Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor has said.

The Pru East MP told Journalists Monday February 2, 2015 that the $622-million project “has played a very critical role in the last four weeks or so.”

“Bui presently serves as our emergency reserve. Ideally, Bui will not operate any unit during off-peak [hours] and then will operate two units during peak [hours].

“Because of the circumstances in which we find ourselves, Bui runs one unit during off-peak [hours], sometimes two units and then during peak [hours], sometimes Bui is forced to run three units, so Bui serves as a critical emergency reserve for us,” Dr Donkor said, adding that: “Our situation will have been extremely precarious without Bui.”

Ghana is currently shedding between 440 and 650 Megawatts of power during off-peak and peak hours respectively as against planned shedding of 250 and 350 Megawatts for the same periods.

Dr Donkor said the power deficit could be put down to “non-availability of some generating units through faults, mandatory inspection and routine maintenance, poor hydrology, fuel supply challenges,” as well as the increase in demand over the decades.