Nana Amoasi VII, the Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), has painted a grim picture of Ghana's power sector, predicting severe challenges ahead in 2025.

Amidst ongoing struggles with intermittent power outages, commonly known as 'Dumsor,' Nana Amoasi VII has warned that the situation is set to deteriorate further.

This forecast comes in the wake of remarks made by the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, in response to critics advocating for a load-shedding timetable.

Speaking on the Citi TV on Tuesday, March 26, 2024, Nana Amoasi VII elaborated on the looming crisis, attributing it to increasing debts in the sector and a lack of acknowledgment and resolution of the underlying problems.

“From 2025, the situation is going to get worse. Because your debt in the sector is increasing every day. Money or cash in the power sector is like the lubrication in your car, Bernard, so it goes up. When you don’t have enough lubrication in your system, what happens is that there is friction, and there will be tears. When that happens, there is going to be a collapse in the sector [which] is almost collapsed."

Nana Amoasi VII highlighted the weakened grid, both in transmission and distribution, as a result of the lack of funds.

“The money we’ve saved at the tail end of ECG and NEDCo is not adequate to cover all the costs incurred in the process or the chain. That is why today we owe fuel suppliers, today we owe fuel transmitters like WAPCO, today we owe the power generators, and we owe the power transmitter, GRIDCo."

Nana Amoasi VII also called for a broader investigation by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) to cover the entire value chain beyond just the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).

“Until we resolve these financial constraints, dumsor is going to be with us for a very long time. I pity the next government that will be formed. We are going to inherit a cliff and not a deep hole and when you are at the edge of a cliff. When you fall, it is big and bang."

NAY/OGB