A former deputy minister of energy and petroleum, John Jinapor, has described as “a big lie” reports that Ghana pays $500 million annually for excess capacity in the electricity sector.

This payment, according to reports, arises from the take-or-pay contracts signed under the erstwhile National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

Reacting to the claim, Mr Jinapor in a statement said “this assertion is false and misleading. And the facts do not support the spurious claim.”

He noted that a cursory look at the 2019 report from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) which is the sole off-taker to the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Ghana reveals without doubt that about 11,529.97GWH of electricity was procured out of a total projected dependable capacity of 3,424MW.

“It is instructive to note that by accounting for the 25% required reserve margin which serves as insurance for the Nation, the claim of Excess Capacity becomes flawed,” he said.

Mr Jinapor stressed that the assertion that payment of $500 million has been made as a result of a excess capacity is not only “erroneous but completely false.”

“If Ghana really has 2,000MW excess capacity for which we pay US$500 million, how come Ghanaians are being made to endure load shedding (dumsor) for the three weeks despite having excess capacity?” He quizzed.