General News of Friday, 19 July 2002

Source: Accra Mail

More Energy Soon

About 100 Megawatts of electricity would be made available to the Strategic Thermal Power Plant at Tema from the Takoradi thermal power station by December to augment electricity supply to the nation's eastern corridor.

This would be made possible when transmission lines to the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) gas project at Effasu-Mangyea in the Jomoro District is completed.

Mr William Sam-Appiah, General Manager of the Thermal Station, made this known when an eight-member Parliamentary Select Committee on Energy visited the station at Aboadze near Takoradi on Wednesday.

He told the Committee that the initial problems associated with power generation such as frequent power outage and low voltage had been addressed and consumers now enjoyed uninterrupted power supply.

"At the moment the station, together with its partner CMS International of the US, produces 550 megawatts of electricity."

Mr Sam-Appiah mentioned rising cost of crude oil and the high cost of maintaining the machines as a source of worry to the company.

Mr Marshall Pendergrass, General Manager of CMS, commended the Ghanaian technical staff for their hard work and efficient maintenance of plant and equipment.

Mr Boadi Mensah, MP for Obuasi and Chairman of the Committee, commended the companies for their efficiency and judicious use of crude oil in running the plant.