Accra, July 18, GNA - The Volta River Authority (VRA) has announced that it will carry out planned maintenance works on Gas Turbines Number One and Number Four, both at the Aboadze Thermal Power Station Complex, on the following dates.

Gas Turbines Number One on July 21 to 24 and Gas Turbine Number Four on August 5 to 13, 2006 (all days inclusive).

A statement signed by Ms Abla Fiadjoe, Acting Director, Corporate Services at the VRA said the temporary shutdown will result in generation deficit of 160 MW during the peak load periods from 1700 hours to 1100 hours for the four days in July and 110 MW for the nine days in August.

Accordingly, VRA has requested ECG and VRA-NED to reduce demand during the affected periods. This may entail load shedding in selected areas of the country by ECG and VRA-NED.

VRA therefore, appealed to customers who have power in unaffected areas on those days to support the exercise by conserving energy, especially during the peak load periods.

High energy consuming appliances such as air conditioners, industrial machines, deep freezers, electric cookers and fridges should be switched off on the days earmarked for the maintenance workers. VRA takes this opportunity to commend customers for adhering to its call to adopt energy conservation measures, which contributed greatly to reliability of power supply during the just-ended 2006 FIFA World Cup tournament.