Accra, (Greater Accra) 30 Oct.,

The Volta River Authority (VRA) repeated today that the nation will face an acute power crisis next year unless its consumers pay economic rates to enable it to generate power from the Takoradi thermal plant to supplement that of the Akosombo dam. Mr. M.A.C. Addo, Director of Organisational Services, said the operational cost of a thermal plant which uses fuel is five times higher than that of the hydro plant and that VRA cannot pay for the cost at the current rate of its tariffs. The first phase of the thermal plant will be operational by the end of the year. Speaking to journalists in Accra, Mr. Addo stressed that the water level of the Akosombo dam, which is now 248 feet, is at one of its lowest and can only generate half of the energy currently being supplied. He said normally, the level of the dam reaches its maximum of about 270 feet by the first week of November. However, because of the erratic rainfall pattern in the catchment area, the level has appreciated only eight feet above the minimum operating level of 240 feet. ''The water is collected for use in the following year. Around this time last year, the level was 258 feet and that was not sufficient. We had to import more power from Cote d'Ivoire and generate additional one from our Tema diesel thermal plant. ''However, the VRA is broke, and we cannot continue this service next year. We have eaten into our reserves and this will affect our development projects''. Mr. Addo said between 1800 hours and 2300 hours each day, which is the peak period, the Authority spends about 20 million cedis to produce power from the Tema plant to beef up its supplies. He said consumers must understand that the production cost of power is very high and must therefore be willing to pay for the commodity and efficient service. The authority intends to use gas which is three times cheaper than fuel for the Takoradi plant, expand its capacity to 600 megawatts and develop more hydro plants to strengthen VRA's resource base. Mr. Addo appealed to the Utility Regulatory Commission to consider the issue as an emergency to save the nation from an imminent crisis.