Accra-Ghana, July 02, GNA – Mr Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director, Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), says to shut down power generation will not resolve the challenges of Independent Power Producers (IPP).
He explained that power supply cut to the national grid as communicated by the IPPs had a revenue loss implication to them as well.
“What has sustained the power and the stability of the grid is that the IPPs preferred to be owed than shutdown and not get paid. Because contractually, once you shut down, you don’t want to get paid,” he said.
Speaking in an interview monitored by the Ghana News Agency, he advised that the larger problem of debt accumulation in the power sector must be given priority and resolved as it negatively impacted the already fragile fiscal situation of the country.
“The national budget is suffering from the power sector. If you accumulate what we have spent in the past three to four years ago, it is more than $6 billion, for power people have consumed and refused to pay for,” he said.
He called for broader engagement on how the country could produce power, sell, and recover its money efficiently.
Mr Andrew Egyapa Mercer, Deputy Minister of Energy, said the Government was meeting three Independent Power Producers (IPP) over the possible cut in power supply due to about $2 billion debt.
“These are our partners that we have worked with over the years, and we will continue to work with them going forward. It is important that we engage with them to resolve problems,” he said.
He said government indebtedness to IPP was an albatross due to pay or take agreements signed.
The IPPs which produced 2000 megawatts of power are demanding an interim payment of at least 30 per cent of their arrears or cut power to the national grid beyond.
