The Minority in Parliament has called Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia's claim that Ghana has the extra capacity "false."
Following the almost countrywide power outage on Saturday, the Minority Caucus published a statement claiming that the country is on the approach of experiencing 'dumsor,' or imminent power disruptions.
"The NPP government's baseless and unfounded allegations that Ghana has excess electricity generation capacity that the country doesn't need, resulting in the payment of about GHC 17 billion in excess capacity bills, have been refuted by available facts contained in Ghana's recently released 2022 electricity supply plan.
"Unfortunately, these fabricated and created narratives, led by none other than Vice President Biden, The Minority in Parliament has called Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia's claim that Ghana has the extra capacity "false."
Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia's attacks on former President Mahama's person were thus as pointless as they were devious and propaganda-laden," John Abdulai Jinapor, Ranking Member of the Mines and Energy Committee, explained.
The Minority's complete statement is below.
FALSE NPP EXCESS CAPACITY CLAIMS DISPLACED AS COUNTRY FACES IMMINENT DUMSOR
The NPP government's baseless and unfounded claims that Ghana has excess electricity generation capacity that the country doesn't need, resulting in the payment of GHC 17 billion in excess capacity bills, have been debunked by available facts contained in the recently released 2022 electricity supply plan.
Unfortunately, these created and fabricated narratives against former President Mahama, led by none other than Vice President Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, were as pointless as they were malicious and propaganda-laden.
The Power Planning Technical Committee (PPTC) was established in 2020 by the Hon. Minister of Energy to examine, plan, and make recommendations for the Ghana Power System, among other things, as required by Section 7 of the National Electricity Grid Code and Section 2 (2)(c) of the Energy Commission Act 1997 (ACT 541) makes some very interesting conclusions.
Among other things, the report makes the startling but true discovery that the country's current producing capacity will not be sufficient to meet demand. the anticipated demand plus the minimum 18% reserve buffer
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia made very wild and unfounded assertions about a so-called GHC 17 billion payment by the state deriving from what he termed as overcapacity bills during a recent Tescon training and orientation conference in Kasoa.
The minority has subsequently called this assertion incorrect and unjustified and has challenged the Vice President and the NPP government to disclose the information on such payments to back up this erroneous claim. Ghanaians will be interested to learn that no such information has been made public yet.
The existing facts in the 2022 Electricity Supply Plan plainly speak to the current administration's misleading and dishonest narrative. the present NPP government's role in the country's current economic difficulties
The following conclusions are made from the 2022 Electricity Supply Plan, as documented on pages (vi)-(viii) of the report, for the avoidance of doubt
The purchase of natural gas to power the thermal plants will cost an estimated USD 872.8. (.i.e. a monthly average of MUSD 72.74).
The provision for LCO, diesel, and HFO during the gas outage results in a total fuel procurement need of US$ 988 million in 2022.
The 250 MW Ameri Power Plant's relocation from Takoradi to Kumasi greatly minimizes transmission system losses. It also aids export by improving power control in Kumasi and its vicinity.