Most of the state acquired generators in the care of Volta River Authority (VRA), are gradually rotting away as they have virtually been abandoned. The generators were brought into the country during the major power crises in 2007 to boost power supply. Sources tell Joy News the 127 diesel generators were purchased at a cost of $101million by the state in 2007. They were brought in to shore-up the country's electricity supply which was at critical levels during the energy crisis at the time. They comprise 54 forty-footer containers, 47 twenty-footer containers as well as 26 skid mounted generators. Though a few have been distributed to locations in Kumasi, Tamale, Accra and Bolgatanga, majority of the generators idle at the Tema VRA power plant. The generators, though very expensive to run as part of the national grid could prove very critical as back-ups for critical installations that can't do without electricity such as health facilities. With capacities ranging between 1 and 2.2 megawatts, a single unit could power the whole of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. According to a VRA source, the plan was to distribute the generators to institutions after the 2007 power crisis, but five years on, many are still unused. But restarting these machines won't be so cheap. They would first have to be overhauled at a cost of up to $136,000 each. Experts have blamed the abuse of the machines during the power crisis for the challenges encountered during their use in 2007 explaining that as emergency units they shouldn't have been run around the clock for several days as they need to undergo regular maintenance after a few days. Energy experts meanwhile believe government, as a matter of urgency, should implement an electricity generation plan to solve the country's consistent power problems. They say, with no reserve capacity, existing plants serving the country are bound to fail since its not possible to provide maintenance on them.