Dr Yussif Sulemana, Technical Advisor to the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, says Government is investing in power infrastructure to improve grid reliability.

He said the investments in generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure would help address electricity supply challenges, clear legacy debts and provide reserve capacity to support the country’s growing industrial demand.

Dr Sulemana made the remarks in Accra at a stakeholders’ workshop on energy on the theme: “Unreliable Electricity: Measurement and Coping Strategies.”

The workshop was organised by GIMPA-PURC’s Centre of Excellence in Public Utility Regulation in collaboration with the International Growth Centre (IGC) Ghana, an academic research policy institute, to promote sustainable growth.

It brought together stakeholders in the utilities sector, including the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and the Volta River Authority (VRA), to discuss challenges affecting electricity reliability.

Dr Sulemana said Government planned to construct a second gas processing plant at Atuabo in the Western Region at an estimated cost of US$700 million to increase gas processing capacity from 120 million to 300 million standard cubic feet per day.

He said the expanded facility would process indigenous natural gas into liquefied petroleum gas and natural gas liquids, reduce dependence on imported fuels, save the economy about

US$500 million every two years and create more than 2,500 direct and indirect jobs.

Dr Sulemana said Government had injected about GH¢15.2 billion to address financing shortfalls in the power sector and more than GH¢1.4 billion to settle legacy debts owed to Independent Power Producers to support fuel supplies for thermal plants.

He said ECG was also implementing a US$278 million emergency investment programme to deploy 2,500 distribution transformers, replace damaged poles and reduce pressure on electricity networks in densely populated commercial areas.

On renewable energy, Dr Sulemana said Government was implementing a US$3.4 billion Renewable Energy Action and Investment Plan over the next five years to develop utility-scale solar plants, battery energy storage systems and wind projects in parts of northern Ghana and the Ada West District.

He said electricity access had reached about 89 per cent, while installed generation capacity had exceeded 5,300 megawatts, with dependable capacity above 4,700 megawatts.

Dr Sulemana said strict enforcement of the country’s cash waterfall mechanism had improved transparency in the distribution of electricity revenues.

The mechanism, he explained, had compelled the ECG to systematically and transparently distribute power revenues through a single holding account.”

Professor David Lagakos, Lead Academic at IGC Ghana, said access to the national grid did not necessarily mean consumers had reliable electricity.

He said preliminary findings from a pilot survey showed that power fluctuations imposed significant costs on the economy, including damage to electrical equipment, and urged authorities to address the challenge.

Stakeholders welcomed the survey recommendations and pledged to support efforts to improve electricity reliability in the country.