Power consumers have to brace themselves for more blackouts as Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Volta River Authority (VRA) provide different estimates for the probable end to the ongoing load-shedding programme. While GRIDCo, the national energy distributor, announced the end of April as the probable date when Ghana’s power supply will be normalised, Ghana’s main energy distributor the VRA has projected some time in May. Ghanaians have, since August 2012, been hit by an erratic power supply resulting from a major fault in one of the pipelines supplying gas from Nigeria, which contributes significantly to the electricity generated in the country. Since then, the projected end date for the load shedding exercise has changed from one month to another. But there is hope in sight, as the Bui Power Authority (BPA) promises to add 133.33 megawatts from its first generation unit by the end of March this year to boost the national grid. With that boost, Ghanaians can expect that the canker referred to in local parlance as dum so, dum so will be minimised. Officials of the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) also hope that gas supply from Nigeria to Ghana will be restored by the end of April so that power generation firms can generate more electricity. According to GRIDCo CEO Charles Darku, the current inadequacies in generation are likely to prolong the crisis until the end of April this year. The exact date, he said, would be informed by the inauguration of GRIDCo's new substation at Kintampo and the Takoradi Thermal Three (T3) project as well as the resumption of gas supply from WAPCo. He told the Daily Graphic yesterday that inadequacies in generation had led to a 25 per cent deficit in the reserve margin. "Reserve margins have been eaten into and, therefore, we will need an additional 200 megawatts to make up for the shortfall," Mr Darku said. He explained that in order to ensure stability in power supply, there must always be some 2,250 megawatts in reserve capacity to offset the system’s inadequacies. He further intimated that increased demand for power requires the generation of at least 200 megawatts annually, adding that the "lack of investment in the sector over the past years has brought us where we are today." Mr Darku took a swipe at officials of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for being unprofessional in their approach to power rationing. The ECG had, on Monday night, cut power supply to most parts of Accra and its environs due to what its officials said was a directive from GRIDCo to shed an additional 400 megawatts across the country. The company blames its inability to follow its own scheduled timetable for load rationing across the country on GRIDCo. Mr Darku, who took exception to the ECG's accusation, said the decision to call for the shedding of the additional 400 megawatts was necessitated by trips in the generating systems at Aboadze and the shut down of the Akosombo generation systems. Meanwhile, officials of WAPCo have set April 30, 2013 as the tentative date for the resumption of gas supply to Ghana. Harriet Wereko-Brobby, the General Manager in Charge of Corporate Affairs at WAPCo who confirmed this to the Daily Graphic, said officials are working fervently to ensure that the date is met. Gabriel Apatu, an External Relations Assistant of the BPA, told the Daily Graphic that plans were far advanced to add the 133.33 megawatts of power to the national energy pool. He said one of the three generating units of the BPA would be ready to produce 133.33 megawatts by the end of March this year, while the remaining two generating units would be added to the national grid by June this year. Meanwhile, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) reports that at a public forum in Tamale on Monday, Head of the VRA Corporate Communications Unit Samuel Fletcher urged consumers to brace themselves for load shedding to continue until May. Presenting an update on the power situation in the country, he said the authority anticipated adding 200 megawatts of power from various power production units across the country to the national grid by May to restore normal power supply. The forum, organised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), brought together utility providers including the VRA, GRIDCo, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company and the Ghana Water Company Limited/Ghana Urban Water Limited (GWCL/GUWL), and consumers from the Northern and Upper East Regions to share their concerns and experiences on the quality of utility provision. Mr Fletcher said work on the pipeline is expected to be completed in May, when an increased supply of natural gas from Nigeria to the VRA should increase the energy producer’s operations and reduce the cost of power production. The situation has compelled the VRA to buy light crude oil to power its thermal plants to produce electricity at great cost without a corresponding increase in revenue. According to the GNA, documents made available to it by the VRA indicated that the Authority spends close to US$3 million daily to run its thermal plants using light crude oil, double the price it pays when using natural gas. Mr Fletcher said if natural gas did not arrive as expected and "if the VRA continues to sell electricity to the ECG at the current price, then production from our thermal plants would have to be reduced or discontinued and that would mean further load shedding." He therefore called on consumers to collaborate with the VRA to buy more crude oil for electricity production in order to eliminate load shedding and reduce financial loss.