Energy Minister Emmanuel Kofi-Armah Buah has justified the need for the current ongoing load shedding exercise to be intensified even though Nigeria has restored gas supply to the country.

He said the country is experiencing challenges with the current generation capacity and that the restoration of gas supply into the country will not automatically improve power supply.

Speaking on Joy FMs Super Morning Show, Tuesday, the minister said some of the plants in Takoradi are unable to function properly because they are not sent for maintenance when the time is due.

Moreover, the level of water in the Akosombo Dam has not gone up, Mr Buah stated.

The Volta River Authority (VRA) on the other hand, is unsure of the consistency of the supply from Nigeria.

Speaking to JoyNews, Public Relations Officer of the VRA Samuel Fletcher said about 145 million standard cubic feet have already been received but the authority is unsure of regular supply due to the unreliability of gas supply from that country, hence the need for the load shedding exercise to continue.

According to Mr Fletcher the supply of gas into the country will not automatically translate into electricity, “we need to be able to differentiate what the problem is with regard to maintenance and repair works as against what the impact of the absence of gas has been on the sector”.

He however added that an improvement in the situation will certainly lead to an improvement in power supply in the country.

The Public Relations Officer of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), William Boateng advised customers to refer to the load shedding time table provided by the ECG to ensure that they are well informed about the times their lights will be going off.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the weekend resumed gas supply to Ghana after workers of the corporation called off a five-day strike they had embarked upon.

The industrial action followed failure of NNPC management to settle a dispute concerning their pension and other related issues.