The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) is challenging government to put out the cost it will incur in fueling the power barges expected in the country in October.

This comes as government served notice to consumers to brace themselves for cost sharing when the barges arrive. 

According to government, it will be incurring more cost, and has asked the public to prepare to share the additional cost that will come with generating power from the barges.

At a Biennial Conference of the Ghana Science Association in Tamale, Deputy Power Minister John Jinapor said Ghanaians must accept the reality and embrace full cost recovery.

“These emergency power barges come at a premium; fueling sources are very very expensive…So I just want to appeal to Ghanaians so that when we bring on board this plant all of us must be prepared to shoulder some part of the responsibility in order that we can have sustainable and reliable energy”, Mr Jinapor had said.

Deputy Executive Director of ACEP, Ben Boakye, said government has to put out the figures when the time comes to give consumers a clearer picture of the situation.

“Those of us who are in the industry want to analyse the tariffs and see whether it is fair for the consumer to pay more. So we want to see the minister put out some figures…the fuel they are going to use, how much it will cost per megawatt so that we can analyse and see whether it is worth our money. So we will wait to see what comes up so we will do the analysis and inform Ghanaians”, he said.

He however said government could have gotten a better deal with the power barges.

ACEP maintains that it makes no economic sense to rent the plants for $700 million for five years before taking ownership when the country could have bought them outright for $220 million.