Residents of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region can now breathe a sigh of relief as the recent challenges with erratic electricity supply have been resolved.

The region, which had been experiencing frequent outages, was among the worst affected by disruptions that left many frustrated.

The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, explained that the issue stemmed from the transition to a newly constructed 145 MDA transformer, replacing the old 66 NDA transformer.

Speaking on JoyFM News Night on Monday, March 17, he stated that the upgrade was necessary to meet the growing electricity demand in the Kumasi enclave.

“Yesterday and the day before yesterday, there was a major challenge in Kumasi in particular because of the newly constructed 145 NDA transformer, which replaces the 66 NDA transformer—and we've been having this challenge in the Kumasi enclave for some months now because demand has outgrown the bulk supply point, we needed to change it and put a 145 MDA, which is more than double the current capacity,” Mr Jinapor explained.

He acknowledged that the switch caused temporary outages, locally known as 'dumsor' but assured residents that the transition was now complete.

“In switching, they had to take some people off, and usually, for such a new plant, they sometimes suffer a bit of a challenge. And so over the past two days, they had that major challenge.

"But I’m happy to inform listeners that they have successfully switched to the new 145 NDA plant. ECG has picked all the load as we speak, and so, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the power situation should stabilise in the Kumasi enclave,” he stated.

Mr Jinapor stated that Ghana is currently generating enough electricity, even exporting excess power. However, he noted that beyond generation, the focus must be on transmission and distribution infrastructure.

“We are generating enough and even exporting some excess. But beyond generation is transmission, evacuation, and distribution. Kumasi had outgrown this very bulk supply point. But the good news is we've been able to transition to this new bulk supply point. So we should see much significant improvement as far as electricity and power delivery within the Kumasi enclave and Ashanti Region is concerned,” he added.

When asked about a permanent solution to Kumasi’s recurring power supply issues, the Energy Minister pointed to the need for a reliable fuel source.

“I think this should solve the problem largely when it comes to the distribution. The permanent solution will be at the national level in terms of securing reliable fuel, which is gas. And like I said, throughout last year, every Monday was load shedding. As of December, they were shedding 750 megawatts, and it’s largely on account of fuel,” he revealed.

He further explained that the government has been forced to purchase expensive fuel to maintain electricity supply but stressed that the long-term goal is to establish a second gas processing plant.

“We’ve had to buy some very expensive fuel to keep the lights on up to now. But for me, that is not sustainable. The cost involved is so much, we have stranded gas.

"What we need is to process our own domestic gas with a second gas processing plant so that we will depend solely on gas. It’s cheaper, it’s more reliable, it’s more efficient, and it produces more power, but we’ll get there,” he assured.

In the meantime, he noted that efforts are ongoing to strengthen the national transmission grid.

“We are holding the system, we are supplying enough. We’re also working on the bulk supply point in the transmission grid, which takes a bit of time, but I’m happy that at least that for Kumasi has been sorted out,” Mr Jinapor added.