The government is taking steps to avert a possible power crisis with plans to add a 1,200-megawatt gas-fired electricity generation plant, President John Dramani Mahama has announced.
He said the move would increase Ghana’s installed electricity capacity from the current 4,300 megawatts to about 6,000 megawatts.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Koforidua last Saturday as part of his Resetting Ghana Tour of the Eastern Region, President Mahama said the need for increased investment in the power sector had become more urgent following recent supply interruptions.
The disruptions, he explained, were caused by transformer replacements and a fire outbreak that gutted the GRIDCo control room at Akosombo.
“If you look at Ghana’s economic growth, our electricity consumption keeps increasing. When we took over the reins of government in 2025, consumption was about 3,500 megawatts. As I speak, our peak consumption is about 4,300 megawatts due to increased investment and demand,” he said.
He stressed the importance of expanding generation capacity to meet rising demand and create surplus power for export to earn foreign exchange.
To achieve this, President Mahama said the government had engaged Jubilee partners and ENI, who had expressed readiness to invest $2 billion and $1.5 billion respectively in gas infrastructure to support the planned plant.
“This means that for the next 10 to 15 years, even if we do not add any more plants, we will still have enough capacity to power our homes and industries,” he said.
President Mahama commended engineers of the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) for their swift response in restoring power after the fire, which knocked out about 1,000 megawatts, representing roughly 25 per cent of the country’s installed capacity.
“If this had happened elsewhere, expatriate engineers might have been brought in, but our local engineers handled the situation and restored all six units,” he said.
As part of the tour, the President broke ground for the construction of a multipurpose hall and hostel at the Seventh-day Adventist College of Education in Koforidua.
He also cut the sod for a 24-hour economy market at Asesewa in the Upper Manya Krobo District.
FROM JULIUS YAO PETETSI, KOFORIDUA
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