Ghana Secures 450,000 Barrels of Crude Oil to Address Electricity Shortfalls

The government has secured 450,000 barrels of fuel to address the country’s ongoing power generation challenges and stabilise the electricity supply nationwide.

The delivery, confirmed by the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition on Thursday, is expected to provide immediate relief to recent power challenges that have disrupted the supply of electricity to homes and businesses.

The consignment, which arrived at the Tema Port, will be distributed to power plants experiencing fuel shortages, particularly those operated by independent power producers (IPPs).

The move comes after weeks of erratic power supply, with some areas enduring prolonged outages due to insufficient fuel for thermal plants.

About a week ago, the Minister of Energy, John Jinapor, had sounded an alarm over a looming nationwide power crisis, revealing that the country had less than three days’ worth of liquid fuel to power its electricity-generating plants.

Addressing the Parliamentary Committee on Energy on Thursday, May 15, Mr Jinapor stated that the ministry was racing against time to secure billions of cedis needed to pay for new fuel supplies already ordered.

The Minister disclosed that while some fuel has been procured on credit, the lack of immediate funding threatens to paralyse power generation nationwide.

Mr Jinapor also stated that the Ministry of Finance is being engaged, but its financial constraints limit what can be done.

However, the problem has been averted with the delivery of the liquid fuels.

Head of Communications at the Ministry of Energy, Richmond Rockson, told JoyNews that the delivery is expected to forestall outages “for a long period”.

“It is currently at anchorage. Beyond LCOs, we have other liquefied fuels that we depend on, and we also have gas, so it depends on the demand at any time and then what will be used, but definitely, it will cover us for a long period,” he stated.

“This is one of the first parts out of numerous, so, definitely, like it has always been, the ministry will ensure that, consistently, Ghanaians have stable power.”

“Every now and then, parcels of fuel are ordered. The only challenge is financing because when you look at the tariff structure, fuels are not part of the tariff structure, so every now and then, we have to fall on the Ministry of Finance to make provisions for funding,” he added.