The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), says over GHS 44 million has been allocated to streamline operations as part of measures to provide stable power supply to customers in the Ashanti Region.
This will include replacement of obsolete transformers, cables and construction of additional substations.
Inhabitants in parts of the Ashanti Region have recently complained about unstable power supply to their homes and places of business.
After the situation persisted in some areas at the beginning of this year, angry customers either resorted to social or traditional media to vent their frustration.
The power distribution company dispelled assertions that the country was going back to its dreaded days which was christened ‘Dumsor’.
Although there has been significant improvement in power supply in the region, authorities of the company have outlined measures to make boost supply.
Managing Director of EGC, Kwame Agyeman-Budu, disclosed that medium and short term measures have been adopted to ensure stable power supply to customers in the Ashanti Region.
He said a primary substation will be constructed in some areas in the Region so as to ease pressure on feeders that heavily depended on it for power supply.
“A lot of efforts are in place to mitigate all these challenges. In our area here in the Ashanti Region, we are trying to construct a temporary substation in Agogo area which will link Konongo, Agogo and Ejisu together so that we have a stable service. On that note, we are spending about GHS 15 million to reinforce the system or our network”, he said
Mr. Agyeman-Budu added that, “In the medium term, we are trying to pump in GHS 29.5 million also to strengthen the network to make sure we have a reliable and and stable service”.
He further indicated that the company has been able to identify causes of power outages citing obsolete transformers, cables, relays and closures
He however assured that all obsolete equipment will be replaced soon.
He expressed worry about the attitude of some members of the public who engage in power theft despite efforts by the company to ensure stable power supply.
According to him, illegal connections often make transformers overloaded and hinder smooth supply of power.
The ECG is also adopting a new system called VIT, which will aid in the easy detection of faults in cables and transformers.
Authorities are hopeful power supply will improve in the Ashanti Region after these Interventions.
The Ashanti Strategic Business Unit has a customer population of 949,435 with a total of 5,421 distribution transformers.
Out of this number, 4,735 transformers are ECG owned, while 506 are dedicated ones.
The Unit says it is undertaking some projects to ensure reliability and redundancy , power delivery and safety Customer end voltage improvement and Customer Satisfaction.
