The Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors and Bulk Consumers , CIPBiB, wish to commend the Minister for Energy, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, for his candour.
Speaking at the 4-day Energy Sector Work Programme retreat at Ada in the Greater Accra Region, the Minister was reported to have said that the country ought to generate enough electricity to meet the demands of the growing population and urbanization.
Chief Executive of the Chamber, Elikplim Komla Apertogbor noted that, “this statement only affirms our stance for the past two years that there is no such thing as excess capacity. Our position is that if it truly exists, then the transmission utility is the cause or the limitation and thus, we should be seen strategizing to generate sufficient power to meet the growing demands in the country.”
He further stated that the enhancement in the national grid is a platform to shore up consumption by the unserved and the growing demand.
“Against the backdrop of the Minister’s statement, we do expect that the critical players in the sector will collaborate to find lasting and sustainable solutions to this growing demand, and make the sector less volatile,” he said.
“It is our expectation that this call by the Minister will pave way for the lifting of the ban on the signing of PPAs in order to pave way for negotiations with respect to the additional generations. Meanwhile, we expect that future decisions and negotiations would incorporate financial sustainability and resilience of value chain related issues,’ he added.
It therefore stands ready to provide guidance in the planning process, if necessary.