Energy Minister Dr Kwabena Donkor’s promise to Ghanaians that he will solve the recurring energy problem by December 2015 is increasingly looking shaky.
The emergency power barges being built in Turkey to help solve the energy problems in Ghana have still not left the shores of that country for unknown reasons.
According to the Director of Generation and Transmission at the Ministry of Power, William Sam-Appiah, the power barges may take about a month to arrive in Ghana, that is if it finally leaves Turkey.
“It hasn’t left the [Turkish] port yet but it is moving soon,” he noted.
Government had initially promised the two facilities would come in the first quarter of 2015 but was rescheduled to September.
Ghana had contracted Karpowership to build two power barges which was scheduled to arrive in Ghana by September 2015.
The two barges are expected to supply the country with additional 450 megawatts of power.
President John Mahama earlier in the year, said he would hold Dr Kwabena Donkor to his word.
“I will hold the minister to his publicly stated commitment to resolve the electricity supply deficit by the end of this year,” Mahama said.
Speaking to Accra based TV3, William Sam-Appiah said despite the delay, he was hopeful the barges would be in before next month.
“There are a few things that they are being done on the barge. It will start sailing and it will be in by the end of the month or a week into the month,” he added.
Mr Sam-Appiah said the timing is such that by the time the barges arrive the construction of transmission lines would have also been completed so “we can get power out of the barge into the system.”
Meanwhile, government has also said it is working on other projects to increase the generation capacity of the country to permanently solve the recurring energy issues.
