The Communications Spokesperson for the Energy Ministry, Richmond Rockson, has defended the government’s record on electricity supply while acknowledging that persistent outages in parts of Accra are linked to long-standing weaknesses in the country’s power distribution network.
Speaking in an interview on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on Monday, April 20, Mr Rockson said there has been a notable improvement in electricity generation under the current administration.
“You would agree that we’ve had stability when it comes to power supply,” he said. “Indeed, if you look at where this administration took the power sector from a certain load of about 700 megawatts to doing zero load-shedding today, that’s remarkable.”
However, he admitted that significant challenges remain within the distribution segment of the power sector, which he said has historically received less investment compared to generation and transmission.
“But the challenge we face has to deal with the distribution side,” he explained. “Over the years, the concentration has been on generation and transmission. The needed investment that you will require when it comes to distribution has not been forthcoming.”
Mr Rockson attributed recent power outages in parts of the capital to a combination of underinvestment, poor planning and what he described as misplaced priorities, noting that these issues have built up over time.
“These are challenges that have cumulated as a result of our investment that we are not doing, poor planning, and some misplaced priorities when it comes to the distribution side,” he said. “In the last couple of weeks, it has come back to bite us.”
He disclosed that the Energy Minister has ordered a comprehensive review of the distribution network, which has revealed ageing infrastructure and capacity constraints as key problems.
“We have obsolete materials,” he noted. “If you look at transformers — whether power transformers or distribution transformers — some of them are very old. In some cases, areas have grown beyond their capacity. We also have issues with conductors and cables.”
He further explained that rapid urban expansion, particularly in fast-growing areas such as Lashibi, has placed additional pressure on the grid. The rise in residential and commercial developments has significantly increased electricity demand.
“Simply what it means is that demand has gone up,” he said, adding that existing infrastructure has struggled to keep pace.
In response, the government has launched a nationwide transformer upgrade programme aimed at improving distribution capacity and reliability. The initiative is expected to see the installation of more than 3,000 transformers across the country, with priority given to high-demand urban areas.
“We are rolling out a comprehensive plan to upgrade the distribution,” Mr Rockson stated. “Once those installations and upgrades are done, we will see significant improvements.”
He added that the ongoing outages are largely confined to specific areas and are directly linked to the distribution bottlenecks identified in the review process.
“Those are some of the causes of the outages you see in pockets of areas across Accra,” he said.
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Source: www.myjoyonline.com