Tears, Joy And Anxiety In Istanbul.

‘The world is moving so fast these days that the one who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it- Harry Emerson Fosdick’.

It, indeed, turned out to be one of the meant-to-be moments all Ghanaians ought to treasure. The Tuzla Port in Istanbul, Turkey, hosted the historic event on Tuesday, October 27, 2015, which climaxed at 12.20 p.m. local time when the siren (alarm) sounded and the Karpowership Ghana slowly moved en-route to Ghana.

In the wisdom of our old wise men and women, ‘before a blind person threatens to throw a stone at you, he or she might be having a stone under the foot’. The power challenge in Ghana in the last two and a half years or thereabout has been of devastating ramifications economically, socially and culturally, affecting the very psyche of the citizens of a once proud African country with surplus or reserve and installed power capacity for export.

The power situation had become so gloomy that the assurances from the President, John Dramani Mahama, to fix the crisis once and for all, and that by his Minister of Power, Dr Kwabena Donkor, presiding over a ministry established out of crisis, that the debilitating load shedding (dumsor) would be brought to an end by end of 2015 were received with a pinch of salt by a large section of the public.

The sceptism became the more compounded and reached a crescendo early October, when the dates and time for the arrival of the first barge kept changing for reasons ranging, perhaps, from technological, constructional and contractual challenges.

The patience of Ghanaians had indeed paled as the days rolled by, to the extent that the shrill voices of authorities in the power sector sounding in the wilderness that the 234 MW Karpowership (barge ) from Turkey was not the only solution to  end the dumsor did not seem to find space in the minds and hearts of the people.

 Fixing the power crisis
The 220MW Kpone Thermal Plant which is currently undergoing commissioning processes, the 110 MW TICO expansion also under commissioning, the 250 MW AMERI Project in Takoradi which is almost completed with over 80 per cent of equipment in place, the extra 180 MW from the Second Phase of the Sunon Asogli Power Plant in Tema and the 300 MW Early Power Project are but some of the ongoing efforts aimed at ending the temporary power crisis facing the country.

In the short term, a total of committed plant installation of about 1,800 MW is expected to be added to the country’s installed generation capacity. In terms of dependable capacity by end of 2015, the Power Ministry aims at 991 MW from an installed capacity of 1068 MW. These measures are augmented by the restoration and maintenance of existing power generation and distribution plants.

In addition to these, the county is also pursuing the development of small/mini hydro dams and facilities at Hemang, Pwalugu and Juale where feasibility studies are going on. In the area of renewable energy,  the Volta River Authority (VRA) is working on a 12 MW Solar Plant and 150MW Wind Pipe Project and a 20 MW Solar Plant  and 150 MW Wind Project at Ayitepa and other places.

Only last Friday, the Minister of Power Dr Kwabena Donkor commissioned a privately owned Electricity sub-station at Dawa in the Greater Accra Region for a 396 MW Bulk Supply Station meant to serve a 3,000-acre industrial park scheduled to be operational in 2016. During the week, Dr Donkor will commission another completed 20 MW Solar Project at Mankoadze in the Central Region.

But an equally bewildering challenge to the power crisis is that of fuel. The erratic nature of gas supply from the West African Gas Pipeline continues to be a bane to power supply. And to address the situation, the government is in discussion with another company, the West Africa Gas, for emergency delivery of liquified natural gas (LNG) which is cheaper and expected to be more reliable in terms of delivery as the country waits for Quantum Power to also supply LNG in year 2016.

 Power Of Friendship
In a statement at the ceremony at which the barge set sail, the Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Mr Ali Riza Alaboyun, described Ghana’s Karpowership as a visionary project by the government and people of Ghana and expressed the joy of Turkey to be part of the effort to improve the lives and economic conditions of Ghanaians. Mr Orhan Karadeniz, the Chief Executive Officer of Karadeniz Powership, manufacturers of the Karpowership, said it was the objective of the company to ‘spread peace and happiness in the world’. Ghana’s Karpowership is the 10th out of 11 constructed so far by the Turkish company. Other beneficiary countries include Indonesia and Iraq.

Fighting bravely to hold back tears in his eyes as the Karpowership moved slowly from the Tuzla Port, the Power Minister, Dr Donkor, hit the nail right on the head when he said, “Ghanaians are eagerly waiting for the arrival of this vessel in their waters soonest”. He expressed the gratitude of the President, people and Government of Ghana to Turkey, the Karpowership Company of Ghana and Karadeniz Karpowership of Turkey for coming to the aid of Ghana in its time of need. The minister also told the international gathering that, in spite of the temporary power challenges, Ghana has the highest access to electricity in Africa, second only to South Africa.

The ‘Power of Friendship,’ as was boldly inscribed on the vessel, is expected to arrive in Ghana by the third week of November 2015 depending on marine and weather conditions as the laws of nature obviously transcend those of humans.

Source: Daily Graphic.