The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has announced a scheduled nationwide power disruption on Sunday, July 13, as part of rehabilitation works by gas suppliers ENI. The temporary shutdown will allow ENI to turn off their valves to boost gas production capacity to 270 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d). The Minister assured Ghanaians that the interruption, though inconvenient, is a necessary step toward stabilizing the country’s energy supply. “This Sunday, ENI will turn off their valves temporarily to increase gas production to about 270 MMscf. It means that we are stabilizing the energy sector,” he said.
Mr. Jinapor, speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the 161kV Anwomaso to Kumasi Transmission Line, explained that the shutdown will only last a few hours but may result in some power outages during the day. He emphasized that this was a calculated decision based on expert advice to avoid running plants on liquid fuel for such a short period. “It involves changing nozzles, it involves a lot of work, and so if we are going off for about four to six hours, you don’t risk it transitioning to liquid fuel only to come back to gas,” he noted. He added that the Ministry is working to minimize the impact of the shutdown on households and businesses.
The 161kV Anwomaso to Kumasi Transmission Line project, co-funded by the European Union and the Government of France, is expected to resolve issues of low voltage and system inefficiencies in Kumasi and the Dukwaw mining areas. The Minister also disclosed a new commercial oil discovery by ENI, alongside announcements that Tullow Oil is planning to invest more resources in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector. These developments, he said, mark a significant boost for the country’s energy future.
