Planned WAPCo maintenance may cause a 1,000 MW power deficit from January 20, leading to load shedding
Businesses that heavily rely on electricity supply as well as homes must brace themselves for a potential power crisis which is likely to lead to load shedding beginning this month
A planned maintenance work by the West African Gas Pipeline (WAPCo) is expected to cause the country’s energy generation to lose approximately 1000 megawatts (MW) of power.
The maintenance works, according to the Executive Secretary of the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers (COPEC), Duncan Amoah were initially scheduled for October last year but were delayed due to the intervention of the immediate past Akufo-Addo government.
Duncan Amoah discloses that the government directed the postponement of the maintenance works on the grounds of securing additional liquid fuel supplies to mitigate any shortfalls during the period of cleaning.
“WAPCo had originally scheduled to begin the pipeline cleanup and inspection exercise in October 2024 aimed at protecting the integrity and assure safe operations of WAPCo’s offshore pipeline. However, the Akufo Addo-led government deliberately coerced WAPCo to postpone the exercise to 20th January 2025, under the guise of requiring time to secure the needed parcels of liquid fuel to augment any gas shortfall during the maintenance period,” Duncan Amoah reveals.
He therefore indicates that the delay and the failure to procure the fuel have now set the country up for load shedding when the exercise begins this month, specifically, 20th January.
“Indeed, the nation is expected to experience a massive power supply deficit of about 1000 MW from the 20th of January 2025 when the pigging exercise commences,” he further indicated.
The potential impending crisis has sparked concerns as the power shortfall could lead to severe load shedding. This could adversely affect both small businesses and large industries that are heavily dependent on power supply since alternative power sources have proven to be exorbitantly expensive.
The development means businesses face the risk of production halts and financial losses affecting profitability and sustainability at a time when the economy is already in dire condition.
Households, too, are likely to endure prolonged outages, compounding frustrations among citizens already grappling with economic challenges.
While the planned maintenance works are necessary and inevitable to ensure the smooth and effective running of the WAPCo, experts argue that exercises must be carried out under effective planning and coordination to mitigate its impacts.
