The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdullai Jinapor, has announced a nationwide power outage scheduled for Sunday, July 13, due to temporary maintenance by gas suppliers ENI.
The disruption is part of ENI’s rehabilitation efforts, which include turning off their gas supply valves to facilitate a planned increase in gas production capacity to 270 million standard cubic feet per day (MMScf/d).
“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,” Minister Jinapor said during a ceremony marking the start of reconstruction on the 161kV Anwomaso to Kumasi Transmission line.
The planned shutdown is expected to last four to six hours and will cause intermittent power supply during the day.
The Minister emphasized that the temporary inconvenience is necessary to ensure long-term stability and growth in the energy sector. Based on technical advice, the government has decided not to switch to liquid fuels during the short downtime due to the complexity of transitioning between fuel types.
“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 explained.
The transmission line reconstruction project, co-funded by the European Union and the Government of France, aims to improve voltage levels in Kumasi and the Dunkwa mining areas, addressing key inefficiencies in the current grid.
In a related development, the Minister also announced a new commercial oil discovery by ENI, and indicated that Tullow Oil is increasing its investment in the upstream sector.
The Ministry assures the public of ongoing efforts to minimize the impact of the planned shutdown on homes and businesses.
