GRIDCO INSTALLS SUBSTATION TO IMPROVE POWER SUPPLY (PAGE 29, MARCH 12, 2010)

THE Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) is installing a 330kV substation to improve and ensure a stable and reliable power supply.
The first phase of the project, being funded jointly by the World Bank, The Kuwait Fund, the European Investment Bank and the Ghana Government at the cost of $80 million, is expected to be completed in the last quarter of this year.
When completed, the substation, the first of its kind in the country, will be linked to the old 161 kV lines, which are inadequate for ensuring stable power supply, to improve on the general energy situation.
The Director of Engineering at GRIDCO, Mr Norbert Anku, who made this known when the Minister of Energy, Dr Joe Oteng Adjei, inspected GRIDCO operations in Tema, said the first phase of the five-phase project would cover the area from Aboadze to Tema.
Mr Anku said the programme, under the West African Power Pool (WAPP) 330kV Transmission Backbone Project, would improve power transmission substantially.
He said the second phase would link up Tema , Lome and Benin, third phase –Aboadze to Prestea , fourth phase -Prestea and Cote Ivoire and the fifth would be from Prestea and Kumasi to Tema again.
The Chief Executive of GRIDCO, Mr Charles Darku, conducting the Minister round the 330kV substation, explained that the GRIDCO was poised to renew and expand the national grid and to proactively address the obsolescence and inadequacies in the grid system.
He said GRIDCO had plans to move the country to the hub of the West African Power Pool operations and was, therefore, working hard to establish a wholesale power market.
Mr Darku called for a ‘good ’ tariff from the public Utilities Regulatory Commission in the shortest possible time to enable GRIDCO receive the much needed funds to build a strong and financially healthy electric utility that was a pre-requisite for a strong economy.
He gave the assurance that GRIDCO was committed to working hard to restore the power system to its pristine status.
Mr Darku appealed to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action against a steel company situated close to the new substation because of its effect on the installed insulators.
He explained that effect of smoke from the plant on the insulators could cause blasts at the substation.
The Energy Minister commended the workforce of GRIDCO for their hard work and assured them of the government’s support to build a new power system.
He said GRIDCO had made many strides in stabilising the national interconnected transmission network and increasing its interface with its numerous stakeholders over the period to help share information on the grid.
Dr Oteng –Adjei noted that the last 18 months had been challenging and encouraged Management of GRIDCO to extend their interaction to key consumer groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Mines, Ghana Employers Association and the Association of Ghana Industries.
He observed that the government was aware of the stress on the national transmission grid, resulting from an ageing infrastructure and a rapidly growing demand for electricity that averaged about seven per cent per annum.
Dr Oteng –Adjei said it was gratifying to note that GRIDCO’s Management had initiated various projects to renew the transmission system by replacing obsolete parts, rehabilitating some and expanding the lines and substations to help strengthen and stabilise the network.
He gave the assurance that the government would support GRIDCO’s project planning and investments that would prevent outages that might come as a result of the maintenance works on the lines or a fault on a transformer.
He was optimistic that through GRIDCO’s tie with the West African Power Pool programme, “Ghana can and would actually become a net exporter of electricity”.
The Energy Minister also toured the company’s System Control Centre, where all operational activities of substations were monitored.
Dr Oteng–Adjei also cut the tape to open a new office block, made up of 15 rooms, constructed at the cost of GHҐ450,000.