Ghana spends $586m on unused electricity per year - Energy Minister

Hon. Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh

Energy Minister, Matthew Opoku Prempeh says government will no longer sign take or pay Power Purchasing Agreements.

This, the Minister explained, is to save the country an annual cost of US$586m dollars spent on unused electricity purchased for the country.

Giving an update on Ghana's Energy situation, the Minister disclosed that, "Ghana pays $586m as excess charges for electricity we didn't use but have to pay."

He further described all 40 Power Purchasing Agreements (PPAs) signed under the Mahama administration amid the power crises, between 2013 and 2015, as costly PPAs that caused power tariffs to increase by over 200 percent.

To deal with this, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh revealed that 3 of these PPAs have been deferred under a renegotiated Take and Pay arrangement.

This according to him saves Ghana 1.2 billion dollars each year. "The country will therefore resort to "take and pay" agreements which will enable us pay for only used power, going forward," he emphasised.

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Matthew Opoku Prempeh

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Take or Pay Agreements