Benjamin Nsiah, the Director of the Centre for Environmental Management and Sustainable Energy, has condemned the ongoing issues plaguing Ghana’s energy sector.
He described the situation as a “total disrespect to the industry stakeholders and a full indiscipline in the sector.”
Speaking on Happy 98.9 FM’s “Epa Hoa Daben” socio-political talk show, Nsiah criticized the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) for their handling of load management requests.
He said, “I think what is happening in the energy space is a total disrespect to the industry stakeholders and a full indiscipline in the sector. I think we shall not get it right if this particular indiscipline, dishonesty, lack of transparency, and disrespect continues in the energy sector.”
Delving deeper into the issues, Nsiah highlighted the ongoing communication and coordination challenges between key players in the energy industry.
He further criticized ECG for failing to manage load shedding, which he attributed to a lack of leadership and discipline.
“If you follow the story from some months back, you realize that GRIDCo has continuously communicated the major challenges in the energy sector till today. They’ve made everyone aware that the challenge is a generational challenge and that we need to manage the load,” he said.
“They are also the recipient of the power and transfer to ECG for sales. So if they are saying that there is a shortfall in the power they are receiving what is the problem of ECG managing load so that their infrastructure of machinery would operate? I think it’s because of lack of respect for each institution’s total failure of leadership and discipline led by the Minister of Energy,” Nsiah argued.
Meanwhile, Samuel Dubik Mahama, the Managing Director of ECG, has expressed concerns about the frequency of load management requests from GRIDCo, citing customer disturbance and irritation.
In response to GRIDCo’s complaint to the Minister of Energy, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, regarding ECG’s alleged non-compliance with load management requests, Mahama emphasized the disruptive impact these routine requests have had on customers.
Benjamin Nsiah’s comments come as Ghana continues to face challenges in its energy sector. In recent years, the country has experienced frequent power outages, leading to public frustration and calls for improved management of the sector.