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Many parts of Ghana were plunged into darkness due to a lack of gas to power machinery used to generate electricity in the country.<\/p>\n
Power distribution firm Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) says the situation has caused “a supply gap of 550MW at peak time” at Tema power plant, near the capital, Accra.<\/p>\n
This is about 10% of the country’s total capacity.<\/p>\n
The massive outage started on Thursday evening.<\/p>\n
Power has now been restored in some areas but GRIDCo spokesperson Dzifa Bampoh told the BBC there would be more outages on Friday evening, during peak hours.<\/p>\n
Ghana is currently going through its worst economic crisis in a generation.<\/p>\n
There are frequent power cuts in Ghana but this is the worst nationwide outage for two years.<\/p>\n
A June study said the country’s current energy provision was “critically unhealthy and tottering towards a power crisis”.<\/p>\n
The power situation, which could worsen in the coming years, has been exacerbated by the country’s financial distress, the Centre for Socioeconomic Studies (CSS) study showed.<\/p>\n
In July, independent power producers in the country threatened to shut down operations over arrears owed to them by state-run Electricity Company of Ghana.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Thursday, GRIDCo, the power operator, said electricity supply to consumers in some parts of Ghana would be curtailed as a result of “limited gas supply” to the Tema power plant.<\/p>\n
“The inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” the statement added.<\/p>\n
The GRIDCo spokesperson said it was caused by a problem in gas supply from Takoradi.<\/p>\n
Some reports say the issue was that gas suppliers had not been paid.<\/p>\n
The power utility firm did not say how long it would take for normal supplies to resume.<\/p>\n
Ghana has for several years been experiencing power shortages popularly known as “dumsor”, which means on and off in the Akan language.<\/p>\n
The West African country gets its much of its electricity from hydro and thermal sources, but these are often poorly maintained.<\/p>\n
The country has in the last few years become heavily reliant on gas as a major source of energy for electricity generation and any shortage in gas results in power outages.<\/p>\n
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