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I am a business reporter with Daily Guide and Business Guide newspapers published by the Western Group of Companies. I was a general reporter when I joined Daily Guide in 2006, but along the line I realized the need to specialize. So I found business reporting as the best area to specialize and I have been on the desk for about four years now. Since I started reporting on business related issues my interest has being in the areas of telecommunications, the extractive industry (ie. oil, gas and mining), and the Small and Medium scale Enterprise (SME) sector. I have a page dedicated to SMEs in the weekly Business Guide newspaper were I write features on the SME sector in Ghana. In view of this I was adjudged the best SME reporter for 2009 during the Ghana Journalist Association (GJA) awards in 2010. This has further motivated me to pursue development driven stories which will help change policies and enhance the livelihoods of Ghanaians. I am a member of the Ghana Journalists Association and an executive member of the Network of Communication Reporters (NCR) in Ghana.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Off-Peak Load Shedding Ends Today


By Esther Awuah

Users of electricity who endure power outages during daytime can now heave a sigh of relief.
This follows an announcement by the Ministry of Energy that off-peak load shedding exercise, which occurs from 6am-6pm, would end today, November 5, 2012 as a result of the completion of additional generation projects.

Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister of Energy 
However, peak time outage, which lasts from 6pm to 11pm, is expected to end on November 30, 2012, according to the Volta River Authority (VRA).

Ghanaians have for the past months experienced irregular power supply due to damages caused by a vessel on the West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP) in August this year. WAGP supplies gas to some thermal plants to generate electricity.

Dr. Joe Oteng-Adjei, Minister of Energy, who disclosed this at news conference in Accra said, “Our target is to eliminate completely the load shedding programme for off-peak from Monday, 5th November and that for the peak period whenever the full complement of fuel supply arrives in the country.

“While government was waiting for the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) to complete the repair works associated with the gas pipelines, the Ministry has been working with other stakeholders to complete on-going generation addition projects.”

He noted that the steam turbine unit for Takoradi 1 Thermal Plant, which had been shut down since 2010, had been restored and would increase the available capacity by 110 megawatt (mw).

Additionally, the Tema Cenit Thermal Power Plant (TCTPP) owned by CENIT Energy, a subsidiary of Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has commissioned 126 mw project.

Dr. Oteng-Adjei added that “finally the two gas turbines for the Takoradi 3 thermal project have been commissioned to deliver 72 mw.

He was hopeful the full complement of the fuel required to integrate the system would arrive in the country by November 15, 2012.

He said this would enable the contractor working on the steam component of the project commission the steam unit by November 30, 2012 to ensure that the plant delivers 132 mw to the system.

This, he noted, would go a long way to help bring the load shedding programme to an end.

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