ECG takeover’ll improve power delivery – Maafo

The concession agreement between the Government of Ghana and a consortium of investors led by Manila Electric Company (Meralco) for private sector participation in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has officially taken effect.

The Meralco-led consortium was declared winner after the bidding in April 2018 to strengthen the governance, management and operations of ECG and improve the delivery of power to end users, to support socio-economic growth in Ghana.

Speaking at the official take-over ceremony on Wednesday 27 February 2019, Senior Minister Yaw Osafo Maafo said he’s optimistic the arrangement will enhance and improve the delivery of power to consumers.

“We expect that as the years go by, working with better equipment, modernising the system and therefore operation and distribution will be more efficient,” Mr Maafo noted at the programme.

He revealed that the new managers will invest “US$580million over a five-year period” and they “will continue with this investment year after year throughout the concession”.

He added that “a larger proportion of the Millennium Challenge Corporation funding of US535.7million will also flow into the power sector”.

Meanwhile, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has announced that electricity tariffs shall remain the same until the end of the second quarter of 2019 (30 June 2019).

The Commission said its decision is due to critical emerging issues in the sector which are expected to affect the final tariff setting.

In the interim, the Commission said it will closely monitor the operations of Power Distribution Services (PDS) Ghana Limited, which has taken over the operation of ECG assets. This is to establish PDS’ actual operational cost and any other efficiency gains in the running of the distribution network by PDS.

Source: Ghana/ClassFMonline.com