The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has revealed that nearly 1,000 electricity transformers across Ghana are currently operating under excessive load, as the government works to address weaknesses in the power distribution system.
Speaking on the floor of Parliament on March 16, Mr Jinapor said the issue was among the challenges his office inherited and assured that interventions are underway to resolve it.
“As I mentioned earlier, we have about 1,000 transformers across the country experiencing some overloads,” he said. “When we inherited governance, the briefing I received showed that we needed to work on about 1,000 transformers. We’ve been working on them and have made significant progress.”
He indicated that a new phase of interventions will soon begin, led by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), following an ongoing competitive procurement process.
“Recently, I announced that by the end of this month, based on the competitive process that ECG is going through, we would begin the second phase of mass-scale replacement of these transformers,” he noted.
Mr Jinapor further explained that some communities, including those in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem constituency, are directly affected, with transformers in those areas operating beyond their limits.
“These are some of the challenges that Tarkwa-Nsuaem is experiencing, mainly due to some transformers experiencing overload,” he said.
He clarified, however, that despite the pressure on the system, there are currently no damaged transformers awaiting replacement in Nsuem.
“While certain communities are experiencing these overloads, the briefing I have indicates that currently there is no damaged transformer awaiting replacement in Nsuem,” he stated.
Instead, the ministry is focusing on strengthening the system by increasing capacity rather than merely replacing faulty equipment.
“What we are working on is to replace or add transformers to the existing ones,” he said, adding that the new installations will have significantly higher capacity to ensure long-term reliability.
“These higher-capacity transformers are designed to stand the test of time and meet demand for a long period,” he added.
The minister also disclosed that the only faulty transformer in the affected district is located at Nkwanta, but measures have already been taken to maintain power supply.
“Affected customers have been temporarily transferred to adjacent healthy transformers to ensure continued service,” he explained.
Mr Jinapor further revealed that 33-kilovolt (33kV) transformers needed to ease pressure on the system are currently being procured, with priority given to areas facing the most severe challenges once they arrive.
Regarding procurement, he said ECG’s Managing Director opted for an open and competitive process to determine pricing and ensure transparency.
According to him, this approach will guarantee value for money and provide a benchmark for future procurement decisions.
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