The Energy and Associates kicks against govt’s plan to relocate Ameri to Kumasi

Civil society group The Energy and Associates has described as “wasteful” and “unnecessary” plans by the Ministry of Energy to relocate the Ameri Thermal Plant from Aboadze to Anwomaso in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

According to The Energy and Associates, a memo it has sighted and signed by Energy Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh reveals that the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has agreed to the plans to relocate the Aboadze plant.

By the memo, the Ministry has directed that pipelines to transmit natural gas for the Plant be extended from Nyinahin to Kumasi by Thursday, September 30.

“First of all, we find this relocation very wasteful and unnecessary, at a time government is finding it very difficult to pay debts owed in the energy sector and also that deadlines given are overly ambitious,” the civil society group said in a statement issued on Friday, June 11.

It explained that the load between Kumasi and Kintampo which was about 400MW on a 161kV line is being improved to a 330kV line.

“Upon completion of the Kumasi-Kintampo 330kV lines among other projects such as 330/34.5kV Substation at Pokuase, 161kV Volta-Achimota-Mallam lines and 161kV Kasoa Substation, the voltage in the middle belt of the country will improve significantly and renders the Ameri relocation somewhat unnecessary.

“This is because the voltages at Kintampo and its environs will be more than that of the voltages in Kumasi, and eventually compel GRIDCo to invest in condensers to sink the high voltage being registered at the northern part of the country and that is the effect of ferranti.

“Government, therefore, does not need to relocate the Ameri plant to Kumasi at this point as the relocation will require an investment to counter the effect of higher voltage upon completion of Anwomaso-Kintampo 330kV lines.

“Instead, government should assist Gridco to place priority on strengthening the transmission infrastructure by upgrading most of the critical loads which are on 161kVlines into 330kV lines, and converting all the radial lines into ring circuits.”