WAPCo’s gas supply to Ghana reduced over $20m debt – John Jinapor

Energy Minister John Jinapor has revealed that the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) has reduced its gas supply to Ghana to 60 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) due to an outstanding debt of $20 million.

“As we speak today, WAPCo has curtailed gas supply to 60mmscfd because of an outstanding liability,” Jinapor stated at a media briefing on Wednesday, March 12.

He emphasised that despite the reduced supply, there will be no load shedding during this period.

“This is the official report I get on a daily basis, and so we are not shedding load. There is no load shedding, so we cannot publish a load shedding timetable when we are not shedding load,” he added.

The Energy Minister acknowledged the challenges faced by the country’s energy sector, attributing them to a weak transmission grid.

“Admittedly, we have inherited a very weak system. The transmission grid is very weak, and so the least opportunity, you will see some areas going off, which means that we need to strengthen the grid. We need to improve the primary substations, inject more substations, especially around the Kumasi enclave,” Jinapor explained.

He appealed to Ghanaians for patience as the government works to resolve the issues.

“We appeal to Ghanaians to bear with us. It is a very tight situation we have inherited but requires a bit of time to be able to resolve,” he concluded.