Electricity Sector in Ghana - History

History

The first government-sponsored public electricity supply in the country commenced in the year 1914 at Sekondi. It was operated by the Railway Administration which extended supply to Takoradi in 1928. Meanwhile, the Public Works Department had commenced a limited Direct Current (DC) supply in Accra during the year 1922, this was immediately followed by a large Alternating Current (AC) project which commenced on 1st November, 1924. A small plant consisting of three horizontal single cylinder oil-powered engines was installed in Koforidua in 1925 and opened by the Honorable William Omsby-Gore on 1st April 1926. Also in 1926, work commenced on the task of providing electric lighting and power to Kumasi. A restricted evening supply commenced in May 1927, and a power station was brought into full operation on 1st October 1927. In the same year DC supply was installed at Winneba but this was subsequently changed to AC by extending an existing supply from Swedru. During the period 1929-30, a limited electricity supply was extended to Tamale until a new AC plant was installed in 1938. The next power station to be established was Cape Coast which came into being in 1932.Subsequent to its takeover by the Electricity Department from the Public Works and Railways on 1st April, 1947. A power station at Swedru was commissioned in 1948. This was followed by the installation of generating plants at Oda, Dunkwa and Bolgatanga in 1948. On 27th May, 1949, an electricity supply was made available at Nsawam through the building of an 11000 volt overhead transmission line from Accra. The Keta supply which was included in the programme was delayed by staff difficulties and was not commissioned until 1955. The Tema power station was commissioned in 1956 with a 3 x 650 kW generating set. The Ho power station followed in 1957. From 1961-64. The Tema Station was extended to a maximum capacity of 35,298 kW, thus, making it probably the biggest single diesel-powered generating station in Africa. It is also on record that in 1963 the Electricity Division brought into operation the first 161,000 volts transmission system in Ghana, which was used to carry power from the Tema Power Station. At its peak in 1965, about 75 percent of the power was used in Accra.

In 1994, Ghana's total generating capacity was about 1,187 megawatts, and annual production totaled approximately 4,490 million kilowatts. The main source of supply is the Volta River Authority with six 127-megawatt turbines. The authority's power plant at Akosombo Dam provides the bulk of all electricity consumed in Ghana, some 60 percent of which is purchased by Valco for its smelter. The power plant also meets most of the energy needs of Togo and Benin, which amounted to an estimated equivalent of 180,000 tons of oil in 1991. The balance of Ghana's electricity is produced by diesel units owned by the Electricity Corporation of Ghana, by mining companies, and by a 160-megawatt hydroelectric plant at Kpong, about 40 kilometers downstream from Akosombo. A third dam at Bui on the Black Volta River has been under study for some time, with the aim of increasing power supplies in northern Ghana or of selling power to Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso (Burkina, formerly Upper Volta). There have been difficulties, however, in raising the funds needed for the 450-megawatt generating plant. Other sites with the potential for power generation, on the Pra River (Ghana), the Tano River, the White Volta River, and the Ankobra River, would also require substantial investment.

Ghana has attempted to increase distribution of its electricity throughout the country. One program, funded by the World Bank's International Development Association, will provide reliable and widespread electricity in the urban and southern parts of the country. In addition, the extension of the national grid to the Northern Region was commissioned in 1989. The extension links northern Ghana to the power generated from the Akosombo Dam.

The second phase of the extension will connect major towns in Upper East Region with the regional capital, Bolgatanga, at a cost of US$100 million. The final phase will see exports of electricity across the northern border to Burkina. In early 1991, furthermore, the International Development Association announced a loan to the Electricity Corporation of Ghana to finance the supply and expansion of electricity networks in the northwestern areas of Accra. The corporation aims to extend the supply of electricity to all isolated centers where diesel is the main source of power.

Plans were also afoot to increase the supply of electricity by utilization of thermal energy. Construction was anticipated by late 1994 on the country's first thermal power generating plant near Takoradi. Scheduled for completion in 1997, the plant will contribute 300 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.