VRA clears air on exportation of hydro power

The Volta River Authority, (VRA) says the exportation of hydro power to the country’s neighbors is contractual rather than a volition. 

According to the VRA, Ghana is bound by the agreement it signed with the United States for a credit facility to build the Akosombo hydroelectric dam in the 60s.

An officer at the Corporate Communications Unit, Bellona-Gerald Vittor-Quao, said this at a forum in Kumasi.

She was responding to concerns raised as to why Ghana should export part of its energy to her neighbors when she does not have enough for domestic consumption. 

Madam Vittor-Quao stressed that Ghana would not have been able to access the credit facility for the Akosombo dam if the then government had not made those concessions. 

Ghana currently exports about 500 megawatts of electricity to Cote d’Ivoire. 

That agreement, she explained also allows that country to in turn, lend power to Ghana anytime she is in need. 

That agreement notwithstanding, Madam Vittor-Quao noted that exporting power to neighboring countries is in the true spirit of brotherliness. 

She therefore appealed to Ghanaians to bear with the situation especially as everything possible is being done to generate enough energy for local consumption. 

GBC