An analysis of official data by the Institute for Energy Security shows that Power transmission losses within the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) system keep surging to 2,013 highs and possibly far in excess of the allowable loss margin.
Review of the Electricity Supply Plans from the Energy Commission and data from the Ghana Grid Company indicate that since 2008 the rate of transmission losses from total generated power keeps rising above the allowable margin of 3.5 percent in gigawatts per hour stipulated by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission largely due to inefficiencies in the transmission system.
In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Ghana recorded transmission losses of 380gigawatts per hour, 531gigawatts per hour and 522 gigawatts per hour, representing 3.7 percent, 4.7 percent and 4.3 percent of total annual power transmitted.
The worrying upward trend showed that 2015 was the only year that transmission losses came close to the PURC benchmark. Aside from that, the country has been recording losses of 4.4 percent on average terms.
A Research Analyst at the Institute for Energy Security, Fritz Moses, noted that the transmission challenge for electricity has been proven to contribute to the key factors which stall progress of the power sector and economy as a whole because the indices of economic growth in many cases rely on the ability to continually enjoy sustained and efficient electricity power supply.
He explained that a review of state documents identified that with the Aboadze (West) enclave being the biggest with an installed capacity of approximately 1,540 megawatts transmission system losses are always higher than the benchmark because maximised power generation is extended as far as the Bono, Bono-East and Ahafo Regions from the West enclave.
