The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has rebuffed media reports suggesting that Ghana will experience a nationwide power outage on Sunday, July 13.

Speaking on Citi Eyewitness News on Wednesday, July 9, Richmond Rockson, Spokesperson and Head of Communication at the Ministry, clarified the possible intermittent supply in the power outage will not affect the entire country.

“I have seen some misreporting from some media houses that there will be a nationwide blackout. That is not what the Minister said. That is inaccurate; that is a falsehood."

“He [Energy Minister] said that because of that, there is a possibility that we may have interruptions in power supply, and the Ministry has put in place measures to ensure that we don’t have any nationwide dumsor or any dumsor as people are speculating,” Rockson stated.

Ghanaians are likely to experience a temporary power disruption on Sunday, July 13, to allow the gas supplier, ENI, to undergo a rehabilitation session.

Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdullai Jinapor, made the announcement while speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for the reconstruction of the 161kV Anwomaso to Kumasi transmission line on Tuesday, July 8.

The exercise is expected to increase gas production to 270 mm per day, which is of importance to the energy sector and the country as a whole.

“This Sunday, ENI will turn off their valves temporarily to increase gas production to about 270 MM Scarf. It means that we are stabilizing the energy sector. Because the plant will be turned off for a short period within the day for maintenance works, we are likely to experience some interruption of power. It is for a good purpose,” Mr Jinapor said.

The power outage is expected to last for about six hours. According to the sector minister, advice from experts has prevented the running of the plants to be worked on on liquid fuel to ensure the provision of power supply for a brief period.

“It involves changing nozzles, it involves a lot of work and so if we are going off for about for to six hours you don’t risk it transitioning to liquid fuel only to come back to gas,” he added.

Members of the general public and businesses are expected to prepare ahead to avert a significant disruption in their day-to-day activities.

The 161kV Anwomaso to Kumasi transmission line co-funded by the European Union and the government of France to assist in stabilizing the low voltage in Kumasi and Dukwaw mining areas will be constructed by the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCO).

The €8.7 million project is expected to be completed within 12 months. This will facilitate Ghana’s export of power to Burkina Faso.

The reconstruction of the transmission line will enable the provision of double-circuit, twin-bundled transmission line of rated capacity to improve power transfer between the Ahodwo (K1BSP) and the Anwomaso (K2BSP) substations.

On his part, EU Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Irchard Razaly, noted that the project serves as its commitment to providing greener and more efficient energy for Ghanaians.

Energy Minister Abdulai Jinapor is optimistic about Kumasi boasting of more than 1,000 megawatts of electricity generation capacity due to the presence of Ameri, Cenit Energy Limited, AKSA Energy and Pipeline.