Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Security (IES), Nana Amoasi VII, has cautioned that Ghana’s persistent power outages, widely referred to as dumsor, could continue through the end of 2025 if inefficiencies within the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) remain unaddressed.

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His remarks come in response to the resurgence of widespread intermittent power cuts, sparking fresh concerns about the reliability of the national electricity grid.

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Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, February 21, 2025, Nana Amoasi VII pointed to systemic challenges within the ECG, outdated infrastructure, and financial burdens affecting major players in the energy sector as key drivers of the crisis.

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He highlighted that Ghana’s electricity generation is currently under severe pressure, with demand often matching or surpassing available supply. He further explained that fuel shortages and forced maintenance shutdowns regularly render power plants inoperative, intensifying the strain on the already fragile distribution network.

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“Until the ECG fixes its inefficiency, collects enough of the revenue, and ensures that each participant within the energy sector gets a fair share of the revenue, we will continue to have this challenge,” he said. “This is because it will be difficult for the transmitter, GRIDCo, to invest in its ageing infrastructure, and even with ECG and its infrastructure, it is suffering.

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“It will be difficult for the power generator, be it public or private, to generate power because they also need to make some input into the power generation. There will be difficulty for WAPCo to continue supplying the natural gas. So, we are in a very uncomfortable state.

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“We know very well that we have these challenges, and until we address the inefficiencies in the ECG, I am sorry to say again that we will see dumsor till the end of the year,” Nana Amoasi VII added.

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The situation has worsened due to the government’s failure to settle a $75 million debt owed to N-Gas Limited, the company responsible for supplying gas to Ghana through the West Africa Gas Pipeline.

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During a visit to inspect scheduled maintenance works on the pipeline, Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, called for public patience as the government works toward stabilizing the power supply.

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He acknowledged that the lack of spare capacity within the country’s energy infrastructure remains a significant hurdle in resolving the ongoing outages.

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