The Northern Electricity Company (NEDCo) of the Volta River Authority (VRA) has announced that it will restore stable power to consumers in the Tamale Metropolis and nearby environs in June this year.
The power distributor explained that the unstable power situation in the city that is crippling businesses was as a result of breakers that got totally damaged during a fire incident at a Gridco substation in November last year, and it hoped to install new breakers in four month time.
In November when the incident occurred after a three-day complete blackout, NedCo/VRA failed to replace the badly ravaged equipment but said it had activated a short term measure to manage the situation.
Since then, stable power has become a luxury to residents and many businesses in the country’s fourth largest economy.
Last week some business owners and individual consumers lamented publicly over the matter accusing the power distributor of suffocating their businesses.
Many residents knew the short term measure instituted by NedCo/VRA had failed but the power distributor repeatedly denied and blamed the situation on a “Technical Fault” or faulty underground cables.
In a lengthy statement however, On Monday, 19 February, 2016, signed by Corporate Affairs Director, Maxwell Kotoka, NedCo/VRA said the only solution to ensure a stable and reliable power supply to the Tamale metropolis and communities beyond is the installation of new breakers which he anticipated will be completed in June 2018.
He lamented the regrettable situation and reluctantly conceded that the short term plans to supply power after the fire incident had failed, and went further to explain the failure was due to excessive load on under cables.
“As has been alluded earlier (referring to part of the statement issued Monday morning), the permanent solution to the challenges is the full replacement of all the equipment,” the statement said, which the NedCo/VRA said are not sold in open market.
The statement indicated that “currently, the equipment have been secured and installation has started. It is our anticipation that installation works should be completed and commissioned done by June, 2018.”
Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM/Eliasu Tanko
