ECG TO IMPROVE POWER SUPPLY IN NEW JUABEN (SPREAD, NOV 30, 2010)

WORK on the construction of a 33kv primary station to improve electricity supply in the New Juaben Municipality and its environs is progressing steadily.
The 2.3-million-euro project forms part of efforts by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to also enhance the stability of electricity supply to Koforidua, Jumapo, Oyoko, Akwadum, Okorase, Suhyen and Mangoase.
The project, which is 85 per cent complete, will complement the only 20mva capacity primary station at Old Estate, a suburb of Koforidua.
The project, which started in September, 2009, and is expected to be completed in November, 2010, is being funded by the Norwegian government and executed by the Jacobsen Electro of Norway.
The Eastern Regional Director of the ECG, Mr Kobina Arthur Forson, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic in Koforidua.
He said the project would enhance the capacity of his outfit to effectively cater for the increasing energy demand by the New Juaben Municipality and the surrounding communities.
Mr Forson made the disclosure when the Business Operational Performance monitoring team, which comprises of officials from the ECG and the State Enterprise Commission, paid familiarisation tours to some of the facilities of the ECG in Koforidua and Old Tafo in the East Akyem Municipality.
The two-day tour, which afforded the officials first-hand insight into the challenges facing the ECG and its personnel, took the team to the Bulk Supply Plant at Old Tafo and the Mile 50 primary station in Koforidua.
The team also inspected the upgrading of the 11kv lines to 33kv from Old Tafo to Suhum and from Old Tafo to Anyinam, Begoro and Kwabeng; a project which is expected to ensure customer satisfaction and reduce losses to the ECG, upon completion.
The regional director said the only primary station at Old Estate, which is being fed by the rural lines, served the New Juaben Municipality and its environs, a situation that often led to occasional power outages whenever there was a technical fault.
He said to avoid such a problem, the ECG was building new lines from the Old Tafo Bulk Supply Plant (BSP) to the existing primary station at Old Estate and the new primary station at Mile 50 to avoid further disruption of power supply to the people.
“As the New Juaben Municipality expands, we need to build our capacity to enable us to cater effectively for the growing energy demands of the municipality and its surrounding areas,” Mr Forson stated.
For his part, the Executive Director of the STE, Mr David Djanie, expressed satisfaction at the efforts being made by the ECG to meet the increasing energy demands of residents in the New Juaben Municipality and the nearby communities.