A total of 360 new transformers have been installed to upgrade the electricity distributor’s Low Voltage (LV) Bifurcationnetwork in some communities in Accra and Mampong Akuapem.
Some of the beneficiary communities of this upgrade in the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s catchment area include Achimota, Dansoman, Akuapim-Mampong, Legon, Kwabenya and Kaneshie districts.
The Project Manager, LV Bifurcation, Mr Roland Osei Nyarko, said this during a media tour to these places.
He added that the installation was under the LV Bifurcation &Network Improvement Project to improve the quality of power supply by transferring load from existing overloaded electricity conductors, and transformers to newly installed ones.
“The scope of the project covers the installation of 360 new transformers of various capacities and the replacement of 88 over-aged ones. It also includes planting over 17,000 wooden electric poles across the six districts, upgrading about 992 km of undersized conductors or lines, and installing 75 km of new Low Voltage lines,” he said.
He said the project would improve incomes for the beneficiary residents, enhance job opportunities and the wellbeing of the people, ‘and contribute towards Ghana’s efforts at reducing poverty and increasing economic growth.”
According to Mr Nyarko, construction activities in the Achimota, Dansoman, Kaneshie, Akuapem-Mampong, Kwabenya Districts had beenfully completed, adding that activities in the Legon District, was at 85 per cent completed.
“Prior to the inception of the project, residents commonly experienced low and fluctuating voltages which manifested in dim lights and caused damage to electrical appliances.
“They also suffered frequent power outages caused by overloading in transformers and conductors that served these communities. For ECG, having long and undersized conductors in these areas led to high technical losses, frequent and long downtime and high operations and maintenance costs,” he said.
Mr Nyarko said the project was one of the projects making up the Technical Loss Reduction Activity, which comes under the larger ECG Financial and Operational Turnaround (EFOT) Project.
Bernice Okerewaa, hairdresser at West Trassaco, said the low current situation had changed, and her vicinity currently enjoyed the stable power supply.
“The power situation used to be very bad and worrying it could not power my hair dryers which affected my work, but now when customers come I can even use my two dryers at the same time,” she said.
The Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) is implementing the US$31m project on behalf of the Government of Ghana, as part of the US$316milion Ghana Power Compact Programme funded by Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) of the United States of America.
The Project Manager said the scope of the project covered a total number of 393installations of new transformers, adding that the remaining 33 would be installed fully in May this year.
BY AGNES OPOKU SARPONG
