An Energy expert with the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), Theophilus Adoko is calling for an independent assessment to analyze the cost benefit of the figures in the GCGP deal that has landed the country in another judgement debt.
Ghana signed an Emergency Power Agreement with GCGP Limited which has led to a $134 million judgement debt that has hit the country.
The power agreement was signed in 2015 and it was reported to have been cancelled by the government with the reason that they were not needed because the country was already producing in excess capacity and were only going to further lead to the increase of Ghana’s debts in the energy sector.
GCGP Limited in a ruling secured in its favour from the International Court of Arbitration is set to benefit a $134 million and US$30 million in interest from the government of Ghana over the cancellation of the contract.
Speaking on Plan B FM morning show ‘Nkosuo Nsem’ Mr. Adoko is calling for a complete “independent assessment” into the figures that GCGP Limited is demanding from the government as a result of the cancellation of the contract.
“If we are going ahead with this power purchase agreement, what are the cost to the economy and what are the benefit to the economy? You have to do these analysis before a decision is taken” he said
“According to the then Energy minister’s briefing to parliament in 2017, if we had continue the power purchase agreement we would have paid an average of $586m every year from 2018 to 2030 for capacity cost, compared to what we would pay if the contract is terminated that is a liability of $402m. So, per these figures you could see it makes sense to terminate it. He added
“But of course, these are the figures coming from the ministry but there need to be an independent assessment of these figures, that is the basic point to ascertain the truth in this case between GCGP”
Mr. Adoko also stated that, if such situations involving power purchase agreements are not properly dealt with, it could affect investor confidence in the country.
He further stated that, the money that have been lost as a result of this power purchase agreement with GCGP limited could have been channeled to other sectors of the economy like our health system to help in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
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