Ghana faces a capacity glut if all projects go ahead


Issue 355 - 13 Oct 2017 | 3 minute read

Development of Ghana’s power sector after independence was based on the Akosombo dam on the Volta River, supplying Volta Aluminium Corporation (Valco) with cheap power to smelt the local bauxite into aluminium ingots. The Kpong dam added 160MW to generation capacity in 1982, but the period of sufficient power did not last. Ghana began to experience power shortages in the 1980s, when water levels in the dams dropped due to drought, forcing Valco to suspend its operations, and power shortages soon became a regular feature.

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