ECG SUB STATION DAMAGED

Engineers of the Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG, are working around the clock to detect the cause of a fire outbreak that cause a blast at the company’s Bulk Supply Point at Ridge in Kumasi yesterday. 

A team of Engineers of the company from Accra had been called in to augment their colleagues in the Ashanti region to also fix the problem so as to restore power supply to residents within the many customers across the region who have been affected by the emergency situation. 

A visit to the Bulk Supply Point concerned at Ridge by our Correspondent showed engineers and other workers seriously working to identify the actual cause of the wild fire as well as restore power supply within the shortest possible time. 

Also at the scene of the incident to learn at firsthand what really caused explosion that led to a greater part of the Ashanti region sleeping in darkness last night were officials of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission. 

In an interview, the Systems Operations Manager, Edward Owusu Peprah described the problem as a systems fault that has nothing to do with lack of routine maintenance of the equipment. 

According to him, three of the Current Transformers popularly known as C.T. were affected spontaneously at about 10 pm last night adding that the engineers need time to detect the actual cause of the fire and explosion.

 Mr. Peprah gave the assurance that everything possible is being done to ensure restoration of power supply to the affected communities before the weekend.  

 The General Manager of the Company, Dr. Kwabena Adomah, noted that the engineers had been working hard to address the challenge throughout the night and will not rest until power is eventually restored. 

According to Dr. Adomah, T2 and T3 had already been put in shape to receive supply from GridCo while arrangement is being made to receive additional supply form the second Bulk Supply Point at Anwomaso near Kumasi.

 He thanked personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service who promptly attended to the emergency to avert a possible major problem.

 The Ridge Bulk Supply Point provides about 80 mega watts of power to ECG customers in the Kumasi metropolis, Asante Mampong Municipality and Amansie West district.

 An official of the PURC, who pleaded for anonymity, who also visited the station to learn at firsthand what was happening commended the ECG engineers for their swift response to the problem and the work done so far in an effort to fully restore power to the affected consumers.

 The source emphasized however, that PURC will be totally satisfied with the ECG only after the restoration of power to ensure that the customers also enjoy the New Year festivities.