A 330-kilovolt (kV) double-circuit transmission line is expected to be constructed by Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the coming days.

The 243-kilometre cross-border project is part of the West Africa Power Pool (WAPP) initiative to improve electricity flow between the two countries as well as across West Africa.

Based on prior assessments, the project, at a cost of €154.4 million, has been deemed technically and financially viable within Ghana. The cost includes project management, social and environmental impact mitigation, and construction supervision.

Speaking at a ministerial committee meeting on Wednesday, June 25, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), Engineer Mark Baah, emphasized that the project is necessary at a time when the country is working to ensure a more reliable and efficient electricity system.“It will connect the existing Biahoué (Bijave) substation in Côte d’Ivoire to the upcoming Dunkwa 2 substation in Ghana. While there is currently a Dunkwa 1 substation, it operates at 161kV. This new facility in Dunkwa will operate at 330kV.”“Beyond enhancing bilateral energy trade, this project is expected to contribute to grid reliability across West Africa. It has been deemed both technically sound and environmentally manageable,” he added.Ghana's energy sector has been confronted with a number of challenges that continue to outpace available generation capacity. This has prompted calls by members of the general public for immediate fixing by the government.Meanwhile, the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, revealed that the energy sector loses GHS2 billion monthly due to ECG's inability to retrieve money owed by its customers.“We will be looking at their work, plan, and vision for the sector. They are the distributors of power. Currently, we are meeting with the generators, and we met with the transmitters yesterday. Everybody knows it is the ECG that brings power into their homes. So, they should come and tell us, why we are not getting power in our homes.

“The generators say they have enough generating capacity and that the problem will have to do with financing. ECG is the final distributor who receives finance from customers and pays it to the others so they should come and tell us what their problem is,” he stated.

In a related development, John Abdulai Jinapor has admonished the newly appointed governing board of the Volta River Authority (VRA) to improve the Authority's operations.

At the inauguration of the new board on Tuesday, June 24, the Energy Minister indicated that VRA must position itself as the leader in Ghana’s power generation sector.

“The fortunes of VRA have stagnated and dwindled over the years as a result of government policies. We will provide strategic guidance and direction to bring VRA back as the lead power generator in the sub-region and Africa.”

“This board has been entrusted with the task of improving VRA’s operations, optimising hydro and thermal assets, and firmly anchoring renewable initiatives within the Authority’s core mandate. VRA must work to be the lead institution when it comes to power generation,” he said.