The rest of the funds will be needed to fund the purchase of light crude oil, diesel and heavy fuel oil to power the various thermal plants.

The Energy Commission has revealed that about 1.18 billion dollars is the total amount needed to fuel Ghana’s existing thermal plants for optimum supply of energy.

In a report named the Ghana Energy Outlook Report, out of the  1.18 billion dollars needed, $494,000 will be spent in the provision of natural gas alone.

The rest of the funds will be needed to fund the purchase of light crude oil, diesel and heavy fuel oil to power the various thermal plants.

The report also revealed that Ghana needs between 120,000 to 146,400 mmscf of gas to power plants annually. The 494 million dollars is to finance the 65,000 mmscf shortfall in supply of gas yearly.

The country is set to spend increasingly more on fuel as the thermal sources dominate Ghana’s energy mix, accounting for 70% of total generation capacity.

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Equally, consumers are expected to pay more for electricity supply, meaning that the energy sector will continue to be an issue of hot  national debate and concern.

Demand and Supply Analysis

Figures from the Energy Commission’s report put total demand in 2016 to a total of 16,700 gigawatt hours of electricity and peak demand of 2477-2500 megawatts.

This means the country has grown at a rate of 8.5% in 2015 alone.

Mandated to ensure that energy supply meets demand at all times, the Energy Commission says the country will still shed load, even though supply seems to have stabilized marginally.

Energy providers are expected to look to Ivory Coast to import energy to shore-up supply.