Source: newsthemegh.com
The Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) claim that transformer overload is to blame for the recent power outages that occurred between 7 and 11 p.m. is untrue, according to the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
According to the ECG, transformer overload is to blame for a large number of isolated lights-out incidents that have occurred around the nation.
The electricity distribution business clarified that over time, more people have been using each transformer than is necessary.
Customers were reassured by the business, meanwhile, that “transformer upgrading and new projects are on-going to relieve these transformers to ensure a more reliable power supply.”
To support its public declaration, the PURC quickly requested data on ECG transformers.
Out of the 715 transformer information given, 31 were loaded less than 70%, 595 were loaded between 70 and 100%, and 89 were loaded above 100%, according to the PURC’s review of the data.
In a report, the PURC stated that after comparing the ECG data with the entire set of outage data for the months of January through March 18, 2024, 647 outage instances were found to have occurred between 7 and 11 p.m. Just three of the 647 outage instances involved scheduled transformer-related outages.
According to the Commission, the assessments revealed that failures unrelated to overloaded transformers and GRIDCo’s load control procedures were responsible for the majority of the outages that occurred between 7 and 11 p.m.
It further stated that the Commission is currently looking into the reasons behind these outages.