Ghana faces imminent power crises as Karpowership threatens shutdown over $370m debt

 The operators of the Kar­powership have notified the Government that it will not be able to continue with the supply of power if the debt owed the company is not settled immediately.

This was made known at a meeting between the Minister of Energy and Green Transitions, Mr John Abdulai Jinapor, and officials of the Karpowership barge at the Ministry in Accra on Monday.

Karpowership, which currently supplies about 450 megawatts of electricity, has threatened to shut down its generation plant if the power distribution company, ECG, fails to settle the debts amounting to over $370 immedi­ately.

Karpowership at the meeting with the sector minister acknowl­edged the negative impact a shutdown of the power plant will have on the livelihood and general well-being of Ghanaians but said they are left with no choice since they cannot continue to be sad­dled with huge debts.

According to them, as at December 2024, Karpowership received $39.6 million from the Electricity Company of Ghana and $185,288.182.97 million from the Ministry of Finance. Cur­rently, Karpowership is owed an amount of over $370 million by the Electricity Company of Gha­na, a situation that has had a dire consequence on the operations of the power generation entity.

The Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Karpowership, Zeynep Harezi Yilmaz, in a statement to the Minister, urged the govern­ment, through the Ministry of Energy, to compel ECG to clear the accumulated invoices present­ed to it immediately.

Mr Zeynep appealed to the Minister to compel ECG to adhere to best business practices and respect the terms of their agreement, and ensure the nation derives the optimum benefit from the agreement.

“Should the Electricity Compa­ny of Ghana (ECG), for that mat­ter the government fail to respect the terms of the Power Purchas­ing Agreement (PPA) and make payment to the Karpowership; we would be left with no choice but to shut down our plant as we can­not continue to be saddled with huge debts,” he warned.

Mr Jinapor in emphasising the importance of Karpowership to the country’s power sector, as­sured that the government would immediately establish a payment plan to settle the outstanding debts owed to Karpowership.

“We will prioritise making the required payments to ensure the continuous operation of the power generation company and engage in open and transparent communication with Karpow­ership”, he stated. The Minister further expressed the govern­ment’s commitment to resolving the financial issues to avert the imminent shutdown.

 BY TIMES REPORTER