GRIDCo disconnects power supply to VALCO over $30m debt

The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) says it has disconnected power supply to the Volta Aluminium Company Limited (VALCO) over a $30 million debt owed it.

The transmission utility company, in a statement copied to the Ghana News Agency on Monday, said the decision was taken by its Management after several attempts to get VALCO honour its payment obligations proved futile.

The Company said the decision to cut off power from VALCO was part of an ongoing debt collection exercise to mobilize the needed funds to support its operations.

“GRIDCo’s operations had been significantly impaired due to huge unpaid debts owed by its bulk customers, currently amounting to over GH¢1.2 billion,” the one-pay worded statement said.

At its Annual General Meeting in November 2019, the Company announced that its network expansion efforts had been hampered by the current financial situation.

Mr Jonathan Amoako-Baah, the Chief Executive of GRIDCo, was quoted in the statement as saying: “We play a critical role in Ghana’s power sector and we need every resource available to us to continue delivering on our mandate to our key stakeholders and clients.

“VALCO’s debts continue to mount and will create major problems for our operations if nothing is done about it.

“We have been engaging the management of VALCO since the first half of this year to agree on a payment plan but nothing has come out of it.

“We have been left with no option as our continued state of affairs is unsustainable. We take the opportunity to entreat other customers indebted to GRIDCo to take steps to settle their debts.”

Source: GNA