Ghana’s ESI has an unbundled structure, with power generation, transmission and distribution carried out by separate entities.
The market is made up of a regulated sector and a deregulated sector. An Electricity Market Oversight Panel (MOP), a stakeholders’ body, has been established to oversee and continually monitor the operation of the market.
Two state-owned distribution companies dominate the regulated market, namely the Electricity Company of Ghana (‘ECG’) and NedCo a wholly-owned subsidiary of VRA. Currently, this market segment accounts for about 70% of Ghana’s total energy demand with the deregulated market accounting for the remaining 30%. The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (‘PURC’) approves consumer tariffs in the regulated market.
The deregulated sector currently accounts for about 30% of Ghana’s total energy demand. The prominent players in the deregulated market are the mining companies which together account for about 14% of the country’s total energy consumption.
Export customers account for a further 9% of total.
GridCo is responsible for the operation of the national transmission system including dispatch and bulk power purchase of electricity from generators and sale to ECG and NedCo.