Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me this opportunity to contribute to the Motion moved by the Hon Member of Parliament for North Tongu, Hon Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, thanking the President for the Message of the State of Nation delivered to Parliament on Thursday, 26th February, 2015.
Mr Speaker, in doing so, I would want to delve into the energy sector. Energy has been the backbone of every economy but we have had challenges and the
President admitted it and indicated first, the annual demand for energy in the country, which is in excess of ten per cent. That made me to go back to look at how previous Governments have contributed to the energy sector. Fortunately, I have a compilation of the State of the Nation Addresses from 1993 to 2015, but my curiosity started from 2001.
In going through the State of the Nation Address from 2001, I realised that the only year an attempt was made to add to the installed capacity was in 2007. From the 2001 State of the Nation Address, no addition was made in 2002, no addition was made up to 2007 before the President outlined plans to add. As a result, by the end of 2008, only 80 megawatts were achieved.
Mr Speaker, the President also indicated the various factors that have contributed to the high demand for energy and some of them are changes in architectural design, increase in population and increase in access to electricity. He indicated clearly that 76 per cent of the country has access to electricity, which is second to South Africa in sub-Saharan Africa. And realising it over the years, he has outlined plans to add. But in this year's State of the Nation Address, he has given the final nail to the coffin to end dumsor -- forever and therefore, fix it forever.
He outlined certain measures; one was short-term, medium to long-term restructuring of the energy sector and fuel to ensure that these power plants have available fuel to run. In the short-term, he outlined that in the next few months, three emergency power plants would be coming; one is Karpower ship that would come and add about 450 megawatts. The second one is APR, also called Emirates Energy. We are all aware that last week, it was laid in Parliament and referred to the
Committee on Mines and Energy. Very soon, the Report would be submitted to Parliament and it would join the rest. Thirdly, General Electric (GE) would be bringing about 300 megawatts. So, in the short-term, we are expecting about 1000 megawatts.
The President also outlined the medium to long-term and indicated that over the next five years, we expect to add 3,665 megawatts and outlined the various plans. He indicated clearly that Sunon Asogli (Phase II) would add 360 megawatts, Sunon Asogli (Coal fired) 750 megawatts, CenPower would add 350 megawatts, Jacobsen would add 360 megawatts, Amandi would add 240 megawatts, General Electric (GE) would add 1,000 megawatts, VRA (T4) would add 185 megawatts and VRA (KTPP) would add 220 megawatts. That sums up to 3,665 megawatts.
Yesterday, an Hon Member from the other side indicated the production, that within a matter of 8 years, they added one thousand, four hundred and something (1,400) megawatts. That, I intend to dispute. In fact, between 2001 and 2008, 80 mw was added. However, there were plans. Do we agree that with these plans in place, we have already achieved them? No. These are plans to achieve, so, we cannot add it to the installed capacity of 2,845 mw.
However, let me go on. The additions to the installed capacity are physical infrastructure --
