Blackout Ceases in Togo a New Electricity Plant Surfaces

Togo has been recognized for its consistent blackout due to chronic electricity shortages on a daily basis in the French speaking West African nation which sometimes takes the whole day without electricity supply to the country.

This is norm that the citizens are now used to but the opening of a new electricity plant in the port capital Lome just last week, marked the beginning of a new era for the country and bought hope to residents of a brighter future.


The 192.4 million US dollars aid-funded plant was switced on for the first time by Togo's head of state, Faure Gnassingbe, at a grand inauguration ceremony recently.
Built by US-based power company ContourGlobal, the triple-fuel technology is designed to give operators maximum flexibility and means the plant can switch between using natural gas, heavy fuel and diesel.


Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Togo's energy minister, Noupokou Damipi, said:"The six engines can run on natural gas, oil or heavy diesel giving maximum flexibility and allowing optimization the use of the plant."

Up until now, Togo has only been able to produce 15 percent of the nation's power demand, forcing it to depend on neighbours Ghana and The Ivory Coast for the rest of its supply. The new plant, which is the most advanced of its kind in the region will not only mean Togo will be able to meet its own daily demand, but also become a major power supplier in the region.

"We Inaugurated a 100 megawatt facility which is the most significant power station developed in the region, in the sub-region for more the twenty years. And this will assure quality and security of supplies here in Togo," said Joseph Brant, head of Contour Global.

For Togo's residents, news that the power plant has started working couldn't have come sooner.

"The last we heard was that President Faure Gnassingbe has opened a power plant at the port, which will be a very positive step for the future," said Isac Kpanzou, who like many of Togo's residents is already making use of the country's brand new power supply.

But it is local buisinesses in Togo, which is an export hub for coffee and cocoa, who stand to win the most. Those like Abel Kokou, a miller working in Lome, constant power shortages have been debilitating.

"In the past I had to spend hours waiting for the electricity to function and that always disrupted my work. The entire population was complaining. But for the last few days now the power has been constant and I am so happy about it because it is no longer being cut. We have electricity all the day," he said.

Time will tell what the full impact of the new plant on Togo as a nation will be, but for local businessmen like Koukou, the benefit to production is already being felt.

News Source: Channels Tv

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