The Volta River Authority (VRA) was established on April 26, 1961 with the mandate to generate, transmit and distribute electricity under the Volta River Development Act, Act 46 of the Republic of Ghana. However, following the promulgation of a major amendment to the Act within the context of the Ghana Government Power Sector Reforms in 2005, the VRA's mandate has now been largely restricted to generation of electricity. This amendment has created an enabling environment to attract Independent Power Producers (IPPs) into the Ghana Energy market. The amendment also hived-off the VRA's transmission function into a separate entity designated the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo), while the distribution agency, the Northern Electricity Department (NED), established in April 1987, also evolved into the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo), a wholly-owned standalone subsidiary of the VRA.