‘Temporary Akosombo system not very robust’ – Energy Minister on recent power outages
The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, has attributed the recent nationwide power outages to a fragile temporary arrangement put in place after the fire that destroyed the control centre at the Akosombo switchyard.
He said the temporary system was introduced to allow power generated at the Akosombo Hydroelectric Power Station to continue feeding the national grid while a permanent control centre was being constructed.
His comments come after Ghana experienced another widespread power outage on Thursday, August 20, barely three weeks after a similar system disturbance on July 29.
GRIDCo said the latest incident, which occurred at about 4:30 a.m., was triggered by a major fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line, resulting in the automatic tripping of Akosombo generating units and some thermal plants.
Speaking on Accra-based JoyNews’ Newsfile programme on Saturday, August 22, Dr Jinapor said the temporary arrangement was chosen to avoid shutting down the Akosombo plant for six months while the damaged control centre was rebuilt.
“That arrangement is not very robust, but even the circumstance that we find ourselves, we thought that even with the fragility, that was the best option,” he said.
According to the Minister, the arrangement involved using relays to feed power directly from Akosombo to Tema, with the Tema control room supporting the system.
He said the arrangement had contributed to the two major power disturbances recorded in recent weeks, but work on a permanent solution was progressing.
Dr Jinapor said four of the required components had already been completed and expressed confidence that the remaining two would be completed by next month.
“Next month we should have the Akosombo control station back in, so that we can now evacuate power direct from Akosombo,” he said.
The Minister also acknowledged the need for increased investment in Ghana’s electricity transmission infrastructure, particularly the Kumasi-Accra transmission line.
He said strengthening the line would provide greater redundancy and allow the system to rely on alternative routes when one transmission line develops a fault.
The Akosombo control room was destroyed in a fire in April 2026, disrupting the evacuation of power from the country’s major hydroelectric generation facility and forcing authorities to adopt temporary measures to keep the plant supplying electricity.