Jinapor appeals for calm over power outage, says permanent Akosombo solution coming

Ghana's Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has urged citizens to maintain composure following a power outage that occurred on Thursday morning, impacting sections of Accra and other regions across the nation. GRIDCo, the Ghana Grid Company Limited, pointed to a fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line as the cause of the disruption.

During the inauguration of a new office complex for the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Jinapor outlined that the latest issue was linked to a temporary setup implemented following a previous incident that significantly impacted the Akosombo transmission infrastructure. He elaborated that the government had been presented with two choices: either shut down the Akosombo plant for approximately six months to carry out a complete overhaul of the control center or implement a temporary system that would permit the plant to persist in generating electricity while the permanent renovations were undertaken.

The former option was chosen by Jinapor to prevent the Akosombo plant from being offline for an extended duration. "As ministers, we had a decision to make, and I decided that we should opt for the temporal measure whilst we put in place a permanent solution," he stated. Engineers have been diligently working to sustain the temporary system, which had largely aided in maintaining electricity supply over the past few months.

However, Jinapor clarified that the temporary measure remains susceptible to frequency disturbances, which can lead to the Akosombo facility being automatically shut down to safeguard the broader power system. "Because the temporal measure occasionally, when there's some frequency disturbance, it takes off Akosombo immediately to protect the system," he elaborated.

The Minister further disclosed that the construction of a permanent control center and associated infrastructure is advancing and is anticipated to be concluded next month. He urged consumers to bear with the temporary inconveniences until the permanent solution is implemented. "I would appeal to Ghanaians to bear with us. It hardly happens, but once in a while when you have a major situation, sometimes even brand-new cars you get some challenges here and there," Jinapor noted.

He recognized the disruption caused by the recent outage, stating that certain parts of Accra and other areas experienced power interruptions ranging from around one hour to one and a half hours. Nevertheless, Jinapor asserted that the temporary arrangement had averted a potentially more prolonged disruption. "I can't compare that to having Akosombo perpetually down for six months," he remarked.

Jinapor also assured citizens that power has largely been restored across the country. "I'm only happy to note that despite the challenge we've had this morning, GRIDCo has largely restored power to almost all parts of the country," he affirmed. He added that any areas still without electricity would be reconnected as soon as feasible.

Jinapor expressed confidence that once the permanent works are completed next month, Ghana's power supply system will become more robust. "I'm sure that by next month we'll swing back to the original plan and we'll have a much more resilient power supply situation," he concluded.