Temporary Akosombo system causing outages; permanent control centre due next month - Energy Minister Jinapor

Ghana's Energy Minister, John Abdulai Jinapor, explained on Thursday why the country has been experiencing frequent power outages. These blackouts, he said, are due to a temporary system installed at the Akosombo power plant to prevent a six-month closure after an explosion at the Akosombo substation in April. Jinapor, speaking at the opening of the new Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) building in Accra, said a permanent control center for the plant should be ready next month, which he believes will greatly enhance the reliability of power supply across the nation.

The latest outage, affecting parts of Accra and other regions on Thursday morning, was caused by a major fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line. This fault triggered an automatic shutdown of the Akosombo generating units and some thermal plants, a protective measure designed to maintain the stability of the National Interconnected Transmission System.

GRIDCo, the national power utility, mentioned that engineers have isolated the problematic line and are working to restore power to affected customers. This is the second major disruption to the national grid in less than a month, following an outage on July 29 that impacted Accra, Tema, Kasoa, and parts of the Ashanti and Eastern regions.

The instability stems from a fire and explosion at the Akosombo substation on April 23, which destroyed the facility's switchyard and forced a temporary shutdown of the Akosombo Dam, cutting off about 1,000 megawatts of electricity supply. To address this, engineers have bypassed the damaged control system to enable partial generation, with the plant currently operating on a temporary setup.

Jinapor highlighted the sector's progress during the event, noting that the government has cleared approximately US$1.47 billion in legacy energy debt and saved an additional US$500 million by shifting from liquid fuel to gas-based generation. He also mentioned that renegotiations with Independent Power Producers saved another US$250 million, while reforms to the Cash Waterfall Mechanism, which governs payments to power producers and fuel suppliers, have improved the timeliness of payments throughout the sector.

Addressing the newly opened PURC, Jinapor tasked the regulator with strengthening oversight of the power sector and intensifying scrutiny of utilities, with a special focus on the Electricity Company of Ghana's commercial performance. He urged the regulator to demonstrate its presence beyond merely announcing tariffs, calling for more active and visible oversight of service delivery across the entire sector.