Temporary control room leaves Ghana’s power system vulnerable — Energy Ministry

The Ministry of Energy in Ghana has acknowledged that their electricity transmission system is vulnerable due to a temporary control room arrangement, which is set to be replaced by a permanent facility by the end of September. This temporary arrangement was introduced following a major fault on the Akosombo–Volta transmission line, which caused a nationwide power outage early on Thursday, August 20.

The temporary control room was put in place after the Energy Minister formed a committee to investigate the situation and explore measures to restore power. Engineers recommended the temporary structure to allow for immediate power supply, while a permanent solution continued to be built. The absence of a fully operational switchyard, where electricity is typically evacuated from power plants before transmission, creates an inherent risk of increased volatility and impact on the transmission line during disturbances.

Despite the latest outage, the Energy Minister has praised engineers for their rapid response, with power restored by 12:00 p.m. on Thursday. He emphasized that occasional faults are unavoidable in complex systems, but the key measure of resilience is how quickly engineers can detect and stabilize the network to restore electricity.