Blackout: Akosombo control station works to be completed next month – Energy Minister insists

Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, Ghana's Minister for Energy and Green Transition, announced that work to restore the original power transmission arrangement at Akosombo is expected to be completed next month. The restoration will address the temporary arrangement currently in use, which has been linked to two major system disturbances this month.

This comes after a nationwide power disruption on August 20, 2026, reported by the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) as a trip in power transmission lines. The Minister pointed to a fire incident at the Akosombo switchyard, which forced a temporary transmission arrangement to be implemented, potentially requiring a six-month shutdown of the power station to fully restore the control center.

Instead, engineers proposed a temporary setup using relays to directly transmit power from Akosombo to Tema, despite the arrangement's fragility. The two recent system disturbances can be traced back to this temporary setup, according to Jinapor. While four of the six components needed for the restoration are already completed, two more are expected to be finished by next month, restoring the power system to its original configuration and enhancing its resilience.