Fire at GRIDCo Substation Throws Parts of Accra into Darkness
Residents of Kwashieman, Sowutuom and other parts of Accra were plunged into darkness in the early hours of Wednesday, October 14, 2026, following a fire outbreak at the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) substation at Mallam. The incident, which occurred at approximately 2:36 a.m., affected one of the transformers at the substation, disrupting electricity supply […] The post Fire at GRIDCo…
Early Wednesday morning, October 14, 2026, a fire erupted at the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) substation in Accra, plunging areas including Kwashieman and Sowutuom into darkness. The incident, which transpired around 2:36 a.m., affected a transformer at the Mallam Substation, disrupting electricity supply for numerous communities reliant on the facility.
GRIDCo confirmed in a statement from Tema that an electrical fault caused the fire, leading to the power outage. The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) promptly arrived at the scene and managed to extinguish the blaze, averting further spread of the fire. Despite these efforts, the extent of damage to the affected transformer remained undisclosed.
GRIDCo reported that electricity had been reinstated in some affected regions, however, engineers were actively working to reestablish power to the remaining communities experiencing outages. No precise timeline was provided for the complete restoration of electricity across all impacted areas. Following the incident, GRIDCo launched an investigation into the fire's origin, with engineers assessing the transformer fault that caused the outage.
The company also announced plans to replace the damaged transformer to restore normal operations at the substation as soon as possible. They expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to residents and businesses and acknowledged the community's patience during the restoration process.
The occurrence of the fire has sparked discussions about the resilience of electrical infrastructure, particularly at substations in densely populated regions. GRIDCo has yet to disclose the full extent of the damage or whether other equipment at the facility was also impacted. For further updates, The Ghanaian Chronicle invites readers to follow their WhatsApp channel at https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBSs55E50UqNPvSOm2z.
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