GRIDCo board praises staff for restoring Akosombo power after fire outbreak

The Board of Directors of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has held its first direct engagement with staff in the company, using the occasion to commend engineers and technicians for restoring operations at the Akosombo Generating Station following the recent fire outbreak that disrupted power transmission.

The durbar, held at GRIDCo’s head office in Tema, brought together staff from across the company’s operational areas, senior management and members of the board in what officials described as a major step towards strengthening internal engagement and institutional unity.

The event also served as a platform to formally recognise staff who worked to restore the 1,020-megawatt Akosombo Generating Station after a fire damaged the switchyard control room on April 23, 2026, temporarily cutting the facility off from the national grid.

Board Chairperson Kuukua Maurice Ankrah said the gathering reflected the board’s commitment to transparency, collaboration and operational excellence within the power transmission company.

The full board attended the engagement, including Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, Paramount Chief and President of the Akwamu Traditional Council; Nana Amoasi VII, Chief of Ekumfi Abor; Members of Parliament Solomon Kuyon and Joseph Kwame Kumah; Engineer Daniel Atchulo; and Alhaji Muhammed Bashiru Nii Narh Alema. Acting Chief Executive Engineer Frank Otchere and members of management were also present.

GRIDCo engineers were credited with carrying out a complex technical restoration process following the fire incident at Akosombo.

According to the company, engineers executed a bypass of the damaged control infrastructure, reconfigured protection systems and restored generating units in phases over several days.

The township transformer was restored by midnight on April 26, while all six generating units were fully operational again by May 1. The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission later confirmed the full restoration of operations on May 4.

The board praised the commitment and professionalism demonstrated by both GRIDCo and Volta River Authority personnel during the emergency response.

“It was beautiful to see the collaboration between the VRA staff and the GRIDCo staff, you could not tell who was VRA, you couldn't tell who was GRIDCo. That is the kind of unity that we want to see,” Mrs Ankrah stated.

The restoration effort also drew national attention, with President John Dramani Mahama visiting the Akosombo facility on the day full power generation resumed.

In an emotional address during the durbar, Acting Chief Executive Engineer Frank Otchere likened Board Chairperson Kuukua Maurice Ankrah to the biblical figure Deborah, praising her leadership during the crisis.

Recounting the biblical story of Deborah leading men into battle, he described the chairlady as “their Deborah” during GRIDCo’s challenging period.

“When adversities happen and we have men and women who are able to rise up to the occasion, it takes away all the negativities and reminds us of the abilities and strengths that we have,” he said.

“Let the spirit that we have seen through this Akosombo restoration continue through every facet of what we do, so that the name GRIDCo will soar high,” he added.

Mrs Ankrah, a lawyer with more than two decades of experience, is the first woman to chair GRIDCo’s board and currently the only female board chair among the 17 agencies under the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition.

She previously served on GRIDCo’s inaugural board between 2009 and 2013.

The company also used the occasion to outline plans to modernise critical infrastructure within the national transmission network.

Management announced that the damaged switchyard control room at Akosombo would be replaced with a modern facility as part of broader efforts to improve resilience and safeguard national grid stability.

GRIDCo indicated that the fire incident had reinforced the urgency of sustained investment in transmission infrastructure to protect Ghana’s electricity supply system against future disruptions.

The company, incorporated in 2006 and operational since 2008, is responsible for operating Ghana’s National Interconnected Transmission System and transmitting electricity from wholesale suppliers to bulk distributors including the Electricity Company of Ghana and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company.