Akosombo power to be restored this week as control room fire triggers emergency measures

The Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has indicated that all six generating units at the Akosombo Dam are expected to return to operation before the end of the week under a temporary arrangement, following last week’s fire outbreak that destroyed the facility’s main control room.

The Ministry said the damaged control room cannot be salvaged and will have to be completely rebuilt, a process likely to take several months.

The Head of Communications and Spokesperson for the Ministry, Mr Richmond Rockson, disclosed this in an interview on Citi FM on Monday, April 27, 2026.

He explained that while generation can resume in the short term, the core infrastructure that manages transmission from the dam to the national grid has been destroyed.

“It is not salvageable,” Mr Rockson said, recounting what he and the Energy Minister, John Abdulai Jinapor, observed during a visit to the site on April 24. “The whole control room, which serves as the primary control room for the switchyard, is gone. It is burnt down to ashes. Even walking there is difficult because of the conditions.”

He added that engineers from the Volta River Authority and Ghana Grid Company Limited have deployed a temporary external system to enable phased transmission of power to the national grid.

“It is like setting up an external control point to operate the switchyard and still transmit power,” he said.

Mr Rockson confirmed that one of the six generating units was already operational as of the morning of April 27, with efforts ongoing to bring the remaining units online before the close of the week.

The fire broke out at about 2:00 pm on April 23, 2026, at the GRIDCo substation switchyard within the Akosombo generating complex. According to the Ghana National Fire Service, the blaze originated from a DC panel and escalated following an explosion in the switchover room.

More than 60 firefighters from Akosombo, Akuse, Somanya, Kpong and Peki responded under the command of DO II Isaac Gyamera Aboagye. The fire was contained at 2:53 pm, brought under control at 6:51 pm and fully extinguished by 7:00 pm, with no casualties recorded.

The incident forced a shutdown of the Akosombo Dam, which typically contributes about 1,000 megawatts to the national grid. The disruption also affected the Kpong generating station, resulting in an additional loss of between 150 and 200 megawatts.

“If you generate the power, you cannot evacuate it,” Mr Rockson said. “That means power from Akosombo could not be transmitted.”

A seven-member committee, chaired by Ing. Dr William Amuna, has been given two weeks to investigate the cause of the fire. The committee includes representatives from the Ghana National Fire Service, National Security, the Energy Commission and civil society.

Mr Rockson confirmed that the Chief Executive of GRIDCo, Ing. Mark Awuah Baah, has been asked to step aside pending the outcome of the investigation.

He noted that the government would determine whether to make the findings public, depending on the report’s contents and any national security considerations.

Addressing ongoing outages, Mr Rockson said parts of the country continue to experience power fluctuations due to ageing infrastructure and rising demand.

He cited Nungua, where a transformer installed more than two decades ago remains in use despite increased pressure on the system. National electricity demand has risen by nearly 10 per cent within a year, with peak demand now estimated at about 4,400 megawatts.

He said the government’s Transformer Emergency Programme is deploying about 2,500 transformers in the southern operational zone of the Electricity Company of Ghana and 423 in the northern zone. Tamale has already received 30 transformers, while six primary substations in Greater Accra are undergoing upgrades, with Kumasi expected to follow.

Mr Rockson indicated that outages would persist in areas yet to benefit from the upgrades, including Boko, Teshie, parts of Weija, Ablekuma and Tema Gulf City.

“Lights will stay on for long periods and then go off for some hours until the transformers are changed,” he said.

Mr Rockson apologised to the public for the recent disruptions, describing the incident as unforeseen.

“For those who have experienced outages over the last few days, we apologise to the people of Ghana,” he said. “This is an incident that no one anticipated.”

He also urged restraint in public discourse, cautioning against politicising the situation.

“This is not the time for partisan exchanges,” he said. “When such incidents occur, the country must respond together.”