Jinapor Details How Akosombo Control Room Fire Disrupted Electricity Supply
Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor says the Akosombo fire severely damaged a key control room responsible for power evacuation, leading to major disruptions in Ghana’s electricity supply and leaving over 1,000MW stranded.
- Energy Minister John Abdulai Jinapor says the Akosombo fire destroyed a critical control room responsible for evacuating electricity into the national grid.
- The damage has left over 1,000 megawatts of power stranded and disrupted electricity supply across parts of the country
- Government says engineers are working around the clock to restore the system and stabilise power supply nationwide
Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has revealed that the recent fire outbreak at the Akosombo Dam caused severe damage to a critical control room responsible for evacuating electricity into Ghana’s national grid.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, April 27, the Minister explained that the destroyed facility plays a central role in transmitting power from generation plants to the transmission network.
He described the incident as one of the most severe disruptions Ghana’s power sector has experienced in recent times.
“The fire incident severely damaged the control room responsible for power evacuation,” Mr. Jinapor stated, adding that the loss has crippled a vital part of the country’s electricity transmission system.
He explained that electricity generated from hydro and thermal plants must pass through the control room and switchyard before being distributed nationwide.
“When they generate the power, it has to go to the control room first… then it is transmitted through the switchyard for distribution,” he said.
According to him, the destruction of the control room has made it impossible to evacuate generated power, leaving more than 1,000 megawatts stranded at Akosombo.
“When you lose the control room, it means that on the spur of the moment, you cannot evacuate any power,” he explained.
Although other power plants across the country continue to operate, the Minister noted that the loss of Akosombo has created a significant supply gap, leading to disruptions in electricity delivery to households and businesses.
He assured Ghanaians that government is working urgently to restore stability in the power sector, emphasizing that reliable electricity supply remains a top priority.
“My foremost objective is to ensure that every Ghanaian enjoys stable, reliable, uninterrupted power supply,” he said.
Mr. Jinapor also expressed sympathy to affected consumers, acknowledging the difficulties caused by the outage and describing the situation as unprecedented.
He added that engineers have been working around the clock at the dam site, with some remaining on duty for several days to restore operations under challenging conditions.
Despite the setback, he expressed confidence that the country will overcome the crisis and fully restore normal power supply in due course.
