President John Dramani Mahama has described the recent Akosombo fire as an opportunity to modernise Ghana’s power infrastructure, following disruptions that triggered outages across the country.
Speaking during a visit to the Akosombo Dam on April 30, the President assessed damage caused by the blaze, which affected a substation operated by the Ghana Grid Company.
The incident led to the loss of over 1,000 megawatts from the national grid, causing intermittent electricity supply in several areas.
“This presents an opportunity because now that this adversity has happened, it gives us an opportunity to replace it with a more modern control room,” he stated, highlighting plans to rebuild with improved systems.
Progress in Power Restoration
President Mahama commended engineers and technical teams for their rapid response in restoring operations. He noted that significant progress had already been made, with multiple turbines brought back online.
“You have four of the turbines back on… and I’ll get good news soon with the remaining two turbines also coming back on,” he said, expressing optimism about full recovery within days.
The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, also confirmed that four generation units have been successfully restored, with work ongoing to bring the remaining units back into operation.
Government Support for Energy Sector
Reaffirming government commitment, the President described the Volta River Authority and GRIDCo as central pillars of Ghana’s electricity system.
“VRA will continue to be one of the foremost state-owned enterprises, and every support the government can give you, we will continue to give you.” - President John Dramani Mahama
The Akosombo fire has reignited discussions about infrastructure resilience in Ghana’s energy sector, with authorities now focusing on both immediate restoration and long-term system upgrades to prevent future disruptions.
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