Akosombo Dam completely shut after GRIDCO Substation fire

The Ministry of Energy has disclosed that the Akosombo Dam has been completely shut down following a devastating fire outbreak at the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) Substation at Akosombo, an incident that has significantly disrupted power supply across the country. 

According to the Ministry, the fire caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure at the substation, forcing authorities to take the drastic but necessary decision to halt operations at the dam.

Speaking in an interview to newsmen in Accra on Monday, April 27, the Ministry’s spokesperson, Richmond Rockson, provided details about the scale of destruction and the implications for the country’s power generation system.

He explained that the fire ravaged the switch system of the Akosombo Dam, rendering it inoperable and necessitating an immediate shutdown.

“The switch yard, which is at the Akosombo Substation, is completely burnt down and it is not salvageable. The primary control room for the switch yard is completely gone. It was even difficult for us to walk there when we got there to assess the situation

“And when that happened, we had to shut the Akosombo Dam completely and so that is what caused the outages in many parts of the country as we are seeing. Because Akosombo is a major component when it comes to our power generation.”

The incident reportedly occurred at approximately 2:01 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, when the substation, one of the most vital installations within Ghana’s electricity transmission network, was suddenly engulfed by flames.