Ghana’s recovery from the recent grid collapse has reached its final stages, with the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, confirming the successful restoration of the fifth-generation unit at the Akosombo Hydroelectric Power Station.
The announcement, shared by the minister via his official social media channels on Thursday, April 30, marks a significant milestone in the race to stabilise the national grid following a fire at the GRIDCo substation in Akosombo earlier this week.
The blaze, which severely damaged the control room, had initially crippled the plant’s evacuation capacity, sparking widespread blackouts and heightening fears of a return to protracted power rationing, popularly known as “Dumsor”.
According to the minister, the commissioning of the fifth unit was completed successfully, bringing the plant’s operational capacity to near-maximum levels. This latest addition provides a much-needed boost to the national generation pool, aimed at eliminating the deficit caused by the fire.
“A while ago, the 5th unit at Akosombo was successfully commissioned and is now fully operational,” the minister shared. “The startup was carried out smoothly, demonstrating effective teamwork and coordination.”
The minister emphasised that this development is a critical step toward ensuring a more “stable and reliable” power supply for both domestic and industrial consumers who have faced intermittent outages since the disaster occurred.
The restoration process has been described by sector experts as a high-stakes technical feat. Engineers from the Volta River Authority (VRA) and GRIDCo have been working around the clock to bypass damaged control systems and synchronise the massive turbines back onto the national high-voltage transmission line.
With five out of the six units now live, the total restored capacity at Akosombo has reached approximately 85%. Technical teams are reportedly now focusing their efforts on the final remaining unit to bring the facility back to its full 1,020MW nameplate capacity
While the Minority in Parliament and some energy analysts had expressed concerns over the government’s ability to manage the fallout of the fire, the steady daily progress in unit restoration suggests that the crisis is being brought under control.
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