The Ministry of Energy has announced that the Akosombo Dam has been entirely shut down due to a catastrophic fire outbreak at the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) Substation located in Akosombo, an event that has severely disrupted the power supply throughout the nation.
As stated by the Ministry, the fire inflicted significant damage on essential infrastructure at the substation, compelling officials to make the difficult yet necessary choice to cease operations at the dam.
In an interview conducted on Monday, April 27, the spokesperson for the Ministry, Richmond Rockson, elaborated on the extent of the destruction and its repercussions for the country’s power generation system.
He indicated that the fire devastated the switch system of the Akosombo Dam, making it non-operational and requiring an immediate shutdown.
“The switch yard, located at the Akosombo Substation, has been entirely consumed by fire and is beyond repair. The main control room for the switch yard has been completely destroyed. It was even challenging for us to navigate the area when we arrived to evaluate the situation.
“As a result of this incident, we were compelled to completely shut down the Akosombo Dam, which has led to power outages in numerous regions of the country. This is because Akosombo plays a crucial role in our power generation capacity.”
The incident reportedly took place around 2:01 p.m. on Thursday, April 23, when the substation, one of the most critical components of Ghana’s electricity transmission network, was unexpectedly engulfed in flames.
