[REVISION HISTORY]

Ghana grid outages and infrastructure stability concerns

18 recorded revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-10-18 14:33 UTC → 2026-10-25 15:38 UTC · added ~~removed~~

Ghana's electricity supply continues to face disruptions driven by maintenance, upgrades, and infrastructure damage. Following previous scheduled outages in July, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) initiated a four-day planned maintenance exercise from 10–13 August to improve supply quality in parts of the Accra East Region. Unplanned outages also occurred following a fuel tanker explosion near Ashaiman, which damaged a 161kV transmission tower on the Tema–Achimota line. To address this, GRIDCo conducted emergency repairs on 16 August 2026, which required a 15-hour power outage in parts of the Greater Accra Region and Ashaiman to dismantle and replace the damaged steel lattice tower. On 20 August 2026, a widespread power outage occurred due to a major fault on the Akosombo–Volta transmission line at approximately 04:30. ~~This triggered automatic protection mechanisms that shut down Akosombo generating units and several thermal plants.~~ While power was restored by 12:03 p.m., the Institute for Energy Security called for a technical investigation into aging ~~equipment, and members of Parliament urged for greater accountability.~~ equipment. In response to stability concerns, the Ministry of Energy announced that a temporary power control room is ~~now~~ expected to be completed by the end of September. To facilitate the second phase of repairs to the Ashaiman tower, GRIDCo scheduled a 15-hour planned interruption for 23 August. Following these events, GRIDCo issued a September 12 deadline for unauthorized occupants to vacate high-voltage transmission line corridors, announcing a nationwide demolition exercise to protect infrastructure. In mid-September, GRIDCo issued a 30-day ultimatum for the removal of unauthorized structures within high-voltage corridors to mitigate safety risks like electrocution and fire. Throughout late ~~August,~~ September and October 2026, ECG implemented a series of scheduled ~~further~~ maintenance in outages across the ~~Ashanti,~~ Tema, Accra, Central, and Volta ~~regions, as well as Tema~~ regions to address technical faults and ~~Accra West. In October 2026,~~ system upgrades. On 14 October, a fire at the GRIDCo Mallam substation destroyed critical control boards and transformers, causing disruptions in ~~Accra. ECG also announced further planned outages for late October to address technical challenges~~ Lapaz, Mallam, and ~~growing demand.~~ Awoshie.

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