Akosombo Dam shutdown triggered by GRIDCo substation fire
The Ministry of Energy has announced the complete shutdown of the Akosombo Dam following a fire outbreak at a substation operated by the Ghana Grid Company, which has severely disrupted power supply nationwide.
According to the Ministry, the fire caused extensive damage to critical infrastructure at the Akosombo substation, forcing authorities to halt operations at the dam as a precautionary measure.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Citi FM on Monday, April 27, 2026, the Ministry’s spokesperson, Richmond Rockson, said the blaze destroyed key components of the facility, including the switchyard and its primary control system.
“The switchyard, which is at the Akosombo Substation, is completely burnt down and is not salvageable. The primary control room for the switchyard is completely gone. It was even difficult for us to walk there when we got there to assess the situation,” he stated.
He explained that the extent of the damage made it necessary to shut down the dam entirely, contributing to widespread outages across the country.
“When that happened, we had to shut down the Akosombo Dam completely, and that is what has caused outages in many parts of the country. Akosombo is a major component of our power generation,” he added.
The incident reportedly occurred at about 2:01 pm on Thursday, April 23, when the substation was engulfed in flames.
In a related development, the Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, has directed the CEO of GRIDCo, Mark Awuah Baah, to step aside pending investigations into the incident.
The announcement was made by the Minister of State in charge of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, in a post on X on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
He also disclosed that a major leadership shake-up has been carried out at the Electricity Company of Ghana in the Ashanti Region following recent intermittent power outages.
“The Minister for Energy and Green Transition has asked the CEO of GRIDCo to step aside pending investigations into the fire incident at the Akosombo power control centre. There has also been a major shake-up in the leadership of ECG in the Ashanti Region,” he said.
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