The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) and the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) are assuring the residents of Obuasi and New Edubiase that they are working to restore power supply  following a fire outbreak at the Obuasi Substation that disrupted electricity service in the area.

The fire, which broke out late on Wednesday, May 21, caused a major outage in both districts, leaving parts of the Ashanti Region without power.

In a statement, GRIDCo confirmed that engineers are on-site conducting assessments to determine the extent of the damage to equipment at the substation. The team is working to ensure that the equipment is safe before reconnecting customers to the national grid.

The Public Relations Officer for ECG’s Ashanti West Unit, Benjamin Owusu Antwi, explained the critical role of the affected facility in the power distribution network.

“The incident occurred last night at about 9.12pm at the GRIDCo bulk supply point. And the bulk supply point is very significant in our operations because that is where ECG normally meets GRIDCo to take power supply from and then distribute to our customers via our feeders, our distribution lines, and then sometimes the sub-transmission lines as well,” he said.

Mr. Owusu Antwi clarified that once the bulk supply point is compromised, ECG is unable to distribute electricity.

“So what we know now is that the fire supply gathered some equipment at the GRIDCo end of the BSP. And once the GRIDCo end is shut down, there is no way power can flow through the ECG and for onward distribution.”

The technical teams from both GRIDCo and ECG are working together on-site to assess the full extent of the damage and begin restoration efforts.

“As we speak, the GRIDCo engineers are on site assessing the extent of damage before they see what they can salvage to restore power supply to enable ECG to also distribute power. Our sub-transmission team is also on site together with the Asante South maintenance team as well,” he revealed.

He expressed regret for the disruption caused to residents and businesses, offering an apology for the inconvenience.

“We would want to apologise to our cherished customers that it's as a result of this fire, not a deliberate action. Engineers are working assiduously to ensure power supply is restored.”