Ghana should not record more than two major blackouts yearly - Energy Minister

Ghana should not experience more than two major power outages in a year under normal circumstances, Minister of Energy and Green Transition Dr John Abdulai Jinapor has said.

He explained that the two major power outages recorded recently were linked to challenges with a temporary system being used to transmit electricity from Akosombo to Tema.

“Ordinarily, we shouldn't have blackouts more than two in a year,” Dr Jinapor said.

His comments follow the latest power disruption on Thursday, August 20, which affected parts of the country. The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) said the outage was caused by a trip on some transmission lines.

Dr Jinapor explained that a fire at the Akosombo switchyard damaged part of the original transmission system, forcing engineers to adopt a temporary arrangement to keep power flowing.

He said one option was to shut down the Akosombo Power Station for about six months to allow for repairs to be completed.

However, the Minister said such a shutdown would have created serious challenges for the country’s power supply.

“I thought that shutting down Akosombo for six months was untenable, so we opted for the temporary arrangement,” he said.

He admitted that the temporary system is not as reliable as the original transmission system and has contributed to the two major power disruptions recorded this month.

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According to Dr Jinapor, work to restore the original system is almost complete, with four out of six components already repaired.

He said the remaining two components are expected to be completed next month.

Once the repairs are completed, Dr Jinapor said, the original transmission system will be restored, which should improve the stability and reliability of Ghana’s power supply.

DR/MA

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