KEY POINTS
- Ghana launched a nationwide substation safety audit after the April 23 Akosombo GRIDCo fire.
- The government negotiated a $252 million reduction in debt owed to independent power producers.
- Over 3,000 aging transformers are being replaced as ECG lost 1,000 distribution units in 2024.
Ghana has launched a nationwide safety audit of all power substations following an April fire at the Akosombo hydroelectric complex that damaged GRIDCo equipment.
Ghana’s Energy Ministry is not waiting for the next fire. Following the April 23 blaze that damaged parts of the Ghana Grid Company substation at the Akosombo Hydroelectric Dam complex, the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has launched a nationwide forensic safety exercise across all power substations.
The exercise runs alongside a separate push to replace more than 3,000 transformers across the country, many of which have been in service for decades and are directly linked to unstable power supply in affected communities.
Ministry spokesperson Richmond Rockson said the government was dealing with structural problems, not just operational ones. He pointed to measurable progress on generation since the administration took office in January 2025.
“Since we took office in January 2025, we reduced load by 270 megawatts in February, 203 megawatts in March, and 211 megawatts in April. Since then, we have not shared any load,” he said.
A shift from liquid fuel to gas
One of the administration’s biggest cost decisions has been moving away from liquid fuel for power generation. Rockson said the price difference between liquid fuel and natural gas runs between 40 and 50 percent depending on market conditions.
“If you spend $1 billion on liquid fuel, gas would cost about $600 million. That is a significant difference, so we have moved away from liquid fuel,” he said.
Six power plants have been secured through sector collaboration, adding more than 1,000 megawatts of capacity. None of those plants were affected by the Akosombo fire.
Debt cuts and transformer losses
On the financial side, negotiations with Independent Power Producers resulted in a $252 million reduction in outstanding debt after producers agreed to take a haircut. The Electricity Company of Ghana collected approximately GH¢13 billion in revenue in 2025, more than double previous levels.
The transformer picture remains a serious concern. ECG lost more than 1,000 distribution transformers in 2024 alone, most of them overstretched beyond their operating limits.
Rockson said the challenges are structural and will not be resolved by outage management alone. “We have a better power sector than what we inherited, which was quite poor,” he said. “Continuous engagement is important to harness ideas and solve these issues once and for all.”
