Power outage caused by fault on Akosombo-Volta transmission line – GRIDCo
A fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line triggered the automatic shutdown of several generating units, causing widespread electricity disruptions across Ghana, GRIDCo says.
A major power outage across parts of Ghana was caused by a fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line, the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) says.
The fault occurred at about 04:30 GMT on Thursday, August 20, triggering the automatic shutdown of the Akosombo generating units and some thermal power plants, according to the company.
GRIDCo said the automatic shutdown was part of the protection mechanisms designed to safeguard the stability and integrity of Ghana's National Interconnected Transmission System.
The incident disrupted electricity supply to several parts of the country, including communities in Accra and other regions.
GRIDCo said its engineers, working with other power sector agencies, immediately moved to isolate the affected transmission line and began restoring the system.
Electricity supply has already been restored to some affected areas, while work is continuing to reconnect customers who remain without power.
The company said all relevant technical teams had been mobilised and were working to achieve full restoration “as quickly and safely as possible”.
GRIDCo did not give a specific time by which electricity would be restored to every affected community.
It apologised for the disruption and asked affected customers for patience and cooperation while restoration work continued.
The outage had earlier been reported across several parts of Accra, including Adabraka, Weija, Tesano, Achimota, Dzorwulu, Legon, Madina, Adenta, North Kaneshie and Oyarifa.
Parts of the Eastern, Central and Ashanti regions were also affected.
The latest disruption comes less than a month after another widespread power interruption on July 29, which affected parts of Accra, Tema, Kasoa, Ashanti and the Eastern Region.
Thursday's incident is therefore likely to renew questions about the resilience of Ghana's electricity transmission system, although GRIDCo has attributed the latest disruption specifically to the fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line.
The company said it would provide further updates as restoration efforts progress.
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