Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, has announced a significant milestone in the recovery of the national power grid, confirming that two major generating units at Akosombo are now back in operation following a devastating substation fire.
Speaking at the Government Accountability Series on Monday, 27 April 2026, the Minister provided a much-anticipated update on the emergency technical interventions triggered by the blaze, which had previously crippled power evacuation from the nation’s largest hydro plant.
The Minister revealed that the recovery process is ahead of schedule, with a second unit successfully returning to the grid just hours before his address.
“I am pleased to report that, through emergency technical interventions and sheer determination, the first generating unit was successfully restored yesterday. This afternoon, I just received confirmation that the second unit has also been successfully synchronised, bringing the total to 2 units as I address you,” Minister Jinapor stated.
The restoration of these units is expected to immediately ease the supply deficit that has caused widespread outages across the Ashanti, Central, and Tema enclaves over the past 48 hours.
The Minister assured the nation that the technical teams are not slowing down, with work “actively ongoing to bring the third and remaining units back into operation as quickly and safely as possible.”
A central theme of the Minister’s briefing was the extraordinary effort of the VRA and GRIDCo engineers. Many of these specialists have remained at the dam site for three consecutive days, battling extreme conditions to bypass fire-damaged infrastructure.
“On behalf of the Government and the good people of Ghana, I wish to take this opportunity to commend and salute our engineers and technical teams who have remained on site, working tirelessly under extremely difficult conditions to restore the system to full operation,” the Minister said.
He praised their “dedication, professionalism, and unwavering commitment”, stating without equivocation that he was “immensely proud” of their ability to maintain the integrity of the national grid under such a high-stakes environment.
With two units now fully synchronised, the Minister indicated that the focus has shifted to the four remaining units. The “innovative bypass technology” deployed during the crisis has now been proven effective, providing a clear roadmap for the total restoration of power.
As the third unit enters its final stages of testing, the Energy Ministry remains optimistic that the full 1,000-megawatt capacity of Akosombo will be restored shortly, ending the emergency load management and returning the country to a stable, reliable power supply. Myjoyonline
