Energy Analyst Calls on GRIDCo to Explain Recurring Power Outages

The Director of the Africa Sustainable Energy Centre, Justice Ohene-Akoto, has challenged the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) to provide clearer and more detailed explanations for the recurring power outages affecting parts of the country.

His comments follow another major power interruption recorded across several areas of Ghana on Thursday, August 20, 2026, raising renewed concerns about the stability and reliability of the national electricity transmission system.

GRIDCo explained that the latest disruption was caused by a major fault on the Akosombo–Volta transmission line. According to the company, the fault resulted in the automatic shutdown of the Akosombo generating units, as well as some thermal power plants, leading to the widespread outage.

However, Justice Ohene-Akoto believes the explanation does not sufficiently address the broader concerns surrounding repeated disturbances on the national grid.

Speaking on Channel One Newsroom, he called for greater transparency from GRIDCo, arguing that the public and key stakeholders deserve to know the technical circumstances behind the repeated failures.

“We think GRIDCo is not telling us something. We think GRIDCo should be more transparent on exactly what some of these things are happening,” he said.

Justice Ohene-Akoto suggested that problems with the frequency of the national grid could be contributing to some of the recent system disturbances.

He explained that he had previously raised similar concerns following an earlier total system collapse. At the time, GRIDCo attributed that particular incident to lightning, a position he said he was not convinced by.

“I came out saying it’s likely an issue of frequency, I mean, of a frequency that was out of range, that we had a total failure. GRIDCo came out and said it’s a result of lightning, which I have my reservations about. I believe GRIDCo was not telling us something,” he stated.

According to him, subsequent comments from the Energy Minister about frequency-related challenges have strengthened his earlier concerns.

“Now, on this issue, the Minister came out and said frequency, which I agree with him,” he added.

The energy expert wants GRIDCo to go beyond announcing the immediate cause of major outages and provide comprehensive investigations into what actually triggered the failures.

He proposed that after every significant system disturbance, GRIDCo should publish a detailed root-cause analysis explaining what happened, what contributed to the incident, the lessons identified and the measures being introduced to prevent similar occurrences.

Justice Ohene-Akoto said such reports would also make it possible for stakeholders to assess whether the company was addressing the fundamental weaknesses in the electricity transmission system.

“If they came out to give us a comprehensive root cause analysis and a comprehensive roadmap, we’d have held them accountable with this one,” he said.

He also raised questions about whether the construction of a new ultra-modern control centre would, on its own, solve the technical challenges confronting Ghana’s power system.

He cited a previous fire incident at a substation as an example of an event that, in his view, should have been prevented through stronger systems and safeguards.

“An example is the fire, I mean, the substation that caught fire. That should have been something that should never have happened,” he said.

He further cautioned that investing in new infrastructure without first addressing existing technical weaknesses could leave the underlying problems unresolved.

“I’ve seen the Minister saying, ‘We are going to build an ultra-modern control centre.’ If the underlying issue were not resolved, we are going to burn the control centre as well,” he added.

Justice Ohene-Akoto is therefore urging GRIDCo to make its troubleshooting reports, lessons learned and corrective action plans available to the public.

Justice Ohene-Akoto is calling for GRIDCo to make detailed reports on major system failures available to the public, including the causes of the disruptions, lessons identified and measures being taken in response.