All six Akosombo hydroelectric power generation units have been fully restored following the fire at GRIDCo’s switching station on April 23 that disrupted Ghana’s national electricity grid and triggered widespread outages across several regions, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) said on Monday.
The fire incident at the Akosombo Switching Station caused a significant disturbance to the National Interconnected Transmission System (NITS), reducing available generation capacity and leading to intermittent power supply in parts of the country while emergency restoration works were undertaken.
“At the time of this briefing, all six generating units at Akosombo have been restored and are supplying electric power to consumers,” PURC said in its latest regulatory update.
The commission said it has deployed technical teams to assess the impact of the incident and is actively monitoring recovery operations being undertaken by key power sector institutions, including the Volta River Authority (VRA), GRIDCo, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo).
“The Commission is actively monitoring the process to ensure that the overall impact of the situation is minimised,” PURC said.
PURC noted that while generation at Akosombo has been restored, system stabilisation efforts are ongoing across the transmission and distribution network to fully normalise power supply nationwide.
“The Commission… wishes to reassure the general public that it will exercise the appropriate regulatory powers to ensure that utilities adhere to the Quality-of-Service benchmark for the supply of electricity,” it added.
As part of broader sector interventions, PURC said it is also overseeing ongoing transformer replacement programmes in both northern and southern zones, where the Electricity Company of Ghana and NEDCo are replacing old and overloaded equipment to strengthen distribution reliability.
It further highlighted the continued rollout of ECG’s smart meter programme and franchise model reforms, which it said are aimed at reducing commercial losses, improving revenue collection, and enhancing operational efficiency within the power distribution chain.
The regulator acknowledged public frustration over recent outages, stressing that some disruptions are linked to necessary system repairs and upgrades.
It urged consumers to report unresolved power outages, billing discrepancies, and service-related complaints through its regional offices and digital platforms as restoration and stabilisation efforts continue.
