By Grace Zigah
The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has reported a major fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line, resulting in a significant disturbance to Ghana’s national power system and temporary power outages in parts of the country.
According to GRIDCo, the incident occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 20, 2026, when a fault developed on the transmission line.
The company explained that the fault triggered the automatic tripping of the Akosombo generating units as well as some thermal generating plants.
This is the second time in about three weeks that the GRIDCo power system will go off with most part of the country recording power outage.
The automatic shutdowns were activated by the power system’s protection mechanisms, which are designed to safeguard the integrity and stability of the National Interconnected Transmission System.
The resulting system disturbance led to the loss of electricity supply to some parts of the country.
GRIDCo engineers mobilised
GRIDCo said its engineers immediately began working to contain the impact of the fault.
The technical teams, in coordination with other agencies within the power sector, took steps to isolate the affected transmission line and commenced what the company described as a safe and systematic restoration of the national power system.
The company said power supply had already been restored to some of the affected areas as of the release of its statement, while restoration work continued in other locations.
GRIDCo assured affected customers that its technical teams had been fully mobilised and were working with urgency to restore electricity to all remaining affected areas.
The transmission company expressed regret over the inconvenience caused by the temporary outage and appealed to the public for patience and understanding while the restoration exercise continued.
The company did not, in the statement, provide details on the specific cause of the fault on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line, the number of customers affected or an estimated time for complete restoration.
