The Ministry of Energy has announced that the Akosombo Dam has been fully shut down as a result of a severe fire at the Ghana Grid Company (GRIDCo) Substation in Akosombo, which has significantly interrupted electricity delivery throughout the country.
The Ministry asserts that the fire severely damaged the substation’s vital infrastructure, necessitating the dramatic yet essential decision to stop operations at the dam.
Richmond Rockson, the Ministry’s spokesperson, discussed the extent of the damage and the consequences for the nation’s power generation system during an interview on Monday, April 27, on the Citi Breakfast Show.
He clarified that the fire destroyed the Akosombo Dam’s switch system, making it unusable and requiring an instant shutdown.
“The switch yard, which is at the Akosombo Substation, is completely burnt down and it is not salvageable. The primary control room for the switch yard is completely gone. It was even difficult for us to walk there when we got there to assess the situation”
“And when that happened, we had to shut the Akosombo Dam completely and so that is what caused the outages in many parts of the country as we are seeing. Because Akosombo is a major component when it comes to our power generation,” the ministry’s spokesperson said.
The substation, one of the most important facilities in Ghana’s electrical transmission network, was apparently abruptly consumed by flames at around 2:01 p.m. on Thursday, April 23.
Source: newsthemegh.com