Ghana: Outrage as Hospitals, Others Shut Down Over Power Grid Collapse
- A major fault on Ghana's national power grid forced several power plants to shut down in the early hours of Wednesday
- GRIDCo said engineers are working to restore electricity but has not given a timeline for full recovery
- The blackout has disrupted commuters, small businesses and digital services across multiple regions of the country
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A serious fault on Ghana's national electricity grid knocked out power across major cities and regions on Wednesday, including the capital, Accra, the commercial hub of Kumasi, and large parts of the north.
The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), the state-owned power distribution operator, confirmed that multiple power plants were forced offline in the early hours of Wednesday, July 29.
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GRIDCo said in a statement:
"Our engineers and system operators are working continuously to restore power in the shortest time possible without compromising safety."
The company added that it had launched a full technical investigation to identify the root cause of the fault, but gave no indication of when electricity supplies would return to normal.
How the outage hit daily life
BBC reported that homes, businesses and essential services across several regions were left without power. Commuters faced particular difficulties, as those with uncharged phones struggled to pay for transport digitally or book rides through apps such as Uber.
Small businesses and individuals dependent on digital services were also hard hit. Larger institutions, including hospitals, were largely able to continue operations through backup generators.
Ghana's long history with power cuts
Ghana has grappled with chronic power shortages for years. The problem is so well known locally that it has its own name: "dumsor", a word from the Akan language meaning "on and off." The situation had been gradually improving before Wednesday's outage.
The country generates most of its electricity from ageing hydropower plants that have suffered from years of inadequate maintenance. In recent years, Ghana has expanded its use of natural gas to boost generation capacity and keep pace with a growing, increasingly urbanised population.
While the addition of gas-fired generation has helped reduce the frequency of blackouts, the power sector remains exposed to transmission failures and interruptions in fuel supply, as Wednesday's events demonstrated.
Ghana is among the world's largest producers of both gold and cocoa, making reliable electricity critical not only for households but also for commerce and industry across the country.
Source: Twitter
A Nigerian man installs solar
Legit.ng earlier reported a Nigerian man who generated more than 60 kWh from his solar setup and fed back 19 units of electricity to the national grid.
The solar expert added that his inverters have a protection feature that allows them to handle exporting electricity to the grid well.
Many people, unaware of NERC's law on power generation, wondered why he did not supply his neighbours with the excess electricity instead.
Source: Legit.ng
