In Ghana, Minister for Energy and Green Transition Dr John Abdulai Jinapor announced on 25 August 2026 at the Future of Energy conference in Accra that the government is drafting legislation requiring Energy Commission approval for all electric vehicle charging stations, to shield the grid from the impact of booming electric mobility. Dr John Abdulai Jinapor explained that the forthcoming law will make Energy Commission permits compulsory before installing charging points, given the high power draw associated with fast-charging technologies.
According to Ghanaian authorities, the rise of electric vehicles is occurring at a time of rapidly growing electricity demand and already tight reserve margins, raising the risk of imbalances if new loads are not carefully planned. Forecasts shared by the Energy Commission point to peak demand reaching 4,581 MW in December 2026, up about 7 % from 2025, while annual consumption is projected to approach 28,992 GWh.
Fast chargers intensify stress on a fragile grid
Dr John Abdulai Jinapor has warned that the influx of electric vehicles is adding to national power consumption and heightening the need for investment in generation, transmission and distribution capacity, so that e-mobility does not translate into more frequent outages. Government has also launched, on 25 August 2026, a comprehensive review of the electricity grid, assigning a team of experts to assess the state of infrastructure and identify vulnerabilities across the system.
The Energy and Green Transition Ministry stresses the need to standardise charging installations and align them with grid planning, noting that some ultra-fast chargers can now refill a battery in five to ten minutes and create very high, localised power demand. A Ghana Clean Transportation Outlook study meanwhile finds that uncertainty over electricity tariffs and grid connection costs is slowing private investment in public charging, even as interest in electric mobility grows.
EV regulatory framework nearing completion
The legislative push announced by the minister builds on an existing process: from 20 to 22 February 2026, the Energy Commission hosted a workshop in Ho to finalise draft regulations on EV charging infrastructure and battery swap systems. The draft text, developed with the Ghana Standards Authority, sets out safety and technical requirements and a licensing regime, and includes sanctions to enforce compliance once the regulation is adopted.
The Energy Commission has already begun outreach to operators and local authorities, urging registration of charging stations and battery swap systems ahead of the regulation’s entry into force, in order to build a detailed map of existing installations. Its 2025 annual report notes that technical standards for charging stations were developed with the Standards Authority and that the draft regulation has been submitted to the Attorney-General’s office for legal review.
Transition anchored in the National Electric Vehicle Policy
Government strategy is guided by the National Electric Vehicle Policy, approved by cabinet and structured in three phases: an initial phase from 2024 to 2026 to address structural bottlenecks, a promotion phase from 2027 to 2035 to scale up EV uptake, and a final phase to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles by 2045. Transport Minister Kwaku Ofori Asiamah has reiterated that from 2045 no new petrol or diesel vehicles will be sold or imported, and that tax incentives, including import duty exemptions for certain locally assembled EVs, are being introduced to help build a domestic market.
The Energy Commission, through its Drive Electric Initiative launched in 2019 with the Ministry of Energy, is already promoting electric vehicles to absorb available power capacity and is working on potential siting maps for charging stations. A baseline survey conducted in 2022 by the Commission underscores the need for minimum standards for smart chargers and for monitoring of new charging and battery stations to limit grid impacts and ensure safety.
Next hurdle: Attorney-General’s sign-off on the EV charging rules
The draft charging-station regulation, transmitted to the Attorney-General in 2025, now needs to be formalised and integrated into the law trailered by the minister, which will define the permitting regime and clarify the obligations of operators and the Energy Commission. Stakeholder consultations held since March 2026 suggest that the regulatory package could be completed in the coming months, a key condition for Ghana’s electric mobility growth to proceed without adding a new layer of instability to the national power system.
