The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) has attributed Thursday morning’s widespread power outage to a major fault on the Akosombo–Volta transmission line, which triggered the automatic shutdown of the Akosombo generating units and some thermal plants.
According to GRIDCo, the shutdown was part of the national power system’s protection mechanisms designed to safeguard the stability and integrity of the National Interconnected Transmission System.
In a statement it said: “immediately following the incident, GRIDCo engineers, working in close coordination with other power sector agencies, took steps to isolate the affected transmission line and commenced the safe and systematic restoration of the power system.”
Several parts of Ghana were plunged into darkness from about 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 20, 2026, disrupting households, businesses and essential services.
In Accra, affected communities included Adabraka, Weija, Tesano, Achimota, Dzorwulu, Legon, Madina, Adenta and Oyarifa, with residents reporting outages from the early hours of the morning.
The disruption also affected parts of the Eastern, Northern, Central and Ashanti regions, including Aburi and Tamale.
But GRIDCo says electricity has already been restored to some affected areas, with restoration efforts continuing for remaining customers.
GRIDCo has mobilised its technical teams to complete the restoration as quickly and safely as possible, while assuring the public that further updates will be provided.
Thursday’s incident is the second major disruption to Ghana’s national power system in less than a month.
On July 29, 2026, several parts of the country, including communities in Accra, Tema, Kasoa and parts of the Ashanti and Eastern regions, also experienced a widespread power outage.
The recurrence is likely to heighten concerns about the reliability and resilience of Ghana’s transmission network, particularly as disruptions affect households, businesses and critical services
