Parts of Ghana were plunged into darkness in the early hours of Thursday, August 20, 2026, following a major fault on the national power transmission system.

The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) said the disturbance occurred at about 4:30 a.m. on the Akosombo-Volta transmission line, resulting in power outages in some parts of the country.

According to GRIDCo, the fault triggered the automatic tripping of the Akosombo generating units and some thermal power plants as part of the system’s protection mechanisms.

“The fault resulted in the automatic tripping of the Akosombo generating units and some thermal generating plants as part of the system’s protection mechanisms to safeguard the integrity and stability of the National Interconnected Transmission System,” GRIDCo said in a statement.

The company explained that the incident subsequently led to the loss of electricity supply to some customers across the country.

“Consequently, this resulted in the loss of power supply to some parts of the country,” the statement added.

GRIDCo said its engineers, in collaboration with other power sector agencies, immediately began working to isolate the affected transmission line and restore power.

“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,” it noted.

The company said electricity had already been restored to some affected areas, while efforts were continuing to reconnect customers who remained without power.

GRIDCo apologised for the inconvenience caused by the outage and assured the public that its technical teams had been fully mobilised to ensure the complete restoration of power across all affected areas.
See the full statement below: