Ghana’s recent power outages were triggered by the fire at the Akosombo Dam but also reflect deeper structural pressures within the energy system, energy expert Dr Nii Darko Asante.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Wednesday (29 April), Asante described the incident as “the single most serious impact” ever recorded on the national grid, noting it marked the first time generation had been lost from Akosombo.
“We’ve never lost generation from Akosombo. This is the very first time… and it has had a devastating impact on electricity supply,” he said.
While engineers have managed to prevent a total nationwide blackout, Asante warned that even a fully stable system would have struggled to absorb such a shock.
“Even if we had the perfect system, the Akosombo fire would have caused outages across the country,” he said.
The outage comes amid growing debate over whether Ghana’s power crisis—locally referred to as “dumsor”—is due to systemic failure or isolated technical faults.
Asante said the sector had previously operated with excess capacity but may now be edging towards a deficit, though a lack of publicly available data from key institutions has made it difficult to assess the situation accurately.
“The data is there… but it is not being published. So we are left speculating,” he said.
He also confirmed that the restoration of four out of six generating units at Akosombo marks a significant improvement, although supply gaps remain.
“One-third of the people who depend on Akosombo will still not have power until the remaining units are restored,” he said.
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