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Grid infrastructureGhanaEIR-0257

Cable insulation failure blamed for fire at GRIDCo's Akosombo Substation

Apr 2026Published 7 Sept 2026Responsible editor: Chief Editor

MajorElectrical
Estimated damageEstimated by the register's adjusterHow? Know the real figure?
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Where
Akosombo Substation, Akosombo, Ghana
Operator
GRIDCo
What
Fire damaged switch system and primary control room
Cause
Insulation failure in low voltage panel cables
Outcome
Loss of 1,000 megawatts of power

Companies named in the reporting of this entry (being named is not a finding of fault): GRIDCo

What happened

A fire broke out at the Akosombo Substation, operated by GRIDCo, which serves the switchyard of the Akosombo Dam in Akosombo, Ghana, on 23 April 2026. The blaze damaged the switch system and the primary control room, resulting in the loss of 1,000 megawatts of power. A seven-member investigation committee later concluded that the fire was caused by insulation failure in cables within the low voltage panel, with the fault spreading through interconnected systems before being contained.

The committee ruled out any deliberate action, attributing the incident instead to a technical and structural failure linked to the ageing condition of key components at the site. The committee recommended building a new, modern control room to replace the existing one, which dated from 1964.

Contributing factors

Ageing electrical components and cable insulation within the substation's low voltage panel; an outdated control room built in 1964 that had not been modernised.

Lessons learned

  1. Low voltage panel cable insulation at substations should be inspected and replaced before end of life to avoid fire.
  2. Control rooms from 1964 should be replaced with modern designs to limit fault spread.
  3. Interconnected systems require isolation to stop a local cable fault from causing major capacity loss.

More lessons on electrical protection and isolation, spacing, layout and fire spread, from every incident on the register.

Not yet known

  • Cost of damage and lost generation
  • Duration of the outage
  • Specific models of failed cables

This entry is updated when these are reported. Get an alert for the next one like it.

Source

ghanaweb.com

Published 2026-09-07. Written from public reporting. Descriptive, not investigative. See the data accuracy disclaimer.

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Chart to reuse with this story: Grid infrastructure incidents in Ghana, by year, free with a credit (PNG).

Grid infrastructure incidents in Ghana: 9 entries, with a free alert for the next one.

Substation and transformer fires: the counts, the latest entries and a free alert for the next one. Also: power line and cable failures.

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