Ghana’s electricity generation capacity has received a significant boost following the restoration and commissioning of the fifth generating unit at the Akosombo Dam, as authorities intensify efforts to stabilise power supply after recent disruptions.

The Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, confirmed the development, stating that the unit has been successfully brought back online and is now fully operational.

“A while ago, the 5th unit at Akosombo was successfully commissioned and is now fully operational. The startup was carried out smoothly, demonstrating effective teamwork and coordination,” he said in a Facebook post.

According to him, the restoration marks an important step in strengthening Ghana’s power generation capacity and improving the reliability of electricity supply nationwide.

“This brings an important boost to generation capacity and will contribute to a more stable and reliable power supply,” he added.

The restoration comes after all six generating units at the Akosombo Dam were temporarily shut down following a fire outbreak that affected the control room and disrupted critical systems.

The incident resulted in the loss of more than 1,000 megawatts of power to the national grid, triggering intermittent outages in several parts of the country.

Authorities subsequently began a phased restoration process to ensure safety and system stability before returning the units to full operation.

The Minister said the careful phased approach is intended to prevent further disruptions while ensuring long term system reliability.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama, who visited the facility after the incident, described the situation as an opportunity to modernise key infrastructure within Ghana’s power sector.

“This presents an opportunity to replace it with a more modern control room that will serve this Akosombo Plant for generations yet to come,” he said.

The government says full restoration of all units is expected to further ease pressure on the national grid as engineers continue recovery and upgrade works.