Nationwide power outage is due to tripping at VRA - GRIDCo

Accra, Dec. 8, GNA - The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) on Thursday said the nationwide power outage that occurred on Wednesday night was due to the tripping of a generator at the Volta River Authority's (VRA) Akosombo generating plant.

A statement issued by Mr Albert Kwesi Quainoo, Head, Public Relations, in Accra said: "Efforts by VRA operators at Akosombo to synchronise the system back into service resulted in the explosion of the unit circuit breaker, causing all units running on the power system to trip, consequently leading to a total power outage at 9.51pm."

It said: "This morning, pockets of customer loads countrywide had to be taken off since the Asogli Power Plant and Takoradi International Company (TICO) are yet to be restored."

The statement said power to the affected areas would be restored as soon as any of the above-mentioned lines was restored.

"GRIDCo advises customers to channel all enquiries on the subject to VRA," it added.

In another development, management of VRA said the cause of the outage was the destruction of one of the breakers at the Switchyard of the Akosombo Generating Station by fire.

In a statement, it said, "Our staff were able to isolate the defective line and restored power to most parts of the country before daybreak. Investigations are on-going to identify the cause of the fire."

"We deeply regret any inconveniences the incidence might have caused and wish to assure the general public that the Authority will continue to put in the necessary measures to guarantee the availability of all the generating units for stable, reliable and adequate power to all our stakeholders during this festive season."