The Ministry of Energy has acknowledged that Ghana’s electricity transmission system is facing some level of vulnerability as a temporary control room arrangement remains in place, with a permanent facility expected to be completed by the end of September.

Spokesperson and Communications Director at the Ministry of Energy, Richmond Rockson, made the disclosure while speaking on Joy FM’s Top Story following another nationwide power outage in the early hours of Thursday, August 20.

According to the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), the latest outage was triggered by a major fault on the Akosombo–Volta transmission line.

Mr Rockson said the temporary arrangement was introduced after an earlier incident prompted the Energy Minister to constitute a committee to investigate the situation and explore measures to restore power.

He explained that the Minister was faced with a critical decision on whether to construct an entirely new control centre before restoring electricity or adopt an immediate alternative that would allow power supply to continue.

“When the incident happened, of course, the minister put together a committee to look at it, and then also steps were taken to restore power. But once power had been restored, but before power was even restored, the minister had to take a critical decision. Whether we had to put together an entirely new control centre or control room, or to find ways and means to be able to supply power immediately, that's what the engineers came up with.”

Mr Rockson said the Minister subsequently approved the engineers’ recommendation to establish a temporary structure to serve as a control room or switchyard while work continued on a permanent solution.

“The minister took the decision to go by it, and then steps were taken to put together a temporary structure which will serve as the control room or the switchyard.”

He said the temporary facility is expected to be completed by the end of September.

However, Mr Rockson explained that the absence of a fully operational switchyard has created an inherent risk within the transmission system.

He noted that, under normal circumstances, electricity generated by power plants is evacuated through a switchyard before being transmitted into the wider power network.

With that permanent infrastructure currently unavailable, he said disturbances could have a greater effect on the affected transmission line.

“But before that is done, because ordinarily, once you generate, you should be able to evacuate to your switchyard, or what ordinarily I would call as a control centre, and that is not available.”

“There's an inherent risk, and then, of course, he exposes the system to some volatility, and so any disturbance may affect that line because of the absence of the switchyard.”

Mr Rockson said the Energy Minister has communicated the potential risks associated with the temporary arrangement to the public and has appealed for patience until the permanent facility is completed.

He noted that power stability has generally improved since electricity was restored on April 30, although the system has experienced occasional challenges involving the transmission line.

He said the latest outage has demonstrated the type of disturbance that can occur while the temporary setup remains in operation.

“And he put it out with the people of Ghana that within the period as this temporary measure is in place, we should bear with the system.”

Despite the latest disruption, Mr Rockson has praised engineers within Ghana’s power sector for their rapid response to the fault.

He said the incident occurred at about 4:30 a.m., with engineers beginning patrols of the affected transmission lines around 6:00 a.m.

He said restoration efforts continued throughout the morning, with electricity subsequently returned to affected areas.

“Our restoration process began as early as around 5 to 6 a.m., and by 12, 3 p.m., our hardware is brought to all parts of the country. And I can confirm to you that as we speak, we are recruiting power from there.”

He said all major systems and power plants are operational, with any remaining outages expected to be localised.

“All systems are up and running, all the plants are up, and we don't expect anybody to be without power at this point unless, of course, that's a localised problem.”

Mr Rockson has acknowledged that technical faults are an unavoidable possibility in complex electricity generation and transmission systems.

“But of course, once you're dealing with machines and systems, from time to time, some of these challenges come up. There's no way in the world that you have a 100% foolproof system.”

He has argued that the more important measure of a power system’s resilience is how quickly engineers can detect a fault, stabilise the network and restore electricity.

“Once you're dealing with systems, you're dealing with power, it happens.”

He added that the speed of restoration should be considered when assessing the robustness of the national electricity system.

“And so, for us, one of the key things that you have to look out for when it comes to the robustness of the system is how fast you'll be able to restore when these challenges come up. To be able to restore this in a couple of hours.”

Mr Rockson has pointed to the response to Thursday’s outage as evidence of the capacity of Ghana’s power sector engineers.

“In fact, the issue happened around 4.30 a.m. By 6 a.m., the engineers had done some patrol of the lines. By 12 a.m., all affected areas had been back. And that is a test of the capacity of our engineers and the robustness of the system.”

He has stressed that occasional faults are not unique to Ghana’s electricity network, noting that even ordinary household appliances can experience technical problems.

“And so, you can never have a system where you say that you will never develop a fault, you will never develop any challenge. Even in our homes, our regular appliances from time to time, these things happen.”

“But the test is the robustness and how fast you'll be able to restore.”

Mr Rockson has urged the public to bear with the system as engineers continue to manage the temporary setup and respond to technical disturbances that may arise.