By Iddi Yire, GNA
Accra, April 30, GNA – President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday commended engineers for their swift and professional response to a fire incident that knocked out more than 1,000 megawatts from the national grid at the GRIDCo substation at Akosombo.
The President gave the commendation during a working visit to inspect ongoing restoration works at the facility in the Eastern Region.
President Mahama reaffirmed Government’s support for both GRIDCo and the Volta River Authority (VRA), describing them as critical institutions in the country’s energy sector.
The fire incident led to disruptions in electricity supply across parts of the country.
“We heard about the sad event, the fire outbreak in your control room, and of course Ghanaians have felt the impact,” he said.
President Mahama noted that VRA had consistently demonstrated high standards as a state-owned enterprise, adding that the quality of its human resource base had enabled engineers to respond effectively to the challenge.
“I was not surprised when our engineers said they were going to find a way of bringing it back on, because VRA has some of the best personnel you can get anywhere in the world,” he said.
The President expressed gratitude to the engineers for their sacrifice and dedication towards restoring operations.
President Mahama said the Government remained committed to restoring stable power supply and strengthening the resilience of Ghana’s energy infrastructure.
Describing the incident as unforeseen, he said it also presented an opportunity to upgrade infrastructure.
“This is an act of God. The control room has been there since 1964, and adversity is an opportunity. It gives us the chance to replace it with a more modern control room that will serve this plant for generations yet unborn,” he said.
President Mahama said the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, Mr John Jinapor, had briefed him that four of the turbines had been restored, with work ongoing to bring the remaining two back on stream.
He said the Minister had assured him that efforts were underway to fully restore operations soon.
“So I want to thank you very much for what you have done and encourage you to continue to work,” he said.
He said the staff and engineers of the two organisations would continue to receive the necessary support to ensure efficient service delivery.
GNA
Edited by Beatrice Asamani Savage
Reporter: Iddi Yire
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