Public Relations Officer for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Volta region, Benjamin Antwi, has expressed the collaborative efforts by the Company and GRIDCo to restore power supply to areas affected by the Akosombo Dam spillage.

According to him, customers in Akatsi, Abor and Anloga are having power supply. He revealed that ECG was also able to restore power to most of its customers within the Sogakope township.

“We are [getting] power all the way from Aflao to Sogakope, so definitely, if we don’t manage the load very well, then definitely we might experience some power fluctuations as well as low voltage. So, in doing the load transfer, we are considering these two factors as well.
“… Only Adidome and parts of Central Tongu district areas are off, but even with that, our engineers together with GRIDCo engineers are making alternative supply routes to supply them from another Keta or Dwapong feeder…”
Benjamin Antwi

Mr Antwi indicated that communities still affected by power supply cuts includes parts of the Central Tongu district. He recounted that as at October 11, 2023, the Company had to shut down the Sogakope Bulk Supply point as a result of flooding which was caused by the spillage of the Akosombo dam.

Owing to this, he explained that ECG had to shut down the bulk supply point for safety reasons.

“So, we shut down the substation at 10am, hoping that by 5pm the situation will improve such that the water situation over there will be receding, but when we went back there in the evening around 6pm, we realized that the water was rather rising instead of receding.
“So, as a Company, we’ve come up with alternative supply routes to supply most of our customers… We were able to supply most of our customers from the Aflao bulk supply point.”
Benjamin Antwi

Alternative power supply routes

Regarding the duration needed to provide alternative supply routes from either the Keta or Dwapong feeder, Mr Antwi stated that he is optimistic the team will do that sooner.

He noted that due to the technicality of the matter, it’s best to undertake due diligence in restoring power supply.

“We are hoping that we’ll pick from Dwapong and then Keta. But in picking it we can even give them power supply during the day but when it gets to the night, during the peak hours, if we’re not careful, the load might be more than the maximum threshold of the transformer or feeder supplying that area.
“So, we are taking into consideration all these so that we’ll have a permanent transfer instead of a temporary transfer…”
Benjamin Antwi

Meanwhile, the PRO for the Volta regional ECG office revealed that his outfit is ensuring the safe power supply to affected communities. Among other things, he explained that areas that it has supplied so far, which include the Sogakope township, Keta, Akatsi, Abor have not been deeply affected like other areas.

As such, he expressed that extra caution is being taken before wholly restoring power to heavily impacted areas.

“So, in areas whereby the water has even gone above the waist level, our Sogakope district [team] went round with our vehicles, PA systems, ensuring that if you have any weak cable, kindly notify us for us to replace it immediately. Because if the cable is live and falls into the water, that’s where we’ll have a challenge over there. So, we have advised all customers…”
Benjamin Antwi

Commenting on how long it will take for total restoration of power supply, Mr Antwi revealed that it is difficult to give a timeline due to the increasing nature of water levels in communities.

“We were hoping that the water will be receding but until the water recedes, we cannot supply customers from the Sogakope Bulk Supply point for safety reasons…”
Benjamin Antwi