ECG announces three-day power outage in Ashanti Region as GRIDCo races to complete transmission upgrade

The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has announced a three-day planned power outage affecting parts of the Ashanti Region, including major industrial consumers in Kumasi, as the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo) enters the final stretch of a critical transmission line upgrade aimed at ending persistent supply constraints in the region.

The outage, scheduled from Monday, November 16, to Wednesday, November 18, 2026, will run daily from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., according to a public notice issued by ECG on Saturday . The interruption is necessary to allow GRIDCo to continue work on the Anwomaso-to-Ridge Bulk Supply Point transmission line, replacing the existing 364MVA single-circuit system with a double-circuit line rated at 2 × 488MVA—a combined capacity of 976MVA .

A Long-Awaited Upgrade

The project, formally known as the K1–K2 Transmission Line Upgrade, is part of a broader effort to strengthen the national grid and improve electricity supply reliability in Greater Kumasi. The existing 19-kilometre single-circuit line connecting the Anwomaso (K2) and Kumasi (Ahodwo) substations has served the city for years but has become increasingly overloaded amid population growth and commercial expansion .

GRIDCo’s Chief Executive, Ing. Frank Asirifi Otchere, has said the upgrade will increase transmission capacity from approximately 360 megawatts to 1,000 megawatts, addressing a critical bottleneck between generation sources and distribution centres . The project is financed through a grant from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and was awarded to contractor China International Water and Electric Corporation in August 2024, with work commencing in January 2025 .

As of late October, the project had reached 70 percent completion, with engineers engaged in the delicate and dangerous work of stringing transmission conductors on towers—an activity that requires the existing line to be de-energised for safety reasons .

Industrial Heartland Affected

The affected areas include parts of Kaase, Abattoir, Boadi, Emina, Appiadu, Kokoben, and Donyina, as well as several major industrial operations: Guinness Ghana Limited, Fan Milk, Coca-Cola, Bomplex, and Georgia . The inclusion of these commercial facilities underscores the economic stakes of the upgrade, which authorities say is essential to meeting growing industrial demand in the region.

ECG has appealed to customers to take note of the schedule and make necessary arrangements ahead of the interruption. “The inconvenience that will arise as a result of this outage is deeply regretted,” the notice stated .

Broader Works and Deadline Pressure

The three-day outage is the latest in a series of planned interruptions that have affected Kumasi since late October, as GRIDCo and ECG race to complete the project by the end of November . In addition to the transmission line works, GRIDCo is upgrading transformer capacity at the Kumasi Substation in Nhyiaeso from 300MW to 1,000MW, and constructing a fifth feeder to supply ECG, expected to add approximately 80MW of capacity by December .

ECG, meanwhile, has increased its maintenance schedule from once to twice weekly to complete distribution network upgrades along key routes, including Offinso, Barekese, and Bekwai, as well as the feeder connecting the Airport area to the Anwomaso Substation .

The pressure to complete the works intensified after the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition directed the contractor to compress the original six-month timeline into three months by deploying multiple work gangs on shift . Energy Minister Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor has acknowledged that the upgrades will cause temporary outages but insisted they are necessary. “We cannot postpone such upgrade works forever,” he said in July. “It is important we all sacrifice for such difficult decisions to bring about system improvements” .

A Region Weary of Outages

The works come amid mounting frustration in Kumasi over intermittent power supply, with residents and businesses repeatedly calling for a published load-shedding timetable . The Ashanti Regional Minister, Dr. Frank Amoakohene, has appealed for patience and warned against theft of transmission materials, indicating that security agencies would be engaged to protect the infrastructure .

GRIDCo has said the transmission line upgrade is expected to be completed by the end of November, with all major projects in the region targeted for completion by December 2026 . For the affected communities and businesses, the three-day outage represents a final period of disruption before what authorities promise will be a more stable supply.

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Background: The K1–K2 project has faced delays, including geotechnical challenges that required foundation redesigns after initial excavations revealed filled material rather than solid soil, and a deferral of planned outages during the 2026 World Cup tournament to prioritise grid stability . The contractor, China Water, also missed a critical outage window in March 2026 when stringing equipment had not yet been mobilised .