The Management of Ghana Grid Company LTD. (GRIDCo) has held high-level discussions with Société Nationale d’Électricité du Burkina (SONABEL) to review power supply issues and the performance of the Ghana–Burkina Faso interconnection.
The meeting, led by GRIDCo’s Chief Executive, Ing. Mark Baah, and SONABEL’s Director General, Mr. Souleymane Ouedraogo, reaffirmed the strong partnership between the two utilities. Ing. Baah welcomed the SONABEL delegation and underscored the importance of continued collaboration in ensuring reliable cross-border power supply.
As part of the engagement, the Deputy Chief Executive for Engineering and Operations, Ing. Frank Otchere briefed the delegation on the state of Ghana’s power system. He noted that while 2025 was relatively stable, Ghana has already exceeded its historical peak demand in 2026, with peak load now at 4,294 MW and expected to increase further. Although generation margins in 2026 are expected to be tight due to plant maintenance schedules, he assured participants of GRIDCo’s readiness to maintain system reliability.
On the SONABEL side, the Director for Technical Operations, Mr. Aristide Ouedraogo, presented an overview of Burkina Faso’s demand situation and the Ghana–Burkina interconnection. He reported a 14% increase in electricity demand in Burkina Faso, driven by growing domestic and industrial consumption and indicated the need for an additional 100 MW from Ghana.
Concerns were also raised about interruptions on the interconnection, with causes linked to vegetation encroachment, faults along the Kumasi–Bolgatanga transmission line and low generation from the middle belt. SONABEL emphasised that the interconnection remains critical to Burkina Faso’s power supply.
In response, Ing. Baah acknowledged the challenges and highlighted ongoing and planned interventions, including the installation of Static Var Compensators (SVCs) to improve voltage stability. SONABEL expressed appreciation for GRIDCo’s recent installation of 250 MVA phase-shifting autotransformers at Nayagnia, which has strengthened system performance.
Both organisations agreed to revive the joint technical committee to evaluate power supply options and also to revive discussions on an alternate Kumasi–Burkina Faso transmission line and the Ghana–Burkina Faso–Mali transmission project to improve redundancy and long-term supply security.
