The Accra Area played host to the 8-member Board of the Uganda Electricity Transmission Company Limited (UETCL) guiding them through a tour of some selected substations of the Area namely, the Kasoa, Pokuase and Achimota Substations.

The Ugandan delegation was welcomed on arrival at the Kasoa substation by the Area Manager Ing. Benjamin Ahunu, and his team of supervisors which included Ing. Daniel Annan (P&C Supervisor), Cyril King (Operating & Safety Supervisor), Kafui Aguadze (Line Maintenance Supervisor) and Michael Koranteng, ACTE Electrical Maintenance. Accompanying the Ugandan delegation was the GRIDCo Board Chairman, Amb. Kabral Blay-Amihere and Advisor to the Chief Executive, Ing. Daniel Amartey.

The visit commenced with a Safety Brief delivered by Cyril King and then the visitors were ushered to the Kasoa Substation Conference Room for a presentation on the activities of the Accra Area. Accra Area is currently made up of seven (7) substations.

Ing Ahunu then led a tour of the 161/34.5kV Kasoa BSP, GRIDCo’s second Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) in Accra commissioned in February 2022. The station consists of Three (3No); 145MVA power transformers for load delivery to ECG and One (1No) 66MVA; 33kV / 161kV transformer for integrating the 50MVar Static Var Compensator (SVC) into the 161kV network. The SVC regulates voltage and provides Grid Stability to most parts of Western Accra. The station is connected to the NITS via the Winneba-Mallam and Cape Coast-Mallam transmission lines through 161kV underground cables.

The team then proceeded to the imposing 330/34.5kV Pokuase BSP for a tour. Pokuase is currently the largest BSP in Accra and has significantly improved power supply to Kwabenya, Pokuase and beyond. The final stop for the Ugandan Delegation was the Achimota Substation which holds significance as the first substation in Accra. The Accra Area team explained how daily operations and maintenance is carried out at the various substations.

The UETCL CEO, Michael Taremwa commented, “it seems everywhere there is a GRIDCo Substation, there is an Electricity Company Substation as well”. It was explained that the power is transmitted to the GRIDCo Substation where “the electricity voltage is stepped down” for the ECG substation to receive and for onward distribution to domestic consumers.

The Ag CEO of UETCL, Michael Taremwa was impressed with the advanced substation technology in use and commented on the high standards of efficiency and professionalism exhibited by the GRIDCo workforce.

The Ugandan delegation expressed their gratitude for GRIDCo’s openness in enlightening them on its transmission facilities.