Parts of Accra were plunged into darkness on Wednesday after a fire broke out at the Ghana Grid Company's (GRIDCo) Mallam substation, according to reports by Citi Newsroom and MyJoyOnline.
GRIDCo says it has since restored power to some of the affected areas and is working to reconnect the remaining customers.
According to Citi Newsroom, the fire started at about 2:36 a.m. on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, after a fault caused one of the substation's transformers to catch fire.
"The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) responded to the incident and successfully contained and extinguished the fire," GRIDCo said in a statement quoted by the outlet.
The fire caused a power outage in parts of Accra served by the substation. GRIDCo did not list the specific neighbourhoods affected.
GRIDCo said power has been restored to parts of the affected area, and engineers are working to restore supply to the remaining customers. The company has also begun work to replace the damaged transformer, Citi Newsroom reports. No timeline was given for full restoration.
The company's technical team is investigating the fault that triggered the fire. The cause has not yet been confirmed.
"GRIDCo sincerely apologises for the inconvenience caused," the company said.
Mallam, on the western side of Accra, is one of the densely populated parts of the capital, with homes, markets, schools and small businesses along the busy Accra-Kasoa corridor. Substations like the one at Mallam step down high-voltage electricity from the national grid so that it can be distributed to homes and businesses.
When a major transformer fails, large numbers of customers can lose power at once, and replacing the equipment can take time.
GRIDCo is responsible for Ghana's high-voltage transmission network, carrying electricity from power plants to bulk supply points across the country. The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) then distributes power from those points to customers in the southern part of the country.
Because the fault occurred on GRIDCo's equipment, the transmission company has led the response and restoration effort. Citi Newsroom's report did not include a statement from ECG.
Power outages are costly for residents and small businesses, many of which rely on electricity for refrigeration, machinery and communication. Businesses that use generators face higher fuel costs during outages, while households may lose food and face disruption to work and study.
The outage comes in the same week that ECG announced planned maintenance-related outages in some parts of Accra, adding to concerns about the reliability of supply in the capital.
Electricity supply has been a sensitive issue in Ghana for years. The country went through a long period of severe power rationing, popularly known as "dumsor", in the mid-2010s, and intermittent outages in recent years have kept the issue in the public eye. Each unplanned outage in the capital tends to revive concerns about the state of the country's power infrastructure.
Much of the debate has focused on generation and the finances of the power sector, but incidents such as the Mallam fire are a reminder that ageing transmission and distribution equipment can also cause major disruption. Industry experts have long called for steady investment in maintaining and upgrading substations, transformers and lines across the grid.
During outages, residents are generally advised to switch off sensitive appliances to protect them from power surges when supply returns, and to use generators safely in well-ventilated areas away from living spaces.
Residents of affected areas will be watching for GRIDCo to confirm when all customers have been reconnected and when the new transformer will be fully installed. The findings of GRIDCo's investigation into the cause of the fault are also expected.
Customers who are still without power are advised to contact ECG's customer service channels to report outages in their areas.
Talk Talk will update this story as more information becomes available.
