A brief outage on the Akyawkrom 2 feeder on June 11, 2025 reignited concerns about wildlife interference in Ghana’s power grid.
The culprit? A snake that bridged the feeder to ground, disrupting supply across parts of the Ashanti Region.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s Ashanti Sub-Transmission Line Maintenance Team responded quickly to the incident at Kwaso, Ejusu.
By 15:39hrs, both Akyawkrom 1 and 2 interconnectors had been fully restored, with all affected substations back online and picking full load.
While power was quickly restored, ECG Ashanti Sub-Transmission sees the incident as part of a broader challenge affecting system reliability, particularly in areas with dense vegetation and rural-urban interfaces.
“Wildlife, especially snakes and birds, continue to pose real threats to grid reliability,” said Ing. Peter K. Fletcher, General Manager of ECG Ashanti Sub-Transmission.
“Today’s outage was brief, but it highlights why we are proactively investing in wildlife mitigation infrastructure—including snake guards, tighter sealing of cable entries, and regular habitat clearing around substations.”
He said beyond technical upgrades, ECG is enhancing its operational readiness through staff training and early-warning mechanisms such as motion and thermal sensors at high-risk substations.
These measures form part of the utility’s broader resilience strategy in the Ashanti Region.
“We don’t wait for faults to occur before acting,” said Collins Manu, Head of Public Relations, ECG Ashanti Sub-Transmission.
“Our preventive measures include trimming vegetation, reinforcing fencing, and improving drainage systems to make substations less attractive to snakes and other animals. At the same time, we continue to sensitise communities on the importance of reporting unusual activity around our assets,” he noted.
ECG is appealing to residents to play a role in safeguarding infrastructure by staying alert and reporting sightings of animals near substations and feeders.
“Our customers are our first line of defence,” Mr. Manu emphasized. “When they report early, we’re able to intervene quickly and prevent potential outages.”
ECG Ashanti Sub-Transmission reiterates its commitment to strengthening supply reliability across the region through a combination of rapid response, preventive maintenance, and environmental risk management.
