NEDCo engineers working on the faulty transformer
Correspondence from Bono Region
Residents and businesses in Sunyani, Bono Region, have been plunged into darkness following widespread power outages that have disrupted daily life and economic activities across the municipality.
The intermittent blackout, which began earlier on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, has affected several areas, including Zinco, Airport, Wawasua, Nana Bosoma Market, Abesim Estate, Odumase, Bakoniaba, SUSEC, Fiapre and many other areas, disrupting commercial activities, household routines, and essential services.
The development has forced the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) to roll out a temporary eight-hour power management schedule, a move that has left many shop owners counting their losses.
With enterprises that rely heavily on refrigeration and electronic equipment, such as cold stores and printing centres, heavily hit, business operators say the persistent and erratic power supply has badly disrupted their daily operations, slowing productivity and increasing operational costs.
“The impact has been particularly severe on my business because, as a cold store operator, I depend entirely on a stable electricity supply to preserve frozen products. With the frequent power outages, maintaining the required storage temperatures has become difficult, leading to spoilage, financial losses and the constant risk of damaged stock whenever power is interrupted,” Bernice Ofei, a shop owner, bemoaned.
Addressing a press conference, the Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) attributed the power supply challenges to a technical fault on Transformer Two (T2), the larger of the two transformers at the substation, which has a capacity of 33 megavolt-amperes (MVA) and serves as a major component of the facility’s power distribution system.
According to Ing. Eugene Odoi Addo, the Sunyani Area Manager of NEDCo, the incident occurred around 16 hours GMT on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, after operators detected an unusual sound from the switchyard, accompanied by smoke and oil spillage around one of the transformers.
“Yesterday, around 16 hours GMT, there was a loud sound and smoke from the switchyard. The operator immediately switched off the power supply to safeguard lives and property”.
Ing Odoi Addo added that a technical assessment by engineers of NEDCo later revealed that one of the power transformers at the yard had developed a fault, making it unable to supply electricity to parts of Sunyani and surrounding communities.
Despite the setback, NEDCo says it has been able to partially restore about 42 percent of the 11 kV load to selected areas, particularly critical installations, a measure intended to ensure that essential services continue to function while engineers work to fully resolve the fault and restore normal power supply.
