Claim: “1,200 megawatts is bigger than what our almighty Akosombo can produce.”
Source: Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson
Verdict: True
Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu
During the 2026 budget presentation on November 13, 2025, the Minister of Finance, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, hinted at the construction of a 1,200-megawatt state-owned thermal power plant, scheduled to begin in 2026, under the Energy Sector Initiatives.
Dr Forson said during his presentation, “Beginning 2026, government will commence the construction of a 1,200-megawatt state-owned thermal power plant to offtake the additional 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day from the OCTP partners and GPP 2.
“This plant will support the provision of reliable and affordable power and secure Ghana’s energy future… Mr Speaker, 1,200 megawatts is bigger than what our almighty Akosombo can produce.” (1:11: 39 to 1:11:43)
RelatedNews
This fact-check seeks to verify the megawatt production of the Akosombo Dam.
Fact-check
According to the budget statement, under the government’s gas-to-power transformation agenda, plans were afoot: “to transition from the costly light crude oil for power generation to cleaner, domestically produced natural gas.”
The government therefore was proposing a medium-term initiative that will produce a total of 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day from Offshore Cape Three Point (OCTP) and Jubilee partners, enough to generate up to 1,200 megawatts of power.
What is the generation capacity of the Akosombo Hydro Electric Dam?
According to Diversification.com, “The generation capacity of power is the maximum amount of electricity a power plant or a system can produce at any given moment, measured in units like megawatts (MW) or gigawatts (GW).
“It represents the total potential output of installed infrastructure, which is different from the actual amount of electricity produced over a period of time.”
To verify whether the intended thermal project has a bigger generation capacity than the Akosombo Dam, GhanaFact visited the website of the Volta River Authority (VRA), and found the following:
The Volta River Authority identified the project as a“1,020MW Akosombo Hydro Electric Power Plant.”
According to VRA data, Ghana’s electricity generation mix is predominantly hydro and thermal. According to our checks, Thermal production is slightly ahead of hydro. The former has a total generation capacity of 1230MW while the latter has 1180MW. Renewable plants contribute a paltry 37MW.
This brings the total power generation for the country to 2547MW.
Verdict
From the above, the claim that the generation capacity of the planned thermal plant project (1,200MW) is bigger than the Akosombo Dam’s capacity is true.
