AfrPowerOS country record
Ghana's nuclear & energy program
Ghana's nuclear power program status: Preparing (IAEA milestone phase 2). Confidence-labelled, cited records on capacity, grid targets, regulators, vendors and key events, from the open AfrPowerOS dataset.
Ghana — key facts
- CountryGhana
- RegionWest Africa
- Program statusPreparing — Infrastructure development before procurement
- IAEA milestone phasePhase 2 — Ready to invite bids / negotiate a contract
- Commercial reactors operating0
- Commercial reactors under construction0
- Planned capacity1.0 GW
- First grid target2034
- Research reactorGHARR-1 (30 kW miniature neutron source reactor)
- RegulatorNuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA)
- Implementing agencyNuclear Power Ghana (NPG) / Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC)
- VendorsNuScale Power / Regnum Technology Group (United States), CNNC (China)
- AgreementsFramework agreements with selected vendors (NuScale/Regnum SMR, CNNC large reactor) — March 2025; IAEA Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review support
- Electricity access85.0%
- Installed capacity5400.0 MW
- ConfidenceVerified
- Last verified2026-08-16
Summary
Completed Phase 1 of IAEA milestones (2017); in Phase 2. Selected NuScale/Regnum (US) and CNNC (China) as vendors for its first nuclear plants in March 2025, with framework agreements signed but no formal construction contract; plans ~1 GW of nuclear on the grid by 2034. Site evaluation and an IAEA SEED mission are ongoing. Africa's first research reactor operator (GHARR-1).
Key events
- 2025-03Ghana selects US and Chinese vendors for first nuclear power plants (framework agreements) source
- 2017Ghana completes Phase 1 of IAEA nuclear power milestones source
- 2025IAEA SEED mission evaluates candidate sites in Ghana source
Claims and confidence labels
- program_statusPreparingVerifiedobserved 2025-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- iaea_milestone_phase2Inferenceobserved 2019-10 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- capacity_gw_planned1.0Verifiedobserved 2025-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- first_grid_target_year2034Verifiedobserved 2025-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- research_reactorGHARR-1 (30 kW miniature neutron source reactor)Verifiedobserved 2017-07 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- vendorsNuScale Power / Regnum Technology Group (United States), CNNC (China)Verifiedobserved 2025-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- commercial_reactors_operating0Inferenceobserved 2025-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
- commercial_reactors_under_construction0Inferenceobserved 2025-03 · verified 2026-09-23 source
Sources
- https://africacommoditiesreport.com/2025/03/28/ghana-taps-us-china-as-vendors-for-first-nuclear-plants/
- https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/ghanas-site-selection-process-for-first-nuclear-plant-assessed-by-iaea
- https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/ghana-impresses-integrated-nuclear-infrastructure
- https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/ghanaian-research-reactor-now-set-to-run-on-leu
- https://www.iaea.org/services/review-missions/seed
- https://www.nra.org.gh
Related countries
Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Togo
Confidence labels: Verified (primary source), Inference (reasonable reading of verified evidence), Speculation (hypothesis), Unverified (reported, not confirmed). See the methodology.