Ghana Says Russia Will Back a 2,000 MW Nuclear Plant; Rosatom Talks

Ghana's foreign minister said on Oct. 31, 2026, that Russia has agreed to work with Ghana on a 2,000-megawatt nuclear power plant, following talks at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow.

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced the agreement in a statement on X, according to Reuters. He said the project is aimed at strengthening energy security and industrialization. Reuters did not report a site, reactor design, owner, financing or construction date, and Ablakwa's statement did not state whether 2,000 MW is net or gross electrical output.

The announcement followed President John Dramani Mahama's address to the summit. He said Ghana had "initiated discussions with Rosatom on the establishment of Ghana's first nuclear power station," Ghana's state broadcaster GBC reported on Oct. 30. GBC described the talks as preliminary.

Why it matters for power supply

A 2,000 MW plant would be a large-reactor project, not the small modular reactors (SMRs) that dominate Western data-center nuclear deals. Nothing in the reports ties it to data-center load, and no source gives Ghana's current peak demand, so Voltgrid cannot say how much of any future demand it would cover. What the reports do establish is the named partner: Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation.

For grid planners, the figure is a statement of ambition, not a schedule. No report mentioned a licence, a site approval or a binding contract.

What Rosatom has said

Rosatom Chief Executive Alexei Likhachev told Reuters on Oct. 30 that the company is in talks with four African countries on large nuclear plants, Kenyans.co.ke reported. The four are Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana and Egypt, which already hosts Rosatom's El Dabaa project. Likhachev said Russia can supply plants of different sizes and configurations and takes a tailored approach for each country.

In the reports we read, Rosatom has not publicly confirmed the 2,000 MW figure for Ghana. The 2,000 MW number comes from the Ghanaian foreign minister. Voltgrid has not seen a Rosatom or Ghanaian government document that sets out capacity, units or terms.

Background and comparison

Ghana's nuclear links to Moscow date to 1964, when the Soviet Union supplied a research reactor of 2 MW, GBC reported. That is a research unit, and it is not comparable with a power plant 1,000 times its size.

The size matches a plan elsewhere in Africa: Kenya has proposed a 2,000 MW plant in Siaya County, with construction expected to start in 2027 and commissioning targeted for 2034, Kenyans.co.ke reported. Africa's only operating nuclear plant is South Africa's Koeberg, built with French technology and in service since the mid-1980s.

Among Western projects, Voltgrid reported that the TVA-ENTRA1 program for up to 6 GW of NuScale SMRs is likewise non-binding, with no power purchase agreement signed.

What is not confirmed yet

No report names a site, a reactor type, a number of units, a financing structure or a commissioning date. Ablakwa and Mahama described an agreement to work together and talks, and neither is a signed construction contract. The reports also gave no figure for the plant's cost. The next signals to watch are a Ghanaian government or Rosatom document stating capacity, and any intergovernmental agreement that names a site and a financing route.