The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo), owner and operator of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), has indicated that the improvement in bi-directional flow and significant reliability of gas supply from Nigerian gas has boosted its role as a reliable partner in meeting cleaner energy needs of Ghana, Togo and Benin.
According to WAPCo, in addition to improvement in gas supply from Nigeria Gas Company (NGC), two other major achievements were attained in 2020 which have resulted in improved reliability for gas supplies through the pipeline and brought great benefits to customers, especially in Ghana.
The other highlighted projects included completion of the Takoradi to Tema interconnection project, adding Ghana gas supply to the network of gas sources; and the successful completion of cleaning and inspecting its 569km offshore pipeline stretching from Nigeria to Takoradi in Ghana.
Head of Communications, Nuna Senaya, indicated that through a number of efforts NGC was able to mitigate issues on their Escravos to Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) – allowing them to lift on 1st November 2020 the prolonged force majeure on the ELPS, which had been affecting gas supply to the WAGP from the east.
“These events have placed WAPCo in an excellent position to fulfil the company’s mission to transport natural gas from producers in Nigeria and Ghana to consumers in Benin, Togo and Ghana in a safe and reliable manner.
“In collaboration with the government of Ghana and other partners, the Takoradi to Tema Interconnection Project (TTIP) was successfully completed in July 2020. Following the completion of TTIP, WAPCo averaged in the second half of 2020 over 83,000 MMBtu/day of natural gas transportation from the Western Region of Ghana to the Tema enclave for feeding power plants that generate power,” he stated.
WAPCO was also pleased to emphasise that it has achieved eight million workforce hours without a recordable incident, due to it continuous focus on operational excellence and a strong safety culture – allowing it to achieve zero recordable incidents for the past six years.
The statement further indicated that WAGP was developed to contribute to accelerated economic growth of the West African sub-region, and currently provides vital infrastructure linking four cities – in Togo (Lome), Benin (Cotonou) and Ghana (Tema & Takoradi) – to natural gas supply sources that provide natural gas for the needed power generation required to complement other energy generation sources.
“This year, 2021, marks ten years of WAPCo commencing commercial operations. While they have not been without challenges, these were to be expected of a project as complex as the WAGP. WAPCo has been flexible over these 10 years, and together with its shareholders have adapted the pipeline to the growing and changing needs of its stakeholder countries,” he added.
With a decade of commercial operations and a strong start in 2021, WAPCo is in a much-improved position to deliver needed energy supplies to customers into the next decade.
