Atuabo Gas shut down for routine maintenance
The Ghana Gas Company Limited has announced a planned mandatory maintenance shutdown of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, commencing April 20, 2015.
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The shutdown would last for about 10 to 14 days.
A statement signed and issued by the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr George Adjah Sipa-Yankey, in Accra yesterday, said the planned shutdown was the first since inauguration and gas production began at the plant.
“It is a mandatory outage required by the vendors for certain critical components in the gas processing plant, particularly our compression facilities, which have been running for nearly 4,000 hours since installation and commissioning,” the statement said.
It explained that besides the required safety protocols, the planned shutdown was also necessary for warranty assurance and viability of the company’s operating insurance.
Cohesive collaboration
“Given the multiple equipment manufacturers involved, and the need for cohesive collaboration, we expect the shutdown to last for about 10 to 14 days,” the statement explained.
It said the company was in close communication with the Volta River Authority (VRA), the main gas off-taker, and Tullow Oil Ghana, the upstream gas producer, to ensure a smooth completion of the planned maintenance work.
The Ghana Gas Company Limited began commercial productions on April 1, 2015. It had been producing 74 million standard cubic feet (scf) of gas which was stepped up to 150 million scf at the beginning of April, 2015.
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When Dr Sipa-Yankey appeared before the Parliamentary Select Committee on Government Assurances, he told the committee that although the plant would scale up production in April, the impact would not be felt if the power generation companies, such as the Takoradi International Company (TICO), were not ready to receive the gas for the production of electricity.
Reduction in the cost of power production
He also said that production of gas in commercial quantity would reduce the cost of producing power in the country by about 50 per cent.
He explained that it was cheaper to use natural gas to produce power, compared to crude oil, adding that the government would save the huge amount of foreign currency used to procure crude oil abroad.
"This will ensure that our foreign exchange earnings are saved. This will help strengthen our currency, “he said.