Power supply to suffer setback following shutdown of FPSO Kwame Nkrumah
Power generation is expected to go down following the shutdown of the Floating, Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) Kwame Nkrumah vessel and the drop in gas flow from the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) Limited.
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The FPSO Kwame Nkrumah has been shut down for mandatory inspection and maintenance works, while gas flow from the WAPCo has reduced from the contracted volume of 120.0mmscf to 6.0mmscf.
The drop in gas flow from the WAPCo, which powers the Tema power enclave, has been attributed to the vandalism on some pipelines in Nigeria.
Switch over
A statement signed and issued by the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCo), Mr William Amuna, said the shutdown of the FPSO was expected to last for two weeks.
Consequently, the statement said, gas flow from the Atuabo Gas processing plant to the Aboadze Thermal enclave in Tarkoradi in the Western Region has been curtailed and expected to commence upon resumption of production from the FPSO.
“Following the development, engineers have commenced the process of converting all dual fuel thermal plants to run on light crude oil to resolve the challenge.
It said the conversion process, which involves cleaning of fuel nozzles and other preparatory works, was expected to take few days to complete.
‘Sorry for the inconvenience’
Also, the AMERI plant within the Aboadze enclave, which generates 250MW and runs solely on gas, will not be working until the completion of the maintenance works.
“During this period, power supply system may experience some challenges thereby affecting power supply stability.
“We wish to assure the general public that engineers are working around the clock to bring supply to normalcy. Any inconvenience which may arise during the switch-over process is deeply regretted,” it said.