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Government must take a decision on the arrangement to be established for sale of the country’s gas to power producers before it comes onstrearn, says Dr. Kwabcna Donkor, a member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy.
PNDC Law 84, which established the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), places the ownership of the gas resource in the bosom of the GNPC; as does the new Petroleum Exploration and Production (E&P) bill. However, the gas infrastructure is owned by the Ghana Gas Company.
This has created complexity for power producers as to which entity to sign gas supply agreements with. “We don’t know whether to sign an agreement with GNPC or Ghana Gas Company or both,” a senior official of one of the utilities told the B&FT
The Volta River Authority (VRA), the largest power producer in the country and owner of the Adoadze thermal plant, as well as Independent Power Producers are yet to sign an agreement for supply of the commodity when it begins to be discharged.
Their inability to do so is due to lack of direction from government on the way forward.
“The executive needs to take a decision now. GNPC can be asked to sign an agreement with Ghana Gas, and then power producers will be required to sign gas supply agreements with GNPC,” Dr. Donkor said.
“Alternatively, it can be decided that Ghana Gas, the infrastructure owner, should sign an agreement with the GNPC and thereafter power producers will be required to sign gas supply agreement with Ghana Gas Company.”
Ghana Gas Company, a wholly-owned state institution, has been established to oversee the commercial production of gas from the Jubilee oil field. Its current project involves a 65-kilometre pipeline, a gas processing plant, and a 110-kilometre pipeline from Atuaho to Aboadze.
However, the construction of the gas facility at Atuaho has suffered many setbacks — andthough the Ghana Gas Company says the facility will be ready by third quarter, industry experts believe otherwise.
Ghana Gas is expected to supply about 100-120 million standard cubic feet of gas for the thermal plant in Aboadze when the processing plant is completed.
The focus on speeding up the gas processing project to make gas available to power producers was heightened by the drop in volume of gas received from Nigeria via the West Africa Gas Pipeline Project.
The volume of gas from the contractual volume of 120 million standard cubic to about 50 million standard cubic feet last month, creating shortfall of about 300 megawatts, in the power supply system to the fuel shortfall. This if the institution of a 1 management programme b, Electricity Company of Gha
Supply however erupt to about. 90 million star cubic feet last week, reducin shortfall in generation to a 110 megawatts.
Source: B & FT
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