WAPCo assures the public of environmental safety

Aboadze, Sept. 15, GNA - The outgoing Managing Director of the West Africa Pipeline Company (WAPCo), Mr Jack Derickson, on Monday said the company has put systems in place to ensure incident-free operation. He said among Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Benin, WAPCo is operating in line with the company's commitment to the protection of public health and safety of the environment.

Mr Derickson gave the assurance when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Mines and Energy visited the Takoradi Thermal Power Plant Station at Aboadze.

He said WAPCo has also drawn up emergency plans in all the four West African countries for swift response to any emergency situations on its pipelines and the plans involved security personnel in the company's operations.

Mr Derickson said WAPCo had trained and resourced its workers and contractors on how to guarantee safety in construction and operations at its facilities.

He said WAPCo was working closely with governments and regulatory stakeholders across the four West African countries adding "We have fostered good relations, improved communications and ensured compliance with all relevant laws and regulations in those countries". Mr Derickson said in August this year, WAPCO delivered gas volumes of 40,450MMBtu/day to VRA and was expected to increase it to 52,000MMBtu/day this September this month.

The Acting Director of Thermal Generation of the Volta River Authority (VRA), Mr Oppong Mensah, urged government to invest in liquefied natural gas plant since it was much cheaper generating power compared to the crude oil.

He said currently it costs VRA 19.3 pesewas to generate a kilowatt of power using crude oil but with liquefied natural gas, it would cost only 7.1pesewas to generate the same unit of power. Mr Mensah said the country could generate 500MMcf/d (500million metric cubic feet of gas per day), which would enable VRA to produce affordable electricity for both industrial and domestic consumption. He said if VRA got enough gas from Nigeria on regular basis, it would minimize the cost of production as well as electricity tariffs in the country.

Mr Mensah said gas does not generate a lot of emissions into the atmosphere and that it is good for the environment and public health. He said any investor that would like to venture into the liquefied natural gas facility would require about $450 million to execute the project.

Mr Mensah said using liquefied natural gas for power generation would reduce the frequency of maintenance works as well as the amount of money required for maintenance at the plant. He said the chunk of the revenue generated by the VRA was being used for purchasing crude oil and thereby failing in its effort to get surplus funds to buy vital spare parts needed for maintenance works at the plant.

The Parliamentary Select-Committee was led by Mr Kofi Yakah, Vice Chairman of the Committee and Member of Parliament for New Edubiase, Former Minister of Energy under NPP Administration, Mr Kofi Adda, and Former Ports and Railways Minister, Professor Christopher Ameyaw Akumfi.