President Mahama pledges to build second gas processing plant

The President of the Republic of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama, has promised to establish phase two of the gas processing plant to increase the capacity of the current Atuabo Gas Processing Plant in the Ellembelle district of the Western region.

Ghana National Gas Company Limited, which manages the country's gas processing plant at Atuabo, had already secured land for the construction of phase two of the gas processing plant in the Ellembelle district.

Some Civil Society Organisations had already called on the President of Ghana to, as a matter of urgency, construct phase two of the gas processing plant at Atuabo to boost the country's energy sector.

President Dramani Mahama reaffirmed his commitment to build phase two of the gas processing plant in the country at Koforidua in the Eastern region, where he addressed some residents as part of his "Resetting Ghana Tour".

He further revealed that, following increased interest and investments, "Jubilee partners are investing $2 billion to bring in more gas, so we need to construct a second gas processing plant. We have also signed a contract with ENI, which is investing $1.5 billion to bring in more ga."s".

He added, "You know the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant, the gas we will receive will be more than its capacity. So we need to construct GPP2 (Gas Processing Plant 2)to process the excess gas and supply it to electricity-generating companies that rely on gas.

He therefore gave an assurance that, "With more gas than the existing plant can handle, when this is added to our current generation capacity, we could reach nearly 6,000 megawatts. That means for the next 10 to 15 years, even without building new plants, we should have enough electricity for Ghana".

He also highlighted that Ghana’s improving economic outlook is driving higher electricity demand, making a reliable and sustainable energy supply increasingly critical.

“We must look ahead and not wait for a crisis before acting. When we took office, consumption was about 3,500 megawatts. Now it has peaked at 4,300 megawatts, largely due to increased investment and economic activity.

He therefore ended by stating that, "We need to improve generation and create redundancy. If we have enough power, we can even export more electricity to neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso and Togo, which will earn us foreign exchange".