Ghana Gas saves $207 million within 5 years after Ghanaian engineers took over

The Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) has saved $207 million as cost of operations since March 2017 when Ghanaian engineers and technicians took over the running of the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant from the Chinese.

The GNGC was established in July 2011 as a limited liability company with the responsibility to build, own and operate natural gas infrastructure required for gathering, processing, transportation and marketing of gas.

Dr Benjamin K.D. Asante, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GNGC, addressing the media in Accra on Wednesday on its operations, said the Company had been saving three million dollars per month as cost of operations, which translated into $36 million annually, for engaging Ghanaian engineers to operate the plant.

It currently produced 330 million standard cubic feet (MMscfd) of natural gas per day, which had ensured reliable supply of lean gas to the Aboadze and Tema power enclaves for generation of electricity.

That, he said, had ultimately resolved the frequency of power outages (dumsor) in the country.

The GNGC supplies lean gas to the VRA’s twin power plant (TAPCO), which generates 330 MW, TICO Plant (330MW), Karpowership (450MW) and Amandi Power Plant (192MW).

At the Tema power enclave, it supplied gas to AKSA Energy (203 MW), CENPOWER (330MW) and Sunon Asogli Power Plant (560 MW).

For instance, since the Tema enclave started using lean gas for power generation instead of petroleum products, it had cut down cost of generating 1,000 Megawatt of power from $70 million per month to $33 million, Mr Asante said.

Substituting oil for gas in power generation had reduced atmospheric emissions from 8.3 million tonnes per year to 1.3 million tonnes, thus contributing significantly towards the United Nations’ Goal of minimising green gas emissions.

Dr Asante gave the assurance of its commitment to ensuring adequate reserve margin of gas for protection of both planned and unplanned outages.

On its corporate social responsibility, he said the company had completed 152 development projects since 2019 while 301 of them were ongoing across the 16 regions.

They include Astro-turfs, mechanised boreholes, classroom blocks, markets, toilet facilities and community-based health posts, which had brought a lot of relief to the beneficiary communities.

Since it began operations in November 2014, it had worked millions of manhours with no loss of lives or injuries to workers at its sites, the CEO said.

It had conducted three successful shutdowns for maintenance works at the Atuabo Gas Plant, which did not negatively affect supply of gas to the power enclaves.

“The vision of the company is to become a fully integrated gas services firm providing reliable supply of gas and gas derivatives in Ghana and the West African Sub-region,” Dr Asante said.

It also wants to contribute towards the country’s industrialisation process by installing and operating the gas infrastructure required for processing and delivering the product to the market in a safe, cost effective and environmentally responsive manner.