By Maxwell Ofori
Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Heads of Agreement with Equatorial Guinea for the supply of 150 million to 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
This was in line with the measures being put in place by President Akufo-Addo’s administration to provide stable energy for the country.
Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Mr. Boakye Agyarko, and Mr. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines, Industry, and Energy of Equatorial Guinea, signed the agreement, which was witnessed by President Akufo-Addo and President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
At a press briefing in Accra yesterday upon arrival in the country, Mr Boakye Agyarko said the significance of this gas supply was for stable power generation in our country.
According to him, though an agreement to that effect had been signed before, it did not see the light of day, stressing that the current one had come to live, having the support of both Presidents.
He expressed how unsatisfactory gas supply from Nigeria being transmitted by the West African Gas Pipeline had been, and its damming effect on the country, thus the need to strategise to fix the problem.
“For some time, we relied on Nigeria for the supply of gas from the Nigeria Gas Company, transmitted by the West Africa Gas Pipeline Company. The performance of that arrangement has been very unsatisfactory.
“Out of the 120 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, we receive, on a daily basis, on the best of days, only 30 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, which had a negative impact on our ability to generate power, using gas as its fuel stock,” he noted.
He stated further that the arrangements with Equatorial Guinea will bring in LNG, which can be stored for 21 days, and used accordingly to further improve Ghana’s power situation.
If delivered on schedule, it would allow Asogli, for example, to expand its power production from 120 MW and scale up all the way to 580 MW. “This will, to a very large extent, stabilise further the electricity generation, transmission and distribution that we have,” the Energy Minister stated.
He, again, told the press that by the tine arrangements are concluded, “it is our faithful expectation that gas, as a feedstock, instead of crude oil, will be cheaper, in terms of power production. This could mean that once the cost of producing electricity comes down, we will be in a further position to lower the user tariffs that our citizens pay for electricity.”
“So, indeed, this is good news, and we are glad that, under the President’s leadership and direction, we have been able to come this far,” he observed.
Once the agreements are signed, the nation would begin to benefit from what happened from the trip to Equatorial Guinea.
Commenting on whether by both countries signing the MoU and the Heads Agreement meant that the supply would kick start, Mr Boakye Agyarko explained that it was a process.
“We have signed the Memorandum of Understanding; we’ve signed the Heads of Agreement. All that we are now to do, is for the technical team to get together to make sure that all technical aspects of the offtake and the vessel arrangements are concluded.
“There would be a substantive agreement that should come within a matter of a month or two, but that is based on concluding the technical negotiations, and we expect that next week we begin to tie those loose ends to make the final signing,” he concluded.
President Akufo-Addo embarked on a three-day visit to Equatorial Guinea, on the invitation of its President, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
During his visit, President Akufo-Addo visited infrastructure and energy development projects in the city of Malabo, and, at the end of his visit, extended an invitation to President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to also visit Ghana.
By Maxwell Ofori Ghana has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Heads of Agreement with Equatorial Guinea for the supply of 150 million to 200 million standard cubic feet of gas per day of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). This was in line with the measures being put in place by President Akufo-Addo’s administration […] Read Full Story
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