Contrary To speculations that the completion of the Gas processing plant at Atuabo in the Western region will totally end the periodic erratic electricity power supply in the country, the Volta river Authority (VRA) says that is not the case.

Against the backdrop of the country’s current power crisis, expectations are that the about $850 million Atuabo project holds the key to ending the problem. However, the VRA has indicated that the completion of the gas project at Atuabo would not end the power crisis, but would rather reduce the cost of producing power in the country.

Engineer Stephen Owusu, maintenance manager of VRA, noted that the completion of the project at Atuabo would not add to the country’s power generation.

He noted that the project would help reduce the cost of producing power with the usage of natural gas instead of light crude oil.

“It has been said that the country will make savings of $500 million per year for substitution of Light Crude oil with Gas, as well as the associated foreign exchange savings estimated at $1 billion a year.”

This came to light when members of the Government Assurances Committee of Parliament visited the Takoradi International Company at Aboadze to access the VRA’s readiness to tie-in with the gas project.

This was after members of the committee had visited the project site at Atuabo to ascertain whether the project was ready to supply gas to the Aboadze Thermal plant to generate electricity and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for domestic use or not.

Attempts to complete the gas project being constructed by SINOPEC, a Chinese contractor, failed on two occasions in the past due to financial and technical problems.

The Ghana Gas Company is to test-run the gas processing plant at Atuabo by the end of August. This is expected to be followed by the introduction of the first gas from the Jubilee field to the facility.

The testing of the plant is to ensure the functionality and integrity of the gas processing facility which is about 99.7 per cent complete.

Dr Ben Asante, Director of operations at the Ghana Gas Company, said the project stood at 99.7 per cent complete, excluding offshore tie-in with Tullow oil and onshore tie-in with the VRA.

He revealed that the plant would produce 107 million cubic feet of lean gas per day, 500 tons of LPG per day, 80 tons of pentanes per day and 45 tons of condensates per day.

LPG to be produced from the plant as a by-product is about 75 per cent of the current national demand of 240,000 tons per year and the initial revenue of Ghana Gas is estimated at $0.5 billion per year.

Dr Asante said the gas processing plant would provide reliable supply of gas for power generation equivalent to about 550mW for the initial 120 million cubic feet of gas per day.