Golar LNG is to provide West African Gas (WAG) with one of its floating storage and regasification units (FSRU) at an LNG import facility in Ghana for five years, plus an optional five-year extension period.

The 170,000-cbm FSRU Golar Tundra will be employed in the contract after its delivery from Samsung later this month. The vessel will undergo minor modifications in Singapore before being delivered to WAG in Ghana, Golar said today.

No value for the contract was disclosed, but Golar expects EBITDA in the first full year of the FSRU’s operation to be around $44m. The estimated cost for the modification work in Singapore was given.

WAG is developing an LNG import project at Ghana’s port of Tema, which is due to start up in the second quarter 2016. The FSRU will be moored inside the port at a new jetty being built by the gas company.

WAG itself is a 60:40 joint venture between subsidiaries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Sahara Energy Resource respectively.

“This landmark achievement is the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa and strategically positions Ghana to be an energy hub,” said Umar Ajiya, managing director of WAG in a statement today.

“Both NNPC and Sahara remain committed to contributing to projects geared towards socio-economic advancement in all locations they operate in through sustainable partnerships, smart investments and Good Governance.”

Golar LNG’s CEO, Gary Smith added: “Ghana represents an exciting new business opportunity for Golar. West Africa is becoming an increasingly important region for our business and we are proud to be jointly developing Sub Saharan Africa’s first FSRU in partnership with WAG.

“As this is a five-year charter, the vessel will be offered to Golar LNG Partners to acquire providing for another potential acquisition with a new and particularly strong counterparty.”

At the end of September, the government of Cameroon finalised plans for the development of a floating LNG export project in which a Golar GoFLNG vessel will be deployed in waters off Kribi, Cameroon.