GNPC, Quantum Power in partnership to construct storage facility

The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) is to partner energy-sector investment firm, Quantum Power, to construct a 3.40 million tonnes capacity storage, regasification and delivery plant at Tema to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the local business community.

The Tema LNG Project, as it is called, comprises a capital outlay of over US$550 million, and would be implemented on a build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) basis.

'The assets are to be transferred to GNPC, the country's national oil company (NOC), after the project's 20-year term a joint statement from the partners said.

The statement was issued after they had signed a Heads of Terms agreement for the construction and operation of the LNG storage, regasification and delivery plant for the project.

'The construction of the project is expected to start in the last quarter of the year,' it said.

Project importance
The project is expected to play a key role in meeting the country's growing energy demand by providing the local power- generation industry with a reliable and clean fuel supply to meet projected power and industrial needs over the next 20 years. 

'It will also provide GNPC with the flexibility to manage volatility in power demand and fluctuations in domestic gas supply, while mitigating the effect of unpredictable rainfall on the power balance.'

'The Tema LNG Project will have the scalable ultimate capacity to receive, store, regasify and deliver, at steady state of about 3.40 million tonnes of LNG per year, equivalent to 500 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, utilising a state-of-the-art dedicated floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) moored off-shore Tema.' 

'An associated subsea and onshore pipeline will deliver the natural gas to GNPC and its customers onshore,' the statement added.

CEOs pleased
The Tema LNG Project has been under development for three years, using the expertise of some of the world's most experienced engineering teams, who collaborated to design innovations to address the specific maritime challenges in the Gulf of Guinea.

The designs are also to assure optimal year-round operability.  The terminal, which will be located 12 kilometres off Tema's shore, allows for cost-efficient refuelling and regasification without affecting maritime and port traffic.

The Chief Executive Officer of GNPC, Mr Alexander Mould, said as the national gas sector aggregator, GNPC was prepared to lead the country's efforts to develop the gas-to-power value chain to support the government's vision of energy security for accelerated economic growth.

'The Tema LNG Project is a critical component in achieving this vision, as it allows for the diversification of fuel supply sources, enhancing flexibility and reliability. It guarantees GNPC contracted capacity of 250 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, for regasification of competitively priced LNG,' he said. 

His counterpart, Mr Matty Vengerik, said his outfit was pleased to partner the GNPC 'to deploy this cost-efficient and clean fuel supply infrastructure solution to Ghana'.

'This is the first such project to be implemented in sub-Saharan Africa,' he added.