The Energy Commission has ordered the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC) to immediately stop the introduction of natural gas into the pipelines at their gas processing plant in Atuabo.
In a letter to the company dated November 8 2014, the Energy Commission stated that “in accordance with Section 6.4 of schedules to the Commissioning permit issued to the GNGC, the GNGC does not have permission to introduce hydrocarbons into any section of the Gas Processing Plant.”
The Commission expressed concern that construction work was still ongoing at the plant despite being informed earlier that the plant was “mechanically complete.”
“It has come to the attention of the Energy Commission that there is still hot work activity (including welding) taking place within the Gas Processing Plant although our understanding was that the plant has been Mechanically Complete for several weeks now,” the letter said.
[contextly_sidebar id=”2hz9LcPpxbDG1ZDTUpf6HlQC2UpoceUg”]The Commssion has, as a result, directed Ghana Gas to immediately desist from the introduction of natural gas into the processing plant, until it clarifies the current situation and the safety conditions at the plant.
Ghana Gas Company has been told, until it receives written advice to the contrary, not to “under any circumstances introduce natural gas into the plant” until it fulfils the following demands:
- Provides a description of the construction work ongoing on the site
- Provides a statement on how the work affects the previously declared mechanical completion
- Provides a statement on how the work impacts the ability to safely commission the plant
- Provides information on how natural gas can be safely introduced into the pipelines whilst the construction is ongoing
The Commission however says the displacement of water in the pipelines can proceed, as, from the “repeated assurances” of the GNGC, “once water and Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) in the pipeline are displaced by natural gas, there is no risk of hydrate formation.”
The GNGC had announced in October that gas processing at the plant for the production of power at Aboadze in the month of November 2014, would begin in November.
However, the final commissioning of the plant has been under threat after residents of Atuabo and neighbouring communities threatened to disrupt it over concerns about compensation packages and other health related issues.
The Atuabo gas processing plant is expected to generate about 150 million standard cubits of gas per day to supplement the energy produced at the Akosombo Dam.
By: Edwin Kwakofi/citifmonline.com/Ghana