Ghana considers LNG option

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John Jinapor

John Jinapor

Ghana has chosen to shift to the use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to power its thermal plants across country.

The country took the decision due to the relatively cheaper price of LNG as against light crude oil (LCO) that is currently being used at the various power generating stations.

John Jinapor, Deputy Minister of Energy and Petroleum, made this known when he recently launched the LNG feasibility study in Accra.

Commending the Millennium Development Authority (MDA) for dedicating the second compact of the Millennium Challenge Account to addressing Ghana?s inadequate and unreliable power supply, he indicated that Government will ensure the success of the project in its quest to achieve its target of 500MW by 2016.

Mr Jinapor also cited some initiatives of MDA which have improved the living standards of many Ghanaians, notably a link road in Afram Plains which has made the transportation of people and foodstuffs easier and the renovation of the perishable cargo section at the Kotoka International Airport.

?I?m delighted the second compact is devoted solely to the energy sector; energy is a life wire of our economy, without a robust resilient energy sector, industry cannot function and if that happens, you can?t create jobs to cater for the unemployment situation. This intervention by the United States, through MDA, couldn?t have come at a better time,? he stated.

According to him, there was the need for government to look for alternate sources of fuel due to uncertainties in gas supply from the West African Gas Pipeline Project.

Kirk Koffi, CEO of the Volta River Authority, in a remark, emphasized the need for Ghana to look elsewhere for alternative sources of fuel, saying the country?s current reliance on crude oil was not sustainable for an emerging economy.

The LNG Project is aimed at providing adequate and secure natural gas to address Ghana?s current to medium-term gas deficit, which is critical to encouraging and leveraging more private sector participation in additional generation.

It will be executed in partnership with the Millennium Development Authority, the National LNG Taskforce, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, sector agencies and key stakeholders in Ghana?s power sector, including civil society groups.
The study will determine the strategic location and siting of the LNG infrastructure that adequately provides for Ghana?s optimum gas requirement for both power and industrial customers.

By Samuel Boadi

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