The West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) says its 678- kilometre pipelines link project worth one billion dollars from Escravos in Nigeria to Ghana has been completed.
Mr Charles Adeniji, WAPCo Managing Director, disclosed this at an interactive session with energy correspondents in Lagos on Friday.
He said that the company had completed the regulating and metering facilities at the export terminals in Itoki in Nigeria, Cotonou in Benin, Lome in Togo, Tema and Takoradi in Ghana.
He said that the project, the first of its kind in the sub-region, was not without its challenges which had led to delay in completing the project.
Adeniji said that the company had started operations and was already transporting compressed gas to some of its customers.
“Our success story will be completed when we are able to run the pipelines at its full capacity.
“Given the opportunities we have today, we can only run the pipelines at about one third of its capacity.
“We believe that with spirit of West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) treaty that created the pipelines, all stakeholders can come together again to determine the gaps and forge a plan that will enable us run the pipelines at its full capacity within the next five years,’’ Adeniji said.
He said that WAGP system had capacity to transport 474 million standard cubic feet (SCf) per day and was scheduled under the initial agreement to transport 134 million SCf per day.
The West African Gas Pipeline Company limited (WAPCo) is a limited liability company that owns and operates the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP).
The company has its headquarters in Accra, Ghana, with an office in Badagry, Nigeria, and field offices in Cotonou – Benin, Lome – Togo, Tema and Takoradi, both in Ghana.
WAPCo is a joint venture between public and private sector companies from Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana.
The company’s main mandate is to transport natural gas from Nigeria to customers in Benin, Togo and Ghana in a safe, responsible and reliable manner, at prices competitive with other fuel alternatives.
WAPCo is owned by Chevron West African Gas Pipeline Ltd (36.7%); Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (25%); Shell Overseas Holdings Limited (18%); and Takoradi Power Company Limited (16.3%), Societe Togolaise de Gaz (2%) and Societe BenGaz S.A. (2%).
The pipeline system
The 678 kilometer West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) links into the existing Escravos-Lagos pipeline at the Nigeria Gas Company’s Itoki Natural Gas Export Terminal in Nigeria and proceeds to a beachhead in Lagos. From there it moves offshore to Takoradi, in Ghana, with gas delivery laterals from the main line extending to Cotonou (Benin), Lome (Togo) and Tema (Ghana). The Escravos-Lagos pipeline system has a capacity of 800 MMscfd, and the WAPCo system will initially carry a volume of 170MMscfd and peak over time at a capacity of 460MMscfd.
The main offshore pipeline runs East to West at an average water depth of 35 metres though some sections such as the south east of Ghana, south of Lome and the Benin – Nigerian frontier ranges between 50 to 70 meters. Its range from the coast is as varied as the depth. South of Cape St. Paul in Ghana, it is as close as 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 kilometres) while at its widest section south of Winneba also in Ghana, it is 17.5 nautical miles (32.5 kilometres). The ranges of the Tees from the coast are approximately as follows:
Cotonou – 7 nautical miles (13 Km).
Lome – 10.3 nautical miles (19 Km).
Tema -7.8. nautical miles (14 Km).
The main pipeline is 20 inches in diameter. Cotonou and Lome laterals are 8 inches respectively while the Tema lateral is 18 inches. The termination point at Takoradi (Aboadzi) forms part of the main pipeline.
The product
WAGP transports purified natural gas free of heavy hydrocarbons, liquids and water, ideally suited as fuel for power plants and industrial applications. Eighty-five per cent of the gas is for power generation and the remaining for Industrial Applications. The Volta River Authority’s Takoradi Thermal Power Plant in Ghana, CEB of Benin and Togo are WAPCo’s foundation customers.
