Bermuda-based LNG shipping company Golar will supply the 170,000m³ Golar Tundra floating LNG storage and regasification unit (FSRU) to the developers of an import facility in Ghana.
The West African Gas (Wag) joint venture, between Nigerian oil companies state-owned NNPC (60pc) and private-sector Sahara Energy Resources (40pc), plans to receive LNG cargoes from the second quarter.
The FSRU will be moored at a new jetty at the port of Tema, 28km east of the capital Accra. Wag is building the jetty. Golar will take delivery of the new-build Golar Tundra this month, on a five-year time charter from South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries.
The Wag project is one of several LNG import facilities in Ghana that are at various stages of development. State-owned Ghana Gas has conducted studies for an import terminal at Domunli in the west.
Ghana Gas and UK energy company Gasol are co-operating on development of an FSRU import facility in nearby Benin, which could supply Ghana through the West Africa Gas Pipeline, as well as meeting demand in Benin and Togo.
The power sector is a key market for the potential LNG import projects. Gasol has an agreement to supply 100mn ft³/d (1bn m³/yr) of gas — equivalent to about 750,000 t/yr of LNG — to Ghanaian utility Volta River Authority from the Benin FSRU.
Thermal power plants in Ghana are operating below capacity because of fuel supply limitations, the petroleum ministry said. The government acknowledges the need for increased generation capacity to meet expected demand growth — demand of 1.4GW and is growing at 10pc/yr. Ghana has 1.96GW of installed generation capacity — a mix of hydro and thermal facilities.
About 66pc of the country's population has access to electricity, although this falls to just 30pc in northern Ghana. Supply is subject to frequent interruptions as a result of ageing distribution infrastructure.
