The two-week shutdown of the Atuabo Gas Company will not affect the regular supply of power across the country, authorities have assured.

The plant was shut down yesterday for routine maintenance, but the upstream power generator said the shutdown would not impact power generation or cause outages, stressing that other players were ready to ramp up their flow to contain the shortfall of about 100 million standard cubic feet of gas resulting from the shutdown.

Statement

A statement by the company explained that the shutdown would last 14 days instead of the originally projected 48 days, and that there would be the installation of high integrity pressure system, maintenance work on the replacement of small-bore-piping and heat exchange cleaning during the period.

The process would also involve the replacement of defective valves and recalibration of safety critical equipment and the pressure safety valves.

The statement said the shutdown was consistent with other shutdowns planned by the company’s partners in the upstream and downstream sectors of power generation and gas production industries.

It explained that the shutdown would allow engineers to undertake a planned routine maintenance on the facility to help the company improve upon the capacity for continuous productivity and a prolonged lifespan.

Reliability

The statement said at the end of the planned works on the plant, there would be an enhanced operability, reliability of gas processing and the transportation infrastructure of the company for value maximisation.

Currently, the country’s power generation units in Tema and the Aboadze power enclave receive gas from Ghana Gas at Atuabo, Eni Ghana Onshore Reception Facility at Sazule, Tema LNG and the N-Gas from Nigeria.

The company contributes more than 50 per cent of the Liquefied Petroleum Gas consumed in the country, and the statement gave an assurance that there was currently enough stock to augment the import for the period.

Ghana Gas produces natural gas and gas-based resources for domestic, commercial and industrial use.