The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) has unveiled a special monument each in honour of the Takoradi to Tema Interconnection Project (TIPP) at its Regulating and Metering Stations (R&MS) at Tema and Takoradi.

The completion of the project has increased Ghana’s domestic gas supply to the the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) and improved the reliability and availability of natural gas flow through the pipeline. The West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) transmission system was originally designed and built to transport natural gas from supply sources in Nigeria to customer needing natural gas for cleaner and more efficient power generation in Benin, Togo, and Ghana.

Ghana is the main customer for the WAGP with delivery points at Tema and Takoradi. Since the construction of the WAGP, Ghana has explored and developed offshore oil and gas fields that are now able to supply gas to power plants in the Aboadze Power Enclave (near Takoradi). Ghana’s natural gas supply to the Takoradi enclave far exceeds the needs of customers hence the need for the TIPP to serve the needs of customers in Tema, primarily for power generation.

The WAGP transmission system’s location in Takoradi provided the opportunity to transport gas from the western part of the country to Tema, in the east, where WAPCo already has an existing facility.

WAPCo in collaboration with the government of Ghana, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Eni Ghana, and the Ghana National Gas Company undertook the Takoradi-Tema Interconnection Project.

The TIPP links the Ghana National Ghana Gas Company’s natural gas pipeline system to the West African Gas Pipeline system at Aboadze in the Western region of Ghana, allowing gas from Ghana’s domestic sources to be transported in reverse flow to Tema.

Prior to the completion of the project, the WAGP was only transporting gas in one direction, from Nigeria to Ghana with exit points at Tema and Takoradi The interconnection project has also made it possible for WAPCo to now transport natural gas from the western part of the country to be used in the Tema power enclave, in addition to still transporting gas from Nigeria to Benin, Togo and Ghana.

As part of the interconnection project, WAPCo’s Tema Regulating and Metering Station’s delivery capacity was expanded in 2020 to 235 Million Standard Cubic Feet per Day of gas (MMscfd) from 140 MMscfd. In addition, WAPCo’s Takoradi R&MS had a new process area constructed in 2019 with 225 MMscfd gas receipt capacity.